When I came out of my comfort zone, it was more assuring, says Paal Dabba on his music video 'Vibe'

CHENNAI: Paal Dabba is busy travelling for concerts, penning raps and composing music. But he takes some time to talk about his music video Vibe, that has clocked around 4.7 million real time views. This video marks his collaboration with Sickflip and has gone on to become a huge hit among listeners. “Vibe has turned out the way we (Paal Dabba and Sickflip) exactly wanted it to be. Initially, when we started working on the music video, we never thought it would receive such a huge appreciation and love from the audience because, I like to try different genres be it in dance or music,” he starts off.

Paal Dabba then reminisces about his working days on the song and explains, “When we began putting this song together, it had a different sound to it. I had my own skepticism on how it would be received. I even thought if I should stick to what I had done before. But, when it was released and received so much love from the audience, I was pretty overwhelmed. Also, Sickflip and I come from different musical backgrounds. EDM is his forte and mine is Afro and Hip Hop. He had created the beats for the version you are listening to now. When I heard it first, I suggested to him that we try Amapiano as there are very few songs in the house music genre here. Also, I wanted to try that for a long time now. But to be successful in a collaborative manner, we had to strike a balance. Hence, we went with the initial beat. My body too started grooving to it.”

There have been days where the musician, who has a huge fan base among the youth, has thought of getting stereotyped and he broke that with Vibe. “Vibe came across as an eye opener, in fact. Only after working in a different genre, I realised that I should not restrict myself to one genre of music. I felt like I had restricted myself in a box. When I came out of my comfort zone, it was more assuring for me. At times, it was challenging for me to delve into melodies and R and B. Now, I don’t have such inhibitions,” adds Paal Dabba.

Be it Kaathu Mela or Makkamishi or His Name is John, and the recent Vibe, Paal Dabba’s songs have a certain vibe and positivity to it. “It is not something intentional. I write what I feel and when it blends with the music, I am sure it ends up making the listeners feel better. When the audience embraces it, it makes me feel motivated to do a better job,” he says.

Independent musicians like Paal Dabba, Arivu, Hip Hop Tamizha, and OfRo among others have ensured that music in Tamil Nadu grows beyond Tamil movies. “Independent music was growing and there was a sudden lull in between. Then came Hip Hop Tamizha and the indie scene surged before going through another lull phase. Then came Arivu and the indie scene witnessed another surge. Now, there are more musicians who follow suit and have kept the scene going. With all due respect to film music, indie music has been innovative with sounds, which is why it has more listeners. Concert culture has also helped the indie scene in witnessing a surge. This has helped indie musicians also grow financially away from films. I have been following quite a few things in the scene and by the end of this year, we will have more such indie musicians,” remarks Paal Dabba.

As Mother’s Day was celebrated on the weekend, Paal Dabba credits his success to his mother and takes us down memory lane. “She was the one who understood my passion. If not for her, I really wonder where I would have been today. It was during my fifth semester, I had to take an internship. However, I had a dance competition, which required me to go to Mumbai for three months. My principal was furious but it was my mom, who convinced her and motivated me to go ahead with the competition. She was the one who shaped me. My dad and my elder brother too equally stood by me. I owe it to my family,” he opens up.

On the workfront, he says, “I have directed a music video in collaboration with Vengayam and is due for a release next month. He has written the lyrics, sung and performed. I have one of my songs releasing soon--again in a different genre. Apart from these, I have also sung in Thug Life,” signs off Paal Dabba.