User:Balajied Sungoh/sandbox

Introduction

Raphael Laloo is an Indian rapper, producer and singer-songwriter from Shillong, Meghalaya. His unique blend of hard-hitting beats and thought-provoking lyrics has earned him a dedicated fan base in his local area. His music reflects the struggles and triumphs of growing up in a small town, with a special emphasis on the youth culture and the local music scene. Even though he started off as a lyrical hip-hop artist he did not let that stop him from pursuing different genres like a melodic or hard trap to RnB. Raphael Laloo has also opened for artists like Jay Sean and When Chai Met Toast.

Early Life

Raphael Laloo was born on March 20, 1999, in Jowai, Meghalaya, to Arnold Massar and Late Barisha Laloo. Being born to a family of singers and musicians, Raphael Laloo was exposed to music like The Beatles, Scorpion and Nirvana to name a few, at a very young age but the first time he heard Mockingbird by Eminem he knew what he wanted to be in life. He started rapping, writing and producing music at the age of 10, met his first mentor Dutty J at the age of 14 and also released his first single under a different moniker through Storm Records. Aside from Eminem, Raphael Laloo draws heavy influences from artists like The Weeknd and Xxxtentacion. Even though he is inspired by many artists and bands from many different genres, those are the artists that he is influenced by the most.

'''Career ''' 2013-2016: Career beginnings and “Wasted”

Raphael Laloo began his career as a musical artist in late 2013 by releasing his music on sites such as Soundcloud and Reverbnation. With the help of Dutty J and his label Storm Records he kept this going for a few years, gaining fans and recognition among local artists. In 2015, he moved to Shillong and dropped the alias and started using his government name as his stage name. With the help of his father he bought a “Samson C01U” USB microphone, set up a small home studio and started recording music on his own. In 2016 he released his first music video “Wasted” with the help of his older brother Anvil R. Laloo.

2017-2018: Melodic Rap and “I Went Blind(staring at the amber sunset)”

After the release of “Wasted”, Raphael Laloo consequently released singles like “Jimmy Norman”, “Untitled” but he felt that as a rapper, the music in Shillong was not getting him anywhere as it had not come as far as it has now and he thought about quitting altogether, but thankfully in 2018 he heard “SAD!” by Xxxtentacion for the first time and it was like a trance, even though he had heard other songs in the style of melodic rap this was a whole other ball game. He studied this new sound, the production, the lyrics and with the help of MKGotFlowz he released “I Went Blind(staring at the amber sunset)” and he knew that this was what he wanted, for a second time, hip-hop saved his life.

2019-2021: “LALA”, “Paper” & “Don’t Sleep”

In 2019, Spotify was launched in India and “I Went Blind(staring at the amber sunset)” was re-released on all major streaming platforms. Raphael Laloo kept dropping singles like “CALLS”, “213” and “I’m Xory, My Bad” but with the help pf Ben Music he released “LALA” and he finally found the sound he was looking for. That same year he also released “I Went Blind(moonlight got me high)” which was a sequel to the first “I Went Blind(staring at the amber sunset)”. In 2020 during the start of the pandemic, Raphael released “BUTTERFLY HEARTBREAK” which was the only song he dropped that year. In 2021, the first single he released was a remix of “LALA” by Riot The Kid. Later that year he teamed up with Ben Music again and dropped “Paper” and was finally starting to make sense of this new sound. Before the end of 2021, he teamed up with B.A.D and released “Don’t Sleep” which was also the first song that he released under TMPros and that was the start of a new era.

2022: From “Paris” to “Poison Ivy”

During 2022, Raphael Laloo’s former manager urged him to look into songs in the style of afrobeats as he said the market was huge so Raphael Laloo started writing some lyrics to an afrobeat instrumental produced by B.A.D and released “So Far Away” as his first afrobeat song. That same year Raphael Laloo also released “Paris”, a hard hitting trap song he co-produced alongside B.A.D and “Poison Ivy”,a chill melodic trap song he co-produced alongside Ben Music. “Poison Ivy” was featured on a local newspaper “The Meghalayan” under the headline “Shillong artiste Raphael narrates tale of toxic connection through Poison Ivy”. Before the year ended, he teamed up with Frank.sin and Banjop to work on a hybrid dubstep-drill song and they released “P.T.F.D” which they also performed together when they opened for Jay Sean.

Musical Style and Influences

Raphael Laloo’s music mainly consists of hip-hop like trap, rap and melodic rap. He cites Eminem, The Weeknd and Xxxtentacion as his biggest influences but the rapper looks up to many artists from many different genres like Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Kanye West, Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G, Skrillex, Flume and Lil Baby.

Raphael started his musical endeavour as a lyrical hip-hop artist but as time passed his style took a more modern trap vibe, never forgetting his roots as a rap artist as he tries to extend his range as an artist with songs like “Wasted” which is a conscious rap about drug abuse to “LALA” a song that has a hard hitting trap beat that starts with “Can you drop it on the floor..” to “Poison Ivy” which has a melodic trap vibe where Raphael Laloo raps about 21st century heartbreak. He doesn’t shy away from challenges either with songs like “Overtime” where Ewod and Lammiki from the band “Larger Than 90” convinced Raphael to rap over a hard funk song for their self-titled EP.

Discography

Singles & Collaborations

I Went Blind(staring at the Amber Sunset)(2019)

CALLS(2019)

213(2019)

I’m Xory, My Bad(2019)

LALA(2019)

Overtime w/ Larger Than 90(2019)

I Went Blind(moonlight got me high)(2019)

BUTTERFLY HEARTBREAK(2020)

LALA(Riot The Kid Remix)(2021)

PAPER(2021)

Don’t Sleep(2021)

So Far Away(2022)

Paris(2022)

Poison Ivy(2022)

P.T.F.D(2022)