‘No Boundaries’ to Hollywood

One of the pioneers of Hip Hop in Bangladesh, Black Zang's career in the craft spans more than a decade. His song, No Boundaries, was recently included in Extraction, which is now one of the most watched movies on Netflix. The artiste talks to The Daily Star about his latest achievement, career, and more.

Congratulations on your music making it into a Hollywood movie. When did you get to know No Boundaries will be included in Extraction?

Thank you very much. The film's team was in consultation with Wahid Ibn Reza, who suggested that there should be some authentic Bangla rap songs in it. They eventually listed the artistes and songs that they could feature, and the songs eventually narrowed down to No Boundaries and Cypher Bangla 2k16 by IRFU, Dorpon RVS, Somrat Sij, Punkstah, VXL, Nizam Rabby and Golam. A big shout out to those young rappers as well!

Tell us about the inception of No Boundaries.

No Boundaries is an international collaboration project, which came together as I toured the UK with Dee MC and Naezy from India. Dee MC and I recorded the song on Naezy's cellphone in our hotel room during that time! The music was composed by Saif I, and was mixed and mastered in the USA. The video was shot primarily in London, with the first part being in Paris. As you see, there are no boundaries when it comes to Hip Hop music, and the song reflects just that. The song is licensed under DesiHipHop, and I would like to thank DJ Raf and Hardik Dave from the team for their support.

Where do you see the Bangladeshi rap industry at this time?

I feel like there is a lot of promise in it. I used to have a day job, but I left it to follow my dreams and become a full-time rapper. Hip Hop artistes are making a lot of money with endorsements, as they cross over to the influencing industry and are able to attract investments from there as well. Even though we are going through a pandemic at the moment, I feel like it is going to be a good year for rap music. This is just the start.