Hip-Hop may not be the most popular genre of music in Bangladesh

Hip-Hop may not be the most popular genre of music in Bangladesh, but it does have its fair share of listeners. Unfortunately however, there hadn't been any Bangladeshi Hip-Hop band/music till now. But the recent trend that we see in our musicians today to express themselves in different ways and to experiment with different elements of music has finally made the deshi Hip-Hop fans' dream come true. Stoic Bliss's debut album Light Years Ahead is the first attempt to (as the album cover says) “get your @$$es off from the sofa/couch and start dancing and shaking that thing to the 'Grand Tradition of Hip-Hop.”

Stoic Bliss is a group of nine New York based young Bangladeshi musicians Kazi, Rajib, Fly, B1shop, Rul, Ac1D, Tizzy, Xtro and Mana. While Rajib (from the band Warfare of the Maya and Re-Evolution fame), a familiar face in the music community is the music director of this experimental project, all the others act as both rappers and lyricists. The whole album was, almost unbelievably, recorded with only one instrument a Korg Triton. The album, being the first of its kind, adds a new dimension to Bangla music. Previously, it was a popular notion that Hip-Hop would lose its appeal if composed in Bangla. But Stoic Bliss has gone a long way in disproving this idea. Not only do all the tracks in the album have Bangla lyrics (most have a combination of Bangla and English), but also have they been composed in such a way that neither the lyrics nor the tunes seem out of place. This is, in fact, Stoic Bliss's greatest achievement to have found the perfect balance between the language and the music.

The first track of the album is titled 'Abar Jigay??' . This song is like an ode to our beloved Dhaka City and uses colloquial Dhakaite Bangla. It's a fun track and does well to set the listener's mood up for the rest of the album. Stoic Bliss do admit that the music is actually inspired from Sean Paul's song 'Deport Dem'. The next track is named 'Party at PianoHouse'. PianoHouse is basically a music store in Rifles Square, and the intro of the song is about that store. This song also introduces the amazing vocal of Mana and has a nice beat. The next track of the album 'Chow Mei Fun' is another nice song with really funny lyrics. 'Prem… Mrittyur Por' is an average sort of a track, but still B1shop's rapping in the song is pretty impressive. The next track, 'Mayabi Chokh' is probably the best track of the album. It's a romantic song with a very catchy tune. The song is definitely an excellent party song. 'Sheshbarer Moto' is another romantic track that is pretty decent. 'Badman Returns' is inspired from 'The Hata'z Anthem' of Kane'z Beatz Productions. It's one of those 'hardcore' Hip-Hop songs, but again the English rap is very good. The next track 'Bangladesh' is, as the name suggests, about our country. The lyrics of the song is very powerful and moving (both Bangla and English), although the Bangla pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired. But still, this is one of the best songs of the album. 'The Epitome' is the next track of the album. It's another 'traditional' Hip-Hop number. The track, 'Roktim Shinghashon' is Kazi's solo piece. This is probably the only song in the album that doesn't have English lyrics; it's a nice song anyway. 'Deceptive measures' is another traditional Hip-Hop sort of a track that many might not find very interesting. The last track of the album is 'Eto Raag?', an instrumental number.All in all, the album is pretty good, considering the fact that it's the first album of its kind. The rapping is way better than the other raps in Bangla songs done so far. The lyrics, just like any other Hip-Hop lyrics, is a little explicit (but not so much as to being vulgar). But all credit goes to Stoic Bliss for pioneering the Hip-Hop movement in Bangla. This album is, therefore, a must buy for any dedicated fan of Bangla music.