Indian rapper asks ‘Talha kaun?’ — Talha Anjum responds with a brutal diss track

Someone tell Talha Anjum to go easy. No, seriously. The rap prodigy is back with a brutal diss track titled ‘Kaun Talha’ — an introduction to Talha Anjum, not that he needs one.

The track is a response to Indian rapper Naezy, who in a recent interview asked, “Kaun Talha?” — the audacity — when asked about his possible collaborations with Pakistani acts.

If you ask me, it is borderline criminal that the song — 4.5 minutes long — is so short and sweet, given that my definition of sweet is spitting expletives and dropping truth bombs.

Produced by Umair, it kicks off with a nursery rhyme-like sample and transitions into Anjum spitting verses over a cool synthesised beat playing on loop. He asks “Kaun Talha [Talha who]?” and references Indian rappers like KR$NA and Divine, who can answer that question for anyone who missed the memo.

Anjum, bearing no symptoms of imposter syndrome, fully recognises his impact on the music industry, not just in Pakistan but in the whole of South Asia, stating, “Tu nae karsakta jo karchuka jo Talha [You can’t do what Talha’s done]. Tehes nehes karun Naezy [I can destroy Naezy].”

For anyone confused about whether he names the rapper — since the lyrics aren’t out yet — Anjum goes on to clearly say, “Saaray bolo f** Naezy, saaray bolo f*** Naezy* [Everyone say f*** Naezy].” And to assure everyone that this is a response to disrespect and not an unwarranted attack on the artist, he adds, “Mainay rapper tabah kiye, list hai, tu khud he hua uspe sign up [I have destroyed rappers, there’s a list, you signed yourself up for this].”

‘Kaun Talha’ is reminiscent of Faris Shafi’s ‘Introduction’ without sounding anything like it, simply because of the intent. It is raw, rebellious and everything Anjum’s fans have been craving, including myself.

The rapper is known to drop melancholic tracks that speak volumes about his command over the Urdu language and his ability to fuse it with English and still deliver a sentence that doesn’t sound half-baked or cringe. Through his music, he carves narratives that resonate with everyone but are unique to his experiences.

Unlike most contemporary rappers, Anjum has rarely had to rely on heartbreak anthems to stay relevant and his songs aren’t heavy on the components of modern-day rap either — money, sex and all that jazz. His debut album Open Letter is proof of that.

But ‘Kaun Talha’ is different. Not because it employs these themes to stand out but because it is tailor-made to respond to the audacity of anyone questioning his existence. It is written with the intent to usher his frustration over those who continue to question his relevance and artistry. It is delivered with that intent too.

There is no sugar-coating in ‘Kaun Talha’. It is a confrontation. A declaration of one’s unmissable mark on music and the people that music has touched. It is an assertion of Anjum’s influence and popularity.

It is also demonstrative of his ability to hit back, in true hip-hop fashion, at anyone when snubbed. Anjum calls Naezy, fake, chaalsaz, aafat and half-cut in the song that is designed to drag his name through the mud. If it’s saying anything about Anjum that hasn’t already been said, it’s that you don’t mess with him.

Aside from being borderline threatening, the song is also catchy. The trap beat melts down in the middle of the track, changing the whole feel of it. The breakdown is reminiscent of Kendrick’s diss track ‘Euphoria’. The entire situation could easily remind us of the Drake versus Kendrick beef, except Anjum didn’t come with warnings. He came with a bazooka of insults and respectfully fired.