Waking Grunt: Representing His Goan Roots through Hip-Hop

When it comes to Hip Hop in India, we unfortunately think only of desi hip hop. India being a diverse country, each state has its own separate official language. Hindi being the most widely spoken language in India is mainly the reason why a lot of musical talent from other languages go unnoticed or have to work twice as hard to be noticed. Goa has Konkani as one of it’s official languages and we do come across a lot of music from Konkani musicians. There still existed a huge void in the genre of hip hop in Goa. We hadn’t heard of rap in Konkani until recent times which has given an opening to artists to take Konkani rap to the world stage. 

Amit Jaiwant Naik, more popularly known as ‘Waking Grunt’ is a Konkani rapper hailing from Goa. His popularity shot up in Goa through his Youtube channel where he mixes satire and comedy with hip-hop. With Konkani being his mother tongue, he incorporates the language into his lyrical text which has won the hearts of his fellow Goans. He is an independent rapper trying to make it in the rap game with his lyrics and music. He creates music that listeners can connect and relate to, thus overcoming the obstacles of being a Rapper in Goa. His talent didn’t go unnoticed and is now signed onto a record label called Buenos Muzik which is guiding him to take his music to the world platform. 

Life can be amazing if you know what you wanna become. 

Waking Grunt

At Goan Insider we had a one-to-one chat with Amit. The excerpts of our conversation are below.

Tell us a little about yourself

I am Amit Jaiwant Naik, better known by my stage name ‘Waking Grunt’. I’m a Rapper, Singer and Lyricist from Naroa village in Bicholim Taluka, Goa. I am mainly known for my songs and parodies which you can find on my YouTube channel. Before getting into music, I was working as a junior mining engineer in a private company and also as a sub-editor at one of Goa’s top news channels.  

What inspired your artist name ‘Waking Grunt’?

At first, Waking Grunt was formed as a band. Our memebers were Vasudev Gaonkar on drums, Prajyot Mainkar on bass guitar, myself on acoustic guitar and Vaibhav Tari would do our music production, arrangement and videography. Our music was not sounding professional that time as we all had just started learning. Hence, we chose the word ‘Grunt which means ‘unpleasant sound’. We focused on making songs based on social issues to create awareness. Therefore, we chose the word ‘Waking’ to go along with it, leading to the coining of “Waking Grunt”. The band did not last for long and I, along with Vaibhav Tari kept the YouTube channel going by uploading regular content. Over the passing years, people started knowing me as ‘Waking Grunt’ and now it is my stage name.

What got you into music? Did you undergo any training?

During my high school days I dreamed of being a musician one day. However, I never acted on it until I was 20 years old. I was working at the time and had joined guitar classes to give myself a last shot at music. Education had become a business and when I couldn’t afford the fees of the guitar class as I lost my job due to the mining ban in Goa in 2012, I had to leave the guitar course. Now I just know basics of acoustic guitar and I have not taken any training of any sort for rapping. I am a self-taught rapper.

When was the exact first moment you realized that you wanted to make a career in music? How many years you have been doing that?

Although I dreamed of becoming a pop singer one day, getting recognized as a Rapper was an accident. Vaibhav and I started our YouTube channel in 2015 and were uploading content for fun. Back then, I used to write poems a lot and after losing my job due to the mining ban, I was really frustrated with life. In 2014, I wrote a few lines in Konkani and recorded it over a YouTube beat. I shared the recording with my friends and to my surprise, it went viral and people started demanding for more. Our journey has not been well organized and we have been on and off for a long time. I can say we are into this for more than 5 years.

What are your favorite music genres? Have you released any music in them?

I listen to all music genres. Whatever sounds good to me is my favorite. My music is produced by my friends Squishy-Stone, Dattu Sawal, Kritz Gaunekar and it is mostly hip hop. You can find my releases on my YouTube channel.

What is the inspiration behind your music and lyrics?

I believe music is all about expressing one’s emotions.  Lyrics are mainly based on my experience of life or my emotional connect to the subject I am writing about. Inspiration is everywhere. The little things we do in life, the conversations we have with everyone, the things we are attached with, the pain we are dealing with; everything inspires me to write something about it.

What skills do you think are needed to be a successful artist or rapper?

I do not know what success means, but being honest to your music is a way of bringing the best out of you. Hard work, determination, self belief and many more things are required to be a good musician. However, that strong feeling of not giving up actually plays a major role in keeping you on right track.  Always be open for criticism and never feel offended; stay humble and you shall be respected.  

You were the first Konkani rapper to get verified on YouTube. How did you achieve this?

I have been signed onto a music label called ‘Buenos Muzik’. They have been managing me since 2019 and so far, they have helped me a lot to grow. They had applied for my YouTube verification and it was really a surprise to me. The verification has made me more confident about my future and I really hope that there are many good things to come.

You are associated with any label? How is it working with them?

Being a part of ‘Buenos Muzik’ has turned my life around. When I started with my journey, I did not know how this industry works and my label has been a really good mentor. We recently did a collaboration with a Californian artist ‘Justice Soul’ for the Hindi remake of song ‘Too Lit To Quit’. Many more projects are pending due to Covid-19 crisis.

Tell us about your involvement in the film industry of Goa.

I am well known for my contribution to Swapnil Shetkar’s Konkani film, ‘Questao De Confusao’ with a promotional song which had its commercial release in Goa. I have also collaborated with Film Director Milroy Goes for the ‘WELCOME M1LL10NS’ movie which featured a snippet of ‘Khaddyaan Podlo, my Konkani parody song. This movie was released in Los Angeles, USA and also contested at the 91st Academy Awards. In the recent times I have contributed to John D’silva’s movie, ‘Pedru Poder’ with a Rap song.

How is the music industry in Goa?

Goa’s music industry is booming faster than my expectations. In the last 5 years, I have come across many amazing tracks and with passing time it is getting more advanced.

Not necessarily monetary, how have the rewards been so far in this career?

It has been an amazing journey so far. People know me for my songs. I have people come up and ask to click a selfie with me when I go out. Some thank me for motivating them while others respect my honesty. What more can I expect? All the above mentioned things are priceless and I guess they would be my biggest reward.

Whats the one piece of advice you would like to give for an upcoming artist?

Never Give up. Our mind is the biggest liar. It tricks us in believing that we are not good enough in what we chose to do. Hard work always pays off, so hang in there.

I just want people to know that I also make mistakes. I also have been fooled and many a times, even used. We are humans after all and we are imperfect. We only become wiser from bad experiences in life so it is okay to feel low. It is okay if you are rejected by someone, or if you are overweight or underweight, to feel the unbearable pain alone. Don’t be harsh on yourself and don’t be too numb. Life can be amazing if you know what you wanna become. 

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from you get up till you hit the bed at night?

My day is just normal like everyone else. Mostly boring I can say. I am more of a night person so I stay up till dawn and wake up late. Nights are peaceful as it holds the silence which helps me to focus on things I like to do. This pandemic has flipped everyone’s world upside down so being at home is the best option to stay safe. I do watch movies in my free time but social media is the biggest distraction of all. There is no specific schedule for making music or writing lyrics. I just do it when I feel like.

What is next for you?

I do not know. Whatever comes my way I would take it and make it memorable. Many projects are pending which I need to complete at the earliest and then maybe I could make a wish list.

To know more about Waking Grunt visit his Instagram account.

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