Posted on Apr 16, 2023
The improbable fame of a hijab-wearing teen rapper from a poor neighborhood in Mumbai
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/04/16/ [login to see] /the-improbable-fame-of-a-hijab-wearing-teen-rapper-from-a-poor-neighborhood-in-m
It is two hours to a high profile rap performance in front of thousands of people at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Saniya Mistri Qayammuddin – aka Saniya MQ – is waiting for her father to pick her up in his motorized auto rickshaw, a compact 3-wheel vehicle that he uses to ferry customers throughout the day. He is her designated chauffeur everytime she performs.
"I go in an auto even to the fanciest of places," she says. Saniya needs to be in the venue at least an hour in advance to do sound and music checks. "If my father has a customer in his auto already, he has to drop them off wherever they say first," she says, checking the time on her plastic wristwatch.
On this spring Sunday, the auditorium is teeming with people from the posh neighborhoods of central Mumba, who'll hear the 16-year-old rap about inequality. One of the headliners, she is dressed in orange slacks, a shimmering silk tunic called a kurta that covers her knees and a white and orange headscarf. She does not step out without her headscarf or hijab. She is Muslim and notes, "It is not that I am very religious, but I am out in the world to create my own identity, and now people recognize me as the girl in the hijab who raps."
It is two hours to a high profile rap performance in front of thousands of people at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Saniya Mistri Qayammuddin – aka Saniya MQ – is waiting for her father to pick her up in his motorized auto rickshaw, a compact 3-wheel vehicle that he uses to ferry customers throughout the day. He is her designated chauffeur everytime she performs.
"I go in an auto even to the fanciest of places," she says. Saniya needs to be in the venue at least an hour in advance to do sound and music checks. "If my father has a customer in his auto already, he has to drop them off wherever they say first," she says, checking the time on her plastic wristwatch.
On this spring Sunday, the auditorium is teeming with people from the posh neighborhoods of central Mumba, who'll hear the 16-year-old rap about inequality. One of the headliners, she is dressed in orange slacks, a shimmering silk tunic called a kurta that covers her knees and a white and orange headscarf. She does not step out without her headscarf or hijab. She is Muslim and notes, "It is not that I am very religious, but I am out in the world to create my own identity, and now people recognize me as the girl in the hijab who raps."
The improbable fame of a hijab-wearing teen rapper from a poor neighborhood in Mumbai
Posted from npr.org
Mumbai
Religion
Islam
Poetry
Music
Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."A breakthrough moment
Her big break came about a year ago when she performed on a national television show hosted by top Hindi film producers and actors. The show, Hunarbaaz, which means "the talented," is a bit like America's Got Talent.
Today she is the heartthrob of the city of about 20 million people. A recent comment on her Instagram profile reads, "One girl with courage is a revolution @saniya_mq and that girl is YOU."
Her fame has brought her to major venues in the city including the National Center for the Performing Arts, Mumbai's equivalent of the Kennedy Center. She is paid for some of her performances, but the money isn't enough to enable her family to move to nicer quarters.
Reflecting on her art, she says, "I think I am a better poet, but people say I am a better rapper."
Her parents, she says, ask her to balance her studies with her YouTube channel. So she keeps up with her schoolwork, writing rap songs and shooting videos when she's done studying. Asked about her future goals, she says she doesn't yet know.
On a windy January afternoon, two young girls stride into Saniya's small home. She doesn't know who they are. They are from Govandi, the same neighborhood. They pull out their phones and ask Saniya to take pictures with them. Saniya is used to this. "I do have some fans," she says coyly.
The girls have seen Saniya rapping on the TV show and have been in awe of her ever since. One of them is 11-year-old Falak Naaz. "I want to become like her," Falak says. But Saniya tells Falak she has it all wrong. Do not follow anyone's footsteps. Create your own path. "You are your own strength," she tells Falak."
..."A breakthrough moment
Her big break came about a year ago when she performed on a national television show hosted by top Hindi film producers and actors. The show, Hunarbaaz, which means "the talented," is a bit like America's Got Talent.
Today she is the heartthrob of the city of about 20 million people. A recent comment on her Instagram profile reads, "One girl with courage is a revolution @saniya_mq and that girl is YOU."
Her fame has brought her to major venues in the city including the National Center for the Performing Arts, Mumbai's equivalent of the Kennedy Center. She is paid for some of her performances, but the money isn't enough to enable her family to move to nicer quarters.
Reflecting on her art, she says, "I think I am a better poet, but people say I am a better rapper."
Her parents, she says, ask her to balance her studies with her YouTube channel. So she keeps up with her schoolwork, writing rap songs and shooting videos when she's done studying. Asked about her future goals, she says she doesn't yet know.
On a windy January afternoon, two young girls stride into Saniya's small home. She doesn't know who they are. They are from Govandi, the same neighborhood. They pull out their phones and ask Saniya to take pictures with them. Saniya is used to this. "I do have some fans," she says coyly.
The girls have seen Saniya rapping on the TV show and have been in awe of her ever since. One of them is 11-year-old Falak Naaz. "I want to become like her," Falak says. But Saniya tells Falak she has it all wrong. Do not follow anyone's footsteps. Create your own path. "You are your own strength," she tells Falak."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Quite a Talented Young Lass! Poetry? Music? Hell I'd Have trouble Chewing Gum and Walking at the Same Time!
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