Meba’s Journey
Meba Ofilia - Photo: Sumeet Ngangom
“A shot-caller with that born tribal mentality” - How Shillong star Meba Ofilia evolved from gospel music to rap, and in the process, became one of the most exciting new voices in underground Indian Hip-Hop.
Underground Hip-Hop in India has had a paucity of female MCs. While a whole bunch of factors have led to this under-representation, the audience might be ready for more female rappers to inject some fresh impetus.
The lack of representation, though, has not meant a lack of quality. Artists like Manmeet Kaur, Dee MC, and Siri bring their own uniqueness and style to Hip-Hop, and for now, remain the flag-bearers of this fast-growing genre.
If you’ve been sleeping on her, add a confident, young name to that short list: Meba Ofilia. The Shillong native just might be the one that pushes the envelope for Indian rappers to a new level. Gifted with a soulful voice and rapping chops to boot, she had a breakthrough moment last year when her collaborative effort with North-Eastern Hip-Hop OG MC Big Ri (of Khasi Bloodz fame) called “Done Talking” won the Best Indian Act Award at the 2018 MTV European Music Awards. The award was a validation, as they beat out industry vets and fellow nominees Monica Dogra, Divine, Skyharbor and Raja Kumari.
The news came to Ofilia at the most unlikely time. “I remember I was at church,” she told me in a phone interview recently. “I just finished a programme there, I had to sing at the church. And then I came out and saw a few missed calls from my manager so I called him back. He told me ‘Done Talking’ got nominated for an EMA! I was like ‘What?! Really? Really?’ There was this veranda outside my church and I was jumping there.”
“That was the moment.”
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Before the acclaims for their award-winning collaboration, Khasi Bloodz and Ofilia had released the track above called ‘Don’t Stop’ in 2017. It opens with Ofilia melodiously singing over an RnB-tinged Hip-Hop track. Immediately, you’re struck by her strong voice crooning about heartache and which is followed by a hook that repeats over the course of the song. A multifaceted talent, Ofilia, has had a long history with RnB, too.
Lamonte Pakyntein (producer of ‘Done Talking’ and also known as D-Mon from the group Khasi Bloodz), the producer of ‘Don’t Stop’, is also the producer of ‘Done Talking’. He actually heard an early single by Ofilia, a cover-track called “Hesitate”, on a local radio station while in a taxi, and tried to connect with her as soon as he could.
“Music grew on me, it became a part of me, and now it is me. And so, I've dropped out of college to pursue it.”
“He was like, ‘Who is this Meba girl?’” she said. As luck would have it, Ofilia turned out to be a friend of his neighbour's. Pakyntein knew who she was--and approached her to work together. “Are you willing to collaborate on a song?” Pakyntein asked her. Ofilia agreed, and the rest is history.
“I think I met him in 2014,” she told me. “The next couple of years - 2015, 2016 - I was practicing how to write more, to write appropriately. Use the right phrasing of the words. And then in 2016 we were ready to record.”
That in essence is how ‘Don’t Stop’ came about. “I used to tell Lamonte: music is just going to be another hobby, I’m not really going to concentrate on this, I'm going to be a lawyer.”
But before she realised it, the music bug had her. It also led her to make a bold and courageous choice. “Music grew on me, it became a part of me, and now it is me. And so, I've dropped out of college to pursue it. My parents are still not happy about that though!”
As is the case with score of musicians in the country, Ofilia wasn’t just pursuing music alone. She was an English Literature graduate while working to finish up her Law degree. Even after winning the MTV award, little changed for Ofilia in terms of her college life. She told Vogue Magazine last year that she does get the occasional “Oh you’re a celebrity now!” tease.
Brought up in a household full of musicians, Ofilia learned to play the guitar from her brother at age 15. In the same story on Elle, it was revealed that her grandfather and her uncle Nicholas Dann are both well renowned folk singer-songwriters from Shillong, and her aunt is an Indian classical musician. Her origins in music are deep rooted.
She has stated her musical inspirations in interviews with Vogue, Elle, and Vice over the past few years. Originally a 90s pop kid, her love for the likes of Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears led her to discover more of the African-American Gospel and RnB artists that she is clearly influenced by today. The likes of Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Tori Kelly and Alicia Keys have been all been major influences. And then of course Usher, who she name dropped on ‘Done Talking’.
