ThirumaLi & Mona Mula
by Mister Mime
30th June 2021
Malayali Rap Star ThirumaLi lashes out against slavery with “Adima”, a hard-hitting, raw and soulful collab with Indonesian-Dutch singer Mona Mula. The rapper, who is one of the main protagonists of Kerala’s hip-hop movement, and is known for being a voice of activism in his social circles, condemns enslavement throughout the history of humanity and while raising awareness on the issue, he also urges the newer generations to take a stand and root out this condition once and for all.
The track is an impressive union of seemingly different worlds for a common cause and definitely hits the point home in a more than convincing manner. Mona Mula’s powerful chorus provides a solid melodic hook that propels the listener away from the darkness of this inherent man-made condition into a hopeful brighter future.
MM: What does the word "Adima" mean? What is the track about?
ThirumaLi: Adima means Slave. The meaning of this song is about slavery. This song talks about slavery and the enslavement of people all over the world.
Mona Mula: “Adima” means slave. The song delineates the enslavement system in society. It talks about humans being enslaved for centuries in their social conditions and in religious uncertainty. We think that the cure for slavery is proper education and knowledge. We encourage that everyone is free and that no one is a slave to anyone.
MM: How did this collaboration come about? How vital a part did technology/social media play in this collaboration?
ThirumaLi: The caste and religious system in India inspired me to do this song. At the same time, I wanted to know how the subject would be the perspective of a person coming from a very different living environment in another country.
The most useful thing for us to create this song was social media itself. I met Mona Mula on Instagram and I sent her a demo of the song and the reply I got from her helped me to complete the song.
Mona Mula: I met Shakthi at Wisseloord Studios in The Netherlands when he was working there. Ultimately, through him, I got to know ThirumaLi. Shakthi knew that I was into trap music and I think I mentioned something about enjoying Korean and Japanese trap. Coming from Indonesia and being raised in Malaysia, I wanted to connect with more South Asian artists, but I didn’t find anyone in my genre yet. That was until Shakthi showed me ThirumaLi and GWS; I immediately reached out to them saying I liked their songs “Kottayam Duke'' and “Trap Sundari.” Shortly after, ThirumaLi reached out to me saying he wanted me on his next single. And here we are!
MM: How did you get your artist name?
ThirumaLi: I came up with the word Thirumali from the Malayalam word Kalla Thirumali.
Mona Mula : When I was younger, people used to call me Mulan or Pocahontas. They called me Mulan because I resemble her personality – aberrated and self-reliant. Then Pocahontas because my classmates said that I look like her in terms of appearance. I thought that both names would make cool stage names but since they are already in use, I was debating between Mula and Pocahontas. I liked Mula because it also resembles money but Mula on its own has already been used by several artists. I added Mona because I thought Mona Mula together sounded nice; I like the alliteration.
MM: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your musical background and how you started your journey into music?
ThirumaLi: When I was in high school I started listening to rap music and was trying to make rap music. For a long time, I did not know what I liked and what I could do.
Music has given me a great purpose in life as well as a lot of good things and since then I have been living with music.
Mona Mula: Alright so, I’ll be honest haha, this goes way back to when I used to play video games. In January 2017, I started uploading gameplays on YouTube; I enjoyed playing horror, RPG, and indie games so that’s the type of content I used to share. The channel is privatized now but at the time, there weren’t many females in the gaming industry playing the games that I did so the channel quickly became a success within a year’s time. Between January 2017 and February 2018 I managed to get around 8,000 subscribers with a total view count of approximately 250,000. When I played horror games, I used to start singing or rapping during my gameplays when I got scared during a particular level or scene in the game. I guess that was just my strange coping mechanism to not freak out when I was playing a scary game. From then onward, I kept receiving comments on my videos from people telling me to start rapping or singing because they enjoyed my goofy raps. So in essence, that’s how it all started.
In February 2018, I quit making gaming content because it took way too much of my time. I had to prepare for my IBDP exams and I just couldn’t afford to keep up with the channel – I would spend 1hr recording, 2hr editing, and then 3-5hr rendering just for one single video. I had a lot of series on the channel so I had to upload 3x a week consistently in order to keep the series successfully running. Unfortunately, my study life took the best of me and I quit gaming entirely. In May 2018, I finally picked up on the comments from my subscribers and I decided to start making music. I preferred music over gaming at the time because it was less time-consuming, I could start and stop writing a song whenever I wanted and that complemented my demanding academic schedule.
In April 2020, I finally decided that a music career is something for me after all. I realised that I was being kept away from being creative because I was so academic-oriented. I dropped my first single on the 24th of April 2020 and I haven’t stopped making music ever since.
MM: Culturally, the track displays an interesting rendezvous between Thirumali's Malayali roots and Mona's Indonesian-Dutch background. How did this diversity augment the music? And how did music (as an art form and as a force of nature) facilitate the two artists to come together and write a song about such a deep condition, enslavement, one that transcends race, culture, nationality and affects all of humanity on a micro and macro level?
ThirumaLi: It's one of the things that fascinated me the most to create this song. We've tried to find out what happens when people from very different cultures translate their music into this topic.
I believe that music transcends language and borders. Nowadays, it is possible for artists to come together without distinction of country and language. If music has anything to do with the human mind, we can see that it has no language difference.
