From the recording "This Is Me (The Rap Prince)"
Dearest Person Who Reads This,
This song premiered globally on November 19th and 20th, 2022, as a performance in "True Colors Festival: The Concert 2022", back by the talented Soulmatics from Japan. This concert, hosted by the Nippon Foundation at the Tokyo Garden Theatre, featured over 90 talented, differently-abled performers from all over the world, as well as pop stars Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Katy Perry! Although I couldn't perform there in person due to major eye surgeries, I was able to perform virtually. The True Colors Festival team, as well as Fenix Studios in NY, helped me tremendously in the creation of the music and music video for this song (credits are at the end), so to them, I owe endless thanks.
This song marks a new era in my career, hip-hop, and the whole world of music, for a few reasons. First, it's the first rap song release where I'm the primary artist. Second, it's my most lyrically advanced rap song yet, containing internal rhyme schemes, rhyme strings, and several allusions—all while remaining clean, true to my stage name "Purhythm". Third, it's created in the new genre that I've pioneered, called "ragarap", which is the fusion of hip-hop and Indian classical music. Fourth and finally, this song is personal. It's inspiring. It's my life story. It’s a testament to everything I stand for. It's my introduction and vision statement to the world. This song IS me, in musical form, and marks nothing less than the inception of a musical movement that will "sparsh" ("touch" in Sanskrit) people's hearts all over the world!
All that said, NONE of this would've been possible without you, dear fan. Or rather, I say, dear friend. So while you read the credits below, know that my greatest thanks go to you. I just pray that you enjoy this song as much as I enjoyed creating it, and that it inspires you to become your most authentic self and "sparsh" the world however you can!
Credits
* Lyricist: Sparsh Shah (Purhythm)
* Creative / Music Director: Sydney Tan
* Music Produced and Arranged by: Sparsh Shah, Flightsch, Sydney Tan
* Film Directors: Daniel Yam and Jonathan Choo
* Film Recorded By: Fenix Studios
* Multimedia Director: Sally Lee (Black Canvas)
* Art Director: Yang Derong
* MultiMedia produced by Anomalyst Studio
* Multimedia Producer: Karis Lee
* Assistant Multimedia Director: Ben Kee
* Lead Designer: Lee Tong
* Lead Artist: Sparsh Shah (Purhythm)
* Additional Artists: Khairulddin Joha, Andre Ng, Mohd Farhan, Nur Nabilah, Joanna Lim, Leong Ding Xiong, Tan Jia Hui, Ella Tan, Athena Lee
With Music & Love,
Sparsh :)
Lyrics
{Intro}
[Ālāp in minor]
Yeah,
For everybody who wants to know the real artist,
The person behind the Eminem covers,
This. Is. ME.
{Verse One}
I was a broken boy,
Forty fractures coming,
Out of mommy’s tummy;
Forty-eight hours to live,
I was an unspoken dummy.
Barely could breathe,
Like a kid seethed,
In his mother’s milk;
I was bound to die,
Ain’t no lie;
Parents cried,
Life hung, a thread of silk.
But I survived that trial,
The first of many cases;
I revived, a young child,
Already going places.
I got a gift from God,
That was music, sowed the sod;
The notes all in my head,
The notes I said;
A wild journey those notes led.
Started with piano,
Broke my arms once or twice;
Couldn’t play,
Had to switch lanes;
Brittle bones were my vice.
So I started with North Indian,
Classical music, and;
I learned the Western side,
On my wheelchair, I would sing and ride.
First performance when I was seven,
Was my staircase up to Heaven;
Competitions, trophy cases,
No ignorance, no scared faces.
Wrote my first song when I was ten,
Since then;
I’ve been writing with no end,
I have not bent;
To society—
That’s not what I was meant to be!
Got my big break with “Not Afraid”,
Then I put out an album;
Higher rose stakes,
With every show I made;
Harder than the average could fathom.
Globetrottin',
Never stoppin',
Ere my death arrives;
I’m still climbing above,
With the wings of a Dove;
And the roar of a Lion,
But I’m still realizin’…
{Chorus}
Ye are gods,
But ye shall die like men;
And though I’m not a king,
My voice will still ring,
A prince with the power of pen!
{Post-Chorus}
[Of pen,] x7
The power [of pen!] x7
{Verse Two}
So I rise from the pain,
Where my purpose lies;
To my heartbeat’s boom,
Bars leave ‘em surprised;
This book never ends,
So this pen always writes;
With a Ghost in my words,
Yeah, I’m shining His light!
Rap flowin' like water,
My fire gets hotter;
The beat rockin’ harder,
Breath takin’ me farther;
Clean hip-hop jumpstarter,
The ragarap potter;
And poetry jotter,
Music is my fodder;
The complexity of my trappin’ rap's dexterity,
Beckons whim;
‘Cause I truly, fully am,
A tour de force to be reckoned with!
Rap blacksmith,
Silver seven times I sift;
Paradigm shifts,
Mend bridges or make rifts;
I make grooves and tunes that move and soothe,
Both me and you;
And keep it,
110 percent the truth.
Twinkle eyes,
Call’s divine;
Won’t sell my soul,
Not worth the gold;
Not here to kill,
But spread goodwill;
So peace, be still,
Let me share my skills;
Help us heal;
You can tell, I’m filled with zeal!
‘Cause this is only inception,
Hip-hop’s reigning succession;
I’m here to help reclaim,
A lost kingdom faded in regression!
So here arrives the next heir,
To separate the wheat from the tare;
I’mma stay bold, and I won’t be scared,
But even at my height, my mission will stay clear:
I’m ushering in,
A new era, since;
We are at a crossroads,
Stakes are immense;
That’s why I’m “Purhythm”,
Clean and rinsed;
I may not be the “Rap God”,
But I am a Rap Prince!
{Instrumental Break with Sargam}
Sā, sā, sā, sā, sā, ni sā,
Re, re, re, re, re, sā re,
Ga, ga, ga, ga, ma re pa!
{Bridge}
[Shine with love, and we’ll rise on top;] x3
Oh, yeah!
[Shine with love, and we’ll rise on top;] x3
Oh, yeah!
{Chorus}
Ye are gods,
But ye shall die like men;
And though I’m not a king,
My voice will still ring,
A prince with the power of pen!