You really know you’ve made it big when a Starbucks coffee is named after you in India–‘Hard Kaur Hip Hop Combo’. Born in India as Taran Kaur Dhillon, UK’s Queen of Hip Hop, Hard Kaur’s life has been a journey from India to the UK, rags to riches — a story indicative of any immigrant community. Bullied at school because of her Indian accent, Taran fought against the stereotypes in the early 90s by finding a voice in Hip Hop where the evolution of Hard Kaur began, transforming the cries of a timid girl into the fearless roars of a woman with an unstoppable, truly unique and authentic talent.
After struggling for a decade to be taken seriously in the male dominated world of Hip Hop where even performing on stage with the likes of De La Soul and Justin Timberlake did not help her bag a record deal, Hard Kaur finally exploded onto the scene after being featured on one of India’s top selling singles of 2007, “Glassy”. This was the beginning of a momentum that continues today, as she quickly released her debut solo album Supawoman which she penned, recorded and performed songs on that were based on her life’s experiences and consequential belief system. This exuberant collection of hard hitting songs remained in the top ten Indian charts for six consecutive weeks, attracting some of Bollywood’s biggest music producers who lined up to add her poetic lyrical style and unique melodic flavour to their movie songs. This followed a barrage of hit songs like “Bas Ek Kinng” (Sing Is Kinng, 2008), “Taali” (Ugly Aur Pagli, 2008) and “Move Your Body” (Johnny Gadar, 2007), which was the highest selling record and download in India in 2007. Now signed to India’s biggest record label BIG Music as a priority act, Hard Kaur is working on her second solo album scheduled for release this winter, on the back of which she’s getting ready to take North America by storm!
Read On…
When I first heard about you, I thought that you were a British born Indian girl because you exude that British Asian Midlands vibe but then I read that you were in fact born in India and came to the UK after the Punjab riots of 1984. I realized that there was more to the evolution of Hard Kaur than meets the eye. I’d like to start the interview at that point where I feel Hard Kaur was born — when you first arrived in the UK and what brought you there.
People look at you when you’ve made it and say “look at where she is” but no one wants to look at what you’ve had to do to get there. You don’t choose what happens to you in your life. The ’84 riots happened and my father died, and my mum wanted a better future for me and my brother, and as a single parent she couldn’t handle it alone so she remarried and we moved to the UK. I felt that my mum took so much trouble on, to give us a better life when my father died in the ’84 riots. Just imagine, her husband dies and my grandparents kick her out of the house and say that they are keeping the children so in retaliation, my mum goes away, gets a flat and then we run away with her and then we ran away to the UK and within ten years, she achieves things that people living in England couldn’t achieve in forty or fifty years. I think that if she can do it with everything that she had to deal with, I can do it.
She was also the victim of domestic abuse. Can you tell me about this and how it affected your perception of men at that age?
She was married to a man that was beating her. After six years of watching this, I kicked the s**t out of him and got my mum away from him. I told her that you don’t need a man or have to worry about the Indian community thinking that if you don’t have a man in your life you’re an idiot. I told her that, “You, me and my little brother are fine, and I’ll help you so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
Growing up in the UK, what problems did you encounter ‘fitting in’ as an Indian immigrant in a British Asian and generally British environment?
The first memories I have going to school were of people laughing at me because I had two plaits. I never used to argue back or stand up for myself. I was too nice and that’s how my mum had brought me up. She would tell me not to fight and to be nice to everyone because school was about studying and to study, you had to get along with people, but I wanted to do something to change why I was getting bullied because I didn’t have an English accent. They used to call me freshie and think we lived in huts in India. So I used to hang around at school with the Black girls because they liked me because I could dance well. They used to say, “Hey you can move for an Indian girl!” So at lunchtime I started sitting on the same table and in class I started sitting on the same table and that’s when I start to discover hip hop and reggae and I’m just about speaking English properly because by now it’s been three years. The problem I had was that I couldn’t sit with the nerd lot because they didn’t want to know me; I couldn’t sit with the ‘it’ girls because all they would do is talk about boys and my mum told me to stay away from boys. There was so much segregation in school where you had to decide if you’re gonna sit at the Muslim table, the Bengali table, the nerd table, the ghetto table. I chose to hang around with Black people because they liked me for who I was and they didn’t judge me because I was from India.