Mona Mula: I think this diversity really is the fundamental key to making all this work. I think that ThirumaLi is the voice of a lot of people in India and I’m super inspired by how he manages to resonate his culture, story and vision into his songs so successfully. For myself, my roots are Dutch-Indonesian but I was raised in Malaysia and in The Netherlands. In both countries, I went to English-speaking schools and I listened to a lot of American hip-hop and pop so that’s why I naturally gravitate towards American sounds. In terms of the story, in the song, I say, “I don’t have a place to call my home,” because sometimes I feel lost. In Asia, they view me as a Western girl and in Europe, they view me as an Asian girl. As a result of that, my home is a feeling that changes over time depending on my social environment. Home for me is more a feeling rather than a place.
MM: What was the collaborative process like between the artists and the producer?
ThirumaLi: The beat of this song was first made and then I wrote my rap on it and then I tried for a good hook to add to it. A friend called Cyborg who created the beat of this song sent it to me and I liked it so much, then I was trying to bring something very unique to it. That's how I ended up in touch with Mona Mula. She gave beautiful lyrics and I realised now the song is complete.
Mona Mula: It was a unique one, I hope that one day we can make music in the same room but the digital generation we live in now has blessed us with the opportunity to work from every corner of the world. I only had contact with ThirumaLi and Shakthi at the time when the song was written and made. It was only after the release that I also spoke to Cyborg (the producer). The process was very welcoming and stress-free. ThirumaLi and I gave each other the freedom to write what we wanted, we kept in contact via Instagram and after we established a theme, we both wrote our lines.
MM: Who/what are your musical influences?
ThirumaLi: It was Michael Jackson who drew me to Western music. Then I started listening to Eminem, Drake, Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar. Those people are the biggest inspiration in my life to create music.
Mona Mula: That’s tough, I feel like I love too many bands and artists. It changes over time but the ones that always stick around are Alice In Chains, Travis Scott and 070 Shake.
MM: Do you find inspiration from other art forms like dance? How do you see the connection between various art forms like music and visual art for example? Who/what are some artists from other disciplines that you like?
ThirumaLi: I love dance and visuals as much as music. I believe that when a song is accompanied by a choreographed dance form, the song reaches its full potential.
Similarly, when visual art gives the visuals that a song uses, the song reaches its fullest form and the listener reaches a very high level of enjoyment. I firmly believe that a complete art form is created when hearing and sight come together.
Mona Mula: I don’t know too much about dance but I go to a lot of museums; I can enjoy art in any way, shape or form. I like how some paintings can paint a picture in your head of a possible scenario that could have happened. We can be looking at the same painting but we can both imagine different stories – I think that’s what makes art so special.
MM: What are the places, things, people from other walks of life that inspire you?
ThirumaLi: I like service-minded people as well as artists. I also like to see scenic places and travel there. For a very busy world, I like the beauty of serene nature.
Mona Mula: Nature really inspires me! The desert is gargantuan, the ocean incessant, the mountains colossal, and the horizons so distant that they make me feel small and as if I should remain silent. Such places are thought-provoking and really leave me in awe. They take my mind to places I would not reach if I was in the city.
MM: What do you like to do outside of making music?
ThirumaLi: Apart from music I love public works but I have always wanted to live as a full-fledged artist. I like business as well
Mona Mula: I love to read and write. I write a lot of poems and descriptive excerpts but I have not yet figured out how I can incorporate that into my music. I read about 40 books a year, ranging from psychology to sci-fi, to thriller etc. I really just read everything that interests me at that moment. Right now, I’m teaching myself the basics of music so that I can have more control over my productions. I want to be able to share my thoughts with the world – I’m still learning how to do that.
MM: What advice would you give to new artists/producers looking to make a mark in society?
ThirumaLi : Your music or lyrics can make a huge difference in every human life, so act only with complete sincerity
Mona Mula: Just go for it. If you keep doubting yourself then you’ll never grow or escape the bubble you live in. I’ve only been doing music for a year and a lot of the time I still don’t know what I’m doing. I have no musical background so I notice plentiful flaws in my music but with each project, I learn a little more. I’m not perfect, neither is my music, and I’ve accepted that. I’m content with it. As long as you keep learning alongside the journey, that’s all that matters.
Bonus Qs:
MM: Can you tell us about the genre of "Cloud Rap"?
Mona Mula: Musical genres are rapidly changing because we live in such a fast-paced environment nowadays. Cloud rap to me is a sound that focuses on ethereal soundscapes; the songs are dreamlike and wavy. I place emphasis on how my songs sound and are less lyrical for that reason. However, I want to become more lyrical in the nearby future. People also describe cloud rap as hazy and relaxed.
MM: How do you feel about the rise of hip-hop in India? Especially in regional languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, etc
ThirumaLi: Hip hop music is gaining popularity in India. Rap music is still growing in southern Indian states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. India is also a country with a lot of linguistic differences so we believe that by making more collaborations we can increase our growth as well as bring our music to new people. Of course, Rap music can make a big difference in India and I firmly believe that it will do a lot.
Follow ThirumaLi on:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6AmkU4hUrXJPIiNFsZlDzJ
https://www.instagram.com/thirumali_/
https://www.facebook.com/thirumaliofficial/
Follow Mona Mula on:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7woIIy8i53AF6I0LEWRvIa?si=mlH3clXZTXGOcrcoULGvBQ
https://www.instagram.com/mona.mula/
All Images courtesy of ThirumaLi and Mona Mula
