Indigo child brings spirituality to hip hop

Strongly influenced by spirituality, Dhilen Pukree from Tongaat aims to change the face of hip hop music by continuously pushing the boundaries of music.

The unconventional 19-year-old rapper took a keen interest in hip-hop at the tender age of nine.

He describes himself as an “Indigo child,” meaning one who is believed to possess special, unusual and spiritual traits.

As Pukree grew, his sound and lyrics drifted further from the “typical hip hop sound”, songs about money and woman, to more spiritual, open minded music that tackles a variety of real and current issues around the world.

“My mother introduced me to rap music when I was fairly young. I wrote my first song when I was nine and for a while it was the normal hip hop stuff.

“As I read more, and listened to other artists like Capital Steez I started thinking deeper when it came to lyrics.

“My music varies because I would like for everyone to be able to relate to my sound.

“I do write a few typical hip hop songs about money and bling, but I also write a lot of music relating to for example, the third eye which is regarded as the eye of insight or your inner eye that provides perception beyond what meets the ordinary.

“I make fun music as well that people can just vibe to.”

Pukree said most of his lyrics are written when he is in a meditative state.

“My sound depends on my emotions and environment. None of my songs include any profanity as the aim of my music is to get people to think outside of their comfort zones, not to rot children’s brains. That is what artists should be doing, using their art as a way to challenge and develop people.”

Describing himself as a “sound cloud rapper,” at the age of 16 Pukree recorded his first original song. He has since performed at Hotshots nightclub in Tongaat and used the internet as a medium to connect with other local and international artists – showing that music really is a universal language.

“I use a lot of instrumental music from various artists.

“Recently I had a lot of fun with something called Cypher. This is where different artists around the world rap to the same beat. Each artists records a video. The videos from the different artists are then combined to make one song.”

The second year business management student said he tries to find a balance between music and his studies but he sees the two as essential to his success.

“The area I live in is largely influenced by crime and drugs.

“I am always reading, always growing and always learning as I believe that this will motivate me to grow beyond my surroundings.

“I have been working on a new song for some time now. It will be coming out soon.”

To listen to Pukree’s music follow him on Facebook at Dhilen Dead or Instagram at Dhilen.Indigo.

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