Is that how you got exposed to the world of Hip Hop music?
Yeah, and I fell in love with Hip Hop then.
What was it about Hip Hop that was so intriguing for you?
In the UK, everyone is a wannabe gangster so the way I used to get through to them was to speak to them in their own language. I love Hip Hop music itself but I also love its attitude.
What’s that?
You can be you.
So how did you take this love to the next level and make a career out of it?
I said to myself, “Right, I really want to do this.” It wasn’t just because the music gave me confidence and I could say what I wanted and wear what I wanted, but I felt that this was my way out, this was my way of having a voice. There were so many things I had to prove like people from India aren’t stupid and I wanted to show the boys that girls can rap also and Blacks and Whites that Brown people can rap and show the family that my mum raised us good because I was gonna be successful. There were so many reasons that I had to make this work so I went to my mum and told her that I want to rap as soon as I leave school at sixteen and she said, “Are you sure?” and I said “Yes”.
So as an Indian and that too, a woman, how did you think you were going to be taken seriously in this male-dominated world?
Fifteen years ago in the UK, no Indian people went to the Hip Hop night at the clubs. I would be the only Indian and only girl and in the beginning, this was real tough because I would get the run around when I wanted to rap at open mic nights. They used to say “Indian girl wanting to rap? Ha, ha, ha!” and they wouldn’t give me the mic. The following week I would come back and they still wouldn’t give me the mic. So the following week, I came back with ten boys and then I got the mic. Once I got the mic, I killed it!
Then?
Then I was in my room for four years just writing, writing, writing because I wasn’t doing this for the novelty factor. I wanted to be good. I wanted to be able to impress anyone no matter what their colour because I wanted them to say, “Yo, you’re a real good rapper.” I didn’t want them to say that I was a wicked rapper for an Indian girl.
What were your early struggles?
I could do a show and the men, these Indian men who were supposed to pay me, would have me waiting around. They would say, “Come back in fifteen minutes,” so I would come back after fifteen minutes and they would say, “Oh, come back after half an hour” so I would come back after half an hour and they would say, “What’s your problem? You’ll get your money, just go home and come back tomorrow.” So then I smartened up and would walk in with some ‘dirty’ security and they would be like, “Hi how you doing, do you want some food, some drinks?” See the difference?
Yes. So now you had a repertoire of songs you wrote. What came next?
One thing led to another and I started getting shows for all around the world. I’ve been to Israel, Russia, Germany and France. One time when I was in Germany, someone from the Refugee Camp came up to me and said, “Wow! You’re amazing; we’ve been looking for an act like you. Why don’t you come to New York?” So I went to New York and recorded with the Refugee Camp [Wyclef Jean, Pras and Lauryn Hill]. Then I came back to the UK because I wanted to do my solo stuff.
Is this when you got your big break?
No. It’s all good, it’s all great but I learnt that even though I’m performing on stage with De La Soul or Justin Timberlake, it wasn’t enough when it comes to the UK.
Why?
Record labels would say that they love my image, they love my music but they don’t know how to push me because I’m Indian. This was fifteen years in the past before Raghav and Jay Sean.
So how did you break through?
Well, the last six, seven years have been amazing, but my mum helped me for the first ten years. I remember she used to say, “You get up 3 ‘o clock in the morning and work with me all day until 9 ‘o clock at night. Then you go and do your show and then come back and you only get one hour sleep.” She used to worry about me but she was getting older and needed more help in the beauty salon. We couldn’t let the business go down because that was what we were getting paid from, so I started running the business and at the same time, looking for ways to move my career to the next level.
So how did you do that?
I realized that it wasn’t just about what I know but who I know, and that it’s not just about who I know but how much man power I had. In 2003, I knew that if I didn’t kick this up right now, my mum is not going to help me anymore because she’s gonna get fed up. I had to kick this up because I knew that there would be loads of people who would say to my mum, “Yeah, now she’s come in line. Indian girls should be at home, get married and make babies.” So as soon as I finished performing with Justin Timberlake, I came home and released “Glassy” and that amazingly went to number one.
