Expression

Know the Artist

My name is Akshay (stage name: Akshay zAck). I am a rapper by passion and a trainee Data Scientist at NIIT Technologies Ltd. by profession. I have recently been into the top five underground rappers of Delhi as per the established rappers Raftaar and Kr$na (Gully Boy Movie fame) at the contest ‘the Gully bhai show’ lead by Hit 95 FM. Two of my raps that took me to the top were ‘Haalat’ and ‘Aag’. Haalat (my single) is also available on platforms like iTunes, Saavn, Hangama, Spotify etc.

How did it start?

I had a habit of writing my daily personal journal. One day I read what I had written 5 years ago, it stated “One day I will surely launch my own music video when I start earning”. I was staggered after reading that line because that fine day, I realized that it has already been 3 years since I am earning money but still I did not have a faintest idea of propelling my music video. It made me introspect myself; I asked myself “Why did I write that line? Did I write that line just for the sake of it? Is rap just another hobby? Should I dump those pieces of paper with lyrics and verses in a dustbin or should I actually be the man of my words and do what I actually wanted to? I picked the last mentioned and chose to work over it instead of simply discussing it.

It has been more than 10 years that I am writing raps and I finally started my YouTube channel Akshay zAck (formerly known as ‘Artists under construction’) with the first official music video of mine titled ‘Corporate Mazdoori’ on 18th February 2018. It voiced my corporate life at Nagarro, where I used to work as an Associate Lead (Software engineering) until 26th July 2018. It was difficult to dispatch a music video with a restricted spending plan, yet my energy propped me up and I did it for myself. I spent a total of 2500 rupees on recording/mixing mastering/shooting/composition/editing. My friends helped me shooting the scenes using my phone; I myself shot some chunks of the video and then edited the video on my own (just to save some cash). Now, I have a decent number of videos on my channel as well as on a record label too. It is tough to sail on two boats simultaneously, yet I do it as rapping gives me happiness and employment gives me cash to appreciate that joy of mine.

 

– Akshay zAck

MBA – IDS I