“I was always found singing and rapping at home, only,” Ofilia said. “I would close the doors of the sitting room and at that time we had a tape, so I would rewind the cassette and get to a particular song so I could rap along.”
Snoop Dogg and Akon’s “I Wanna Love You” was the first song Ofilia remembers learning to rap along to. At the time, she thought of rapping as a fun hobby, and given her background in gospel, she thought people would be even more inclined to take it as a joke if she was rapping on the regular. That was until she met the Khasi Bloodz.
“Done Talking” (produced by Lamonte Pakyntein and featuring Big Ri and Ofilia) fast-tracked Ofilia’s ascent to the limelight. The single sees Ofilia talk about heartbreak and moving on. It was a track that broke free of the glut of hip hop tracks with a lo-fi beat and RnB groove.
“We threw us in the air like paper planes
Knowin' we'd crash soon after
After all that's said and done
We're at that point of no return
Is this what Usher meant when he was singin' let it burn?"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you
If I need you I got your number on speed dial
All the things I had to deal with
I'm done with it "
Ofilia’s success had led to higher expectations, and the rapper admitted that she felt the weight of that pressure. In interviews, she has been aware that not everything she does will be met with neigh universal acclaim, like her song ‘Done Talking’. But she is looking to build on that success and with the support and inspiration of folks she has chosen to surround herself with.
“Lamonte encouraged me to rap on my own song - which was never released by the way. The Khasi Bloodz and I laughed at that initial rap.”
Ofilia, however, mentioned that she continued to push herself, to pursue the rap-game seriously. She practiced her lyrics, refined it, was ready for the Khasi Bloodz, and she headed to the studio for “Done Talking”, her seminal recording.
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As part of the first ever NBA India Games in Mumbai back in October, the league ran the campaign #NBAInMyBackyard, where they collaborated with a few selected artists who dropped tracks to build up hype leading to the games. Based out of North America, the NBA, or the National Basketball Association, is the finest basketball league in the world, and they made their biggest push in 2019 to make a cultural breakthrough to the Indain market. To represent hoop fans in the East, NBA India decided to collaborate with Ofilia.
Her manager, Imti Kharkongor called her one night and said, “Hey, listen, NBA India….”. Before he could finish what they had approached her for, she was already onboard. “The moment I heard NBA I was like, “Take it”. I don’t care what they pay me, how much they pay me, why they’re gonna pay me, just fucking take it, I’m doing this.”
Basketball has been an integral part of Ofilia’s life, ever since she was a young girl. She started playing the game from Standard 5. Growing up, she represented Meghalaya, participating in several age group national tournaments for many years.
“While at these national tournaments, I’d seen so many Indian players and it was so inspiring. There’s one particular Indian player - Akanksha Singh - she’s my inspiration!”
Given her passion for basketball, this opportunity to collaborate with the NBA was too good to pass. Her track is called ‘The Journey’. It is a witty mix of her personal lyrics, callbacks and references to basketball and the NBA.
‘The Journey’ is a proper, relentless rap track. What shines through is her confidence and how in her element she looks in the rap space.
“I'm the shot caller with that born tribal mentality,
Goin harder,
Your trash talkin don't bother me,
Playin’ better under pressure, bad mamma philosophy,
Louder than thunder, the way I'm crushin’ these rivalries.”
“I feel like the reason why I could execute the song really well was because I know what the game is about and what is needed in the game, the essentials of the game,” said Ofilia. “The one line that I think caught people’s attention was, ‘Rookie on the team, the path to mastery.’ ” She chuckles and added, “I think people must be like, ‘OK, she knows what a rookie is, I think she knows her basketball.’”
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In her own words, Hip-Hop is as important as breathing for Ofilia. But early in her life, she had started her journey singing gospel music in church, a sound that can clearly be heard in her music today.