Not long after that, you went to India where you have been working a lot, with music producers lining up to add your distinct rap sound to their movie songs in Bollywood. How did you go from the UK to Bollywood?
“Glassy” made it big but I thought it was gonna be banned or something because of the lyrics but it became my number one anthem and I started going to India to perform and next thing I knew was that I’m getting calls from big Bollywood music producers who want me to do a Bollywood song for Johnny Gadar and I say, “What! Oh my gosh I’m gonna do a Bollywood movie!” and this just started the ball rolling for all the other offers. I got to write and rap for Bollywood movies. One after the other I’ve done songs for movies like Singh Is Kinng, Kismet Konnection, Bachna Haseena and at the same time, I’m recording my new album so yeah, I’m on it!
You sure are girl! You’re a workaholic!
Day and night, I work, work, work and sometimes I don’t even get a chance to go to the toilet! (Laughs)
Why do you feel you’re a big pull in Bollywood right now, even though Indians have been rapping for a while?
Artists come from America and the UK and think they can make it. Bollywood isn’t easy because you’re faced with musical artists from the producers to the musicians who are brilliant at what they do and they take what they do really seriously and want to work with people who understand that mindset. Not all artists from abroad get that so they find it hard to work under those circumstances. I take my work very seriously and always go into it wanting to do my best. I don’t want one song I do to sound like another so I work hard at writing lyrics and melodies that are original every time. That’s why everyone in Bollywood says that they can’t call anyone but me because I do a good job. I’m not about writing some words in English and thinking the songs are going to be a hit because people who listen to music, take music seriously so I strive to be credible in everything I write and make it work for the song. I remember the first year I was in India and some promoter wouldn’t pay me for a show I did for him but I didn’t let it go. I just finished a Bombay show and as soon as I landed in Delhi, the Commissioner of police came to the airport and made sure that I got paid. The people around me saw, “Yo! She’s hooked up!” You don’t have to do anything bad or wrong in this business to get ahead like a lot of people think. I never have. It’s all about respect.
How, in your opinion, do the actors and actresses view you being that you come from a very different world than them? What do they make of you because you’re completely out-of-the-box they live and work in?
One thing I’ve noticed in life is that the first thing people do is wonder who you are. Then they want to know what you’re doing. That can go two ways. Either they can say, “Wow this is brilliant!” or they can say, “Who the hell does she think she is?” 80-90 per cent–I’m getting pure love. All I know is that I’m not going to change. I’m going to be me and I’m not going to become like anybody else, and it’s as simple as that. I think people are giving me a lot of love because I’m not like everybody else. I’ll say it to your face and I won’t lick anyone’s arse and I don’t say “Sirji, Sirji” or touch anyone’s feet the way they do in Bollywood. I just say, “Hi! Got any work?” I do the work, [ask] “Where’s my cheque? Thank you very much.” I make them laugh and go.
Was your mum the inspiration behind Supawoman or was it what she inspired you to become, that Supawoman is based on?
My mum. She’s my idol for everything. I’ve gone through all my life thinking that she’s so much older than me and she came to England with nothing and also had the pressure of having to feed, clothe and raise two small children, work and go to college, and she can’t speak English as well as me. I thought to myself, “How’s she doing all of this?” The woman’s a psycho, she’s a real Supawoman. It’s like nothing is impossible for her and that’s what she’s always taught me in life. I can still get a little bit lazy but she won’t have any of it. She’s crazy. Because of her, I stand my own ground.
What about you would you say is indicative of being a Supawoman?
This is what I think: all I have to do is to have talent, use my brain, understand that this is a business–it’s not a joke, and don’t let anyone abuse me or get in my way. There’s a lot of men in this industry who have tried to stop my career by bad-mouthing me because they can’t handle that I make more money than them and I’m a girl. They think, “How is she making more money than us? How is she getting more media then us? How is she performing more gigs then us?” So they feel, no matter what, we can’t let her get to the next level. My mum taught me to be real good and everything but if there’s one thing I don’t listen to my mum on, that’s being nice to everyone. I don’t limit myself by thinking that I’m a girl so I can’t do this or that. So if something negative gets in my way I’m gonna remove it. Simple as that.
