A dalit rapper uses his verses as a weapon to take on an unequal society

Sumeet Samos tries to critique the society and its fallacious ideology of dividing human beings on the basis of caste

24-year-old Sumeet Samos could have joined the government. He could have used tools of affirmative action offered by Indian society to enter the system and change it from within. Instead, he has chosen a path that is as full of struggles that his his clansmen face. Samos is a rebel poet.He uses the musical/poetry form of rap  to create awareness about casteism and develop a powerful anti-caste narrative. A postgraduate student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) -- a hub of student activism -- Samos recently completed his masters in Spanish Language and Latin American Literature. He is associated with Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), which helped him refine and sharpen the Ambedkarite anti-caste discourse.

Hailing from a small village Tentulipadar in the Koraput district of southern Odisha, the young rapper belongs to the community of Doms, a scheduled caste in India. After his selection in JNU, Samos started participating in student activism and also extensively read Dalit literature. With personal experience and his view of an anti-caste India, Samos makes a conscious effort to bring about change in the mindset of the Indian society. "My lived experience, my reading and my activism are what I bring together to articulate caste through rap," he told Business Standard.

So how and why did Samos choose such an unconventional medium of questioning the regressive caste system of India? "While participating in student activism roles in JNU, I felt that writing articles and giving speeches becomes boring after a certain point of time. Apart from that, to cater to a larger audience, especially the young turks of the nation who have the capability to bring change in the society, I chose a more popular medium and started my journey of protest rap" he said.

Samos says: "My rap-style and its lyrics are very critical of the society. They questions the distinction between human beings on the basis of caste and subsequently, the idea of placing them in a particular profession solely based on his or her caste."

Unlike other rappers Samos reaches out to a much larger crowd of India with unique multi-lingual rapping style with his compositions in Odia, Hindi and English. He paints a picture of the grotesque realities of a caste-ridden society, unnerving the audience, and holding a mirror to their complicity.

He also adheres to the stronger idea of 'writing back' to the dominant cultures. "My compositions emphasise on how the marginalised castes, those at the bottom of the community are protesting against such casteism. I have been seeing boys from Maharashtra's Dharavi or Nala Sopara areas rapping over various issues. But these are more personal testimonies to their local problems. My compositions focus on the very core of the system that most of the other protestors term as corrupt. I want to get to the bottom of this system and question the genesis of it. And to do that, I have to not just resist casteism, but also give voice to the marginalised, queer communities and highlight their achievements and intellectual prowess," Samos said.

Highly influenced by Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' and his critique of the treatment of blacks in US, Samos composed a strong counter-narrative of the condition of Odisha. He exposed the false glorification of a history of a caste-ridden state. Titled "The Tale of Odisha", his composition highlights how the dominant cultures and class look at the marginalised - with contempt. Through this rap, he exposes the violent contradictions of the idea of a unified ‘society’ of Odisha and the quotidian religious beliefs. In one stanza of his composition, he talks about the supremacy of the Jagannath Temple's priestly class who control the political discourse of the state and deprives the lower castes of any opportunities.

Samos' first official rap single “Ladai Seekh Le” released last week. Ladai Seekh Le or ‘get used to resistance’ is about caste-based discrimination from birth, culminating recent Dalit suicides in the country like the Rohit Vemula's case and ends with the Bathani Tola and Laxmanpur Bathe massacres that led to the killing of several Dalits. "There are certain castes that are either glorifies or criminalised. The caste tag that you belong to is pressed upon you since birth. Right from the day you are born, you are made to associate yourself with a particular caste that will condition your whole being." He cites the example of such a practice in the highest political authorities in India. "People always tag Ram Nath Kovind as a Dalit President, but no one tags Pranab Mukherjee as a Brahmin President. We need to detest this tagging system. At the same time, I am also telling my people that we have to live through this: so get used to resistance," he says.

Samos says those punished twice on account of caste are women. He says a lot of Dalit women supported him throughout his journey. "Right from my mother, I have always been influenced by a lot of Dalit women. My personal inspirations are Savitri Bai Phule and Phoolan Devi," he adds.

Samos is a poet of anger, of resistance and revolution. He is committed to bringing about a major change in the country, especially in the political scenario. His narratives and his compositions glorify the marginalised. He aims to give voices to them and ultimately make that voice fall into the ears of the so-called dominant castes that run the country. "If anyone in this country can make it more democratic, it is the marginalised human and I always recognise with that," he says. He has decided to pursue higher studies in creative writing abroad and keep composing and writing relentlessly about casteism.