MUMBAI: Cult figures of the underground UK rap scene, PAV4N and Sonnyjim have joined forces with up-on-the-rise, Indian producer Kartik to form PATAKA BOYS, and release the second single, ‘Megaloblast’ – from their upcoming album, Thugs from Amritsar – on June 14.

What started off as healthy competition between two seasoned vets and friends – known for a penchant of habitual line stepping – slowly became an exploration of heritage, culture, and further fusion of the diasporic experience and hip-hop that resulted in a full-fledged album.

In ‘Megaloblast’, both PAV4N and Sonnyjim pay homage to the motherland, by writing in English and Punjabi. They create rhymes that are cynical and satirical, perfectly complementing their unique blend of dry British wit, and desi humour.

I butter the bread / I bun the zed / Dread / I chase this peg with another peg / I’m not even that fluent this is just a flex

Woven around a sample of the gentle soul record from 1978, Latimore’s ‘Dig A Little Deeper’, the rhymes are aggressive, and visuals hedonistic in contrast. The word play is punchy and clever and not always subtle.

I run it red; Akash Ambani / from Cheddar road to Pedder road / man a still a donny (Adani)

The song name calls Reliance Industries’ scion Akash Ambani and the alleged Peddar Road accident, Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, Punjabi music icons Sidhu Moosewala and Kuldeep Manak, and even Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

“This song is about Sonny and Pav’s excellent adventure burning a hole through rural Punjab,” recaps Sonnyjim, adding, “A three week wave condensed into a three minute song. And was basically an overall summary of the journey.”

The video – edited by up-and-coming filmmaker Meghan Katti, whose artistic moniker is Katti – is a colourful ride made up of vignettes of small-town Punjab, Old Monk and blunt smoke. The intentional layering together of footage – shot by a motley crew, that included PAV4N and Sonny, on the road in India – is intuitive and creative, conjuring a collage of the energy and spirit of the project, irreverent and carefree.

“‘Megaloblast’ from my perspective is the epitome of layering stories one over the other to create a visual peek, into just a part of India’s camouflaged ‘ratchetness’,” says Katti of the montage video he created from 1500 gigabytes of footage that was handed over to him, alongside the electrifying stories that accompanied the moments captured on camera.

“This video is also an exhibit of stories hidden in nooks and corners of this country. The opportunity presented itself as one to do something new and unseen before and that has religiously been a part of the attempt. I’m excited for the viewers to notice subtle elements in the video and almost play it like a game, also for them to watch the last 25 seconds which is an ode to some of my inspirations,” he adds.

Decades deep in their careers, PAV4N and Sonnyjim are artists that in their own rights have garnered devoted followings through their diligent work producing authentic, lyrically robust rap music.

PAV4N is a founding member of the critically acclaimed London rap crew Foreign Beggars. Throughout his career, PAV4N has worked with a multitude of producers including Skrillex, Noisia, Knife Party, Alix Perez, Flux Pavilion, Tommy Lee of Motley Cru, DJ Vadim, Amp Fiddler and Sez On The Beat. Since the disbanding of Foreign Beggars in 2019, PAV4N has embarked on an exciting new journey as a solo artist.

Sonnyjim is a rapper whose output spans over ten years, having worked with an impressive array of artists including the likes of MF DOOM, Jay Electronica, Westside Gunn, Conway, DJ Premier, Remy Banks, Lord Apex, The Purist, Madlib and more. Known for his unique style of luxury lifestyle rap, Sonnyjim’s stream of consciousness verses are packed in equal measures with larger-than-life images of excess and hilarious sequential vignettes.

Kartik is a young, upcoming producer from India whose production style is spired by the DIY ethic and broken beat genre. With over 30 beattapes to his name since 2020, he fuses classic elements of hip-hop with sounds that represent his heritage and contemporary life in his homeland, with the likes of Madlib and Flying Lotus being cited as main influences.

‘Megaloblast’ will release on June 14 on Azadi Records, and will be available across all streaming platforms.