East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

By Anuja Madar

Nike knows Nivla, but chances are you don’t — at least not yet.

The New York-born-and-raised rapper has been making music since he was a “short pudgy kid” of 16, but now, in his mid-20s, he finds himself in the pages of XXL, one of hip-hop’s biggest magazines, and on a new compilation CD for Nike. Not bad for a former self-proclaimed nerd.

While Nivla admits that the urban culture — the cars and clothes — attracted him to hip-hop in the beginning, it was wordplay, structure of rhymes and being able to reach people that got him to pen his first demo at 17. Positive feedback motivated him to make more music and perform at Indian cultural shows throughout college, but it wasn’t until after he got his degree that he was able to put social and family expectations behind him and focus on his passion — music. “There are a lot of people who save money for their first home,” he says, “but for me, it’s to take my music to a level where South Asians have yet to be.” 

That level is something Nivla hopes to achieve with his debut album, which releases this fall on Soul Tap Records. The debut is long overdue for Nivla, whose singles “Be Easy (Koi Naa)” and “Never Love Again” have been circulating on mixtapes since late 2005. The album features both Indian-influenced tracks and those that one could easily hear on a mainstream radio station, Nivla says. “It’s a passport to two different cultures.” The gritty “Dangerous” and the thought-provoking “The Real Hip-Hop” are favorites for the Malayalee rapper, but it’s his most personal song, “Ex Factor,” which focuses on a past relationship, that he feels sets the album, and him, apart. “I haven’t heard a song yet when a rapper talks about a break-up,” he says, “but guess what, they breathe the same way [as everyone else]. The song shows a sensitive side; it shows people that I’m human. That, above all, makes me stand out.”

Nivla certainly stood out to Nike, who picked his song “Be Easy (Koi Naa)” to be featured on its "Rockstar Workout" mixtape. But despite this taste of mainstream success, Nivla echoes the same sentiment of most South Asian musicians — that it will take that one person to break through and pave the way for the rest. He likens it to the starting line at a race. “Everyone’s waiting,” he says, “and there’s going to be one winner. If I didn’t think I could be that person, I wouldn’t be taking it as seriously.”

For more on Nivla, visit www.nivlamusic.com or www.myspace.com/nivlamusic.

* Photos by Betty Alexandra

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