Her initial few ventures outside of gospel led her to be a part of the cult Shillong collective The Rudy Wallang Band, as well as Dewdrops. She was also part of an acoustic band formed by her friends from Nepal called Eunoia Souls. It wasn’t until she met Pakyntein that she clearly figured that it was Hip-Hop where she wanted to shape her sound and pursue her solo career.
Another band she worked with was the Roots Reggae Band. That came about after she first met Andrea Tariang at NH7 Weekender in 2107 and they maintained contact ever since. Eventually, Tariang asked Ofilia to sing with her, and working together led to a familiarity that spawned a genuine friendship. Ofilia came to know of Tariang’s plan to release an EP, and the two set up a collaboration.
“I asked her what she wanted to write about, so that people could connect. And she wanted a ‘Jackson 5’ kind of vibe. I think Greg the producer executed that really well.” That collaboration for the Andrea Tariang Band resulted in Meba’s newest release, called ‘My Time’, featured on the Andrea Tariang Band EP.
Photo: Sumeet Ngangom
Ofilia said that she continues to be interested in exploring more collaborations with local musicians. “There are so many other bands and artists I’d love to work with, but, you know, schedules, and time - there’s so much to do and so little time.” Asked if there’s anyone she is itching to work with in particular, she’s quick to put on for a fresh face. “Particularly, there’s one girl - Claudia. I’m featuring her in my album this time. I’ve seen her grow as an artist as a young girl so I thought maybe it is time that I feature her in my album. But you’ll only get to listen to her once the album is out!”
Earlier this year, she also released “Lady Bizz”, a track that was released as a Women’s day special as a part of the first music release for She Said So (India) in collaboration with Azadi Records.
Ofilia’s early performances displayed a stage fright suffered by many young artists. But, in the pursuit of her passion, this is clearly not the case any longer. Ofilias confidence sparks much of the persona in her raps and songs.
“I think I’ve performed the most in Bombay. I hold Bombay close to my heart, because the response I got at the time, I did Control Alt Delete which was my first show in Bombay. I performed my original tracks. The response I got was glorious”
In June this year, denim brand Levi’s celebrated their 146th anniversary and brought the Levi’s 501 Day to Mumbai. On an artist bill that bragged the likes of Bas from the famous Dreamville label and Washington DC rapper Oddisee, Meba was right at home and delivered a short but charismatic set accompanied by her band.
Most recently, Ofilia performed back in her native locale, at the Shillong NH7 Weekender last month.
“NH7 Weekender this time was pretty awesome, the fact that I got to play for my own people. I didn’t know I had so many fans in Shillong! I honestly didn’t know. They showed up and I was like, Whaaaaattttt??????!!!! OK! They’re really repping for me!”
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Even after the success, the process of creating something new - something groundbreaking - remains a challenge.
“Sometimes I plan on writing a song. ‘OK. Today I will write a song, I will take my guitar and write a song’. But then nothing comes out. And then maybe a few lines begin to flow, maybe a verse and then I’m stuck. I’m like ‘Fuck this, I’m not doing this, I’m keeping the guitar and I’m sleeping’.”
“My direction and approach to music has drastically changed… I’m moving towards something different now and my new album is gonna speak out. Not many people know the singing side of me.”
Then, after a few days, she surprises herself with a fully formed song, coming to her seemingly out of nowhere. “It actually depends on the level of inspiration that I get by listening to different artists or different experiences. Because, everyday that I do this, it is a learning process for me. Sometimes I learn nothing and sometimes I learn so many things in one go.”
So what’s next?
Things are moving at a breakneck pace. Ofilia spends her days at work meticulously planning and focusing on interviews, videos and music recordings. Sometimes, she says that her best ideas come to her when she wants to call it a day. But she’s still taking her time to perfect her craft.
“My direction and approach to music has drastically changed,” she said. “I’m moving towards something different now and my new album [in process] is gonna speak out. Not many people know the singing side of me - they’ve not really heard me sing.”
She’s also working with Khasi Bloodz to make their first-ever album crowd-funded through Indiegogo, so fresh music is definitely on the horizon. And the stage, it seems, it set for Meba Ofilia raise the bar in Indian Hip-Hop.
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Nakul Yadav has contributed to nh7.in and NBA India. He is passionate about music, sports, and is here for all the Kobe smoke.
