Are you ready to see a 12-year-old rapper spit fire on stage? You should be. At the second edition of Multticulture on July 19, an amalgamation of sub-genres will come together at the hallowed halls of the puritanical Victoria Public Hall to teach Chennai a thing or two about rap.

Among the young men on stage will be Aydin Flow, a school-going rapper, who Ofro, the founder of Atticulture and the organiser of the event, met at a cypher at Anna Nagar Tower Park several months ago. Other artistes include Kelithee, 808Krsna, Hippie Writer, Kaadi, Vaasi, Urban Tozha, and Tamizh Aadhavan — all of whom Ofro met through his Discord community and park meet-ups.

“People from all over Tamil Nadu are coming and we have been bombarded with ticket requests. The ultimate showdown, an event where some of Tamil rap’s freshest voices will be on stage, has already sold out,” informs Ofro, adding that there is a whole community of young rap voices from all parts of the State South of Chennai. “The slang, expressions, and meter of the rap is fundamentally different, meaning that there is an array of talent to look at,” he says.

Ofro was an early entrant in the rap space. Back in 2019 when he and Tamil rap star Arivu collaborated on their first ever independent project, the two took to Chetpet Eco Park and began performing their music for random visitors. “Back then, there was no real ecosystem to distribute our music or even claim a voice. The park was where we found our first listeners and another set of talent, including Asal Kolaar. The reason why people are clamouring for tickets is because they understand the kind of success that people like Arivu, Asal Kolaar, and Kelithee have seen. Considering that there will be reps (representatives) from other record labels, it is likely to be useful for a lot of the talent that comes on,” he says.

Ofro says that the reason they picked Victoria Public Hall is because it is an unlikely venue for a rap stage. That and the fact that they needed a venue bigger than Medai-The Stage, where their first edition happened a little over a year ago. “You might think it is an odd venue but this is where the first film was screened in Chennai, isn’t it,” he asks.

He adds that besides the main rap showdown that is to take place, Ofro is intent on getting better producers onboard, especially since he is one himself. It is why they are hosting a masterclass with Rupendar Venkatesh (who goes by Ruby) and Akash Shravan, who have independently worked with the likes of AR Rahman, Hanumankind, Anirudh Ravichander, and Santhosh Narayanan, using their own unconventional and hard-hitting approaches to the art of mixing and mastering. There will also be a live podcast taping called Fryday Night Live with content creator Sameeha, who goes by potatoface on Instagram, and a curated screening of music videos that promise to be wild.

“Some gold-standard artistes are coming from the most unassuming places in Tamil Nadu. We want to shine light on this already existing slate of talent,” he says.

Multticulture is on July 19 at Victoria Public Hall starting at 11.30am. For tickets, log onto district.in