For all the girls and women out there who are looking for their own inner Supawoman, what advice would you give them based on how you found your own inner Supawoman?
Don’t listen to anyone telling you you can’t do something if you have talent or if you want to do something with your life. Believe in yourself. You don’t have to do anything wrong to get somewhere. You don’t have to mess with anyone to get ahead. You don’t have to be nice to anyone who is being rude to you. If you have talent, and belief in your talent, and do your work, you WILL get picked up. You WILL be successful. As a woman, you need to be strong because people can really destroy your mindset. Just go for it!
Where do you pool from when writing your lyrics?
Everyday life. Look at how much stuff happens to us every single day. I live and learn and that’s what I write about. I believe that if something happened to me and I write and sing about it, it might help out someone else who might have gone through something similar. Also, I find it harder to sing Hip Hop because it has a more difficult vocal expectation then other types of singing.
What would you say is the distinct difference between singing lyrics and a melody, than rapping them?
It’s a difficult technique to master and people who think that singing is more important than rapping are wrong because people who can sing can’t necessarily rap. The lyrics have to be original every single time. You can’t keep writing about the same thing every time like you can with song lyrics which talk about love all the time. The culture of Rap music is that it is the telling of a story. It’s about expressing your opinions about everything, about life, and it has to rhyme and fit into a beat and a melody. That’s difficult to do when you think that regular songs have four bars and a brief and rap songs have sixteen to thirty-six bars before we run into a chorus. Your lyrics have to be clever. It’s like poetry and that’s not a joke to come up with every single time.
Who were/are your Hip Hop inspirations?
I got into Hip Hop at the right time thank God because that’s when real Hip Hop started — in the early Nineties when it was about telling stories and sharing ideas, and not what it is today where most rappers are telling people how much money they have or how many women they can get. It’s great club music but it’s not real Hip Hop, but I’m in the industry so I understand that although we’re artists, we’re also a business and at the end of the day, we still have to earn a living so some catering to what feeds the public is understandable, but there is a limit to how much we should manipulate before we start taking the piss. We all have to do it on some level, but real Hip Hop is what I grew up with and that’s what inspires me. People like Nas, Latifah and Missy.
What do you feel you offer to the Hip Hop world and to the music world in general that makes you stand apart from anyone else?
I don’t feel shy when it comes to life and I don’t feel shy when it comes to my lyrics. I’ll take anything on. Although my name’s “Hard Kaur”, I’m Hardcore. Even when it comes to love. I don’t write sissy lyrics, I write about coming over here and giving it to me! (Laughs)
What criteria do you as a musical artist measure success on?
I think of a goal, reach it, get bored and then look for a new challenge. And this pattern is never gonna stop for me. This is just the beginning. I’m working on my new album. I’ve got D-12 on my album, I’ve got Mika on my album, I’ve got Richa Sharma on my album. I’m not going to stop until I’ve reached my original goal of breaking into the mainstream and that will happen.
You’ve solidified a strong foothold in the UK and in India since no female musical artist can compare to what you’ve accomplished — you’re the first of this caliber and the most successful. Do you have any plans to move your career more actively in North America and truly crossover and sustain a career in the West since no one has yet been able to get past one hit song in the mainstream charts in North America. Thoughts?
I’m coming and I’m coming large with my new album which will be out early next year. I have the right talent, belief in myself, finances and people backing me up to pull off a career in the mainstream passed one hit. I believe that I’ve got the right mix of everything to go beyond one hit and remain there. It’s going to be my job to make sure that I am always writing hits and that I can take on all mainstream artists because I’m good and I have something of value to offer a mainstream listener. My new album has some great collaborations. I’ve got D-12 on the new album and I have another really big act that I can’t mention right now because we’re in the middle of contracts but you’ll know very, very soon!
If you weren’t a musical artist, what would you be doing today and why?
I think I would have taken on doing a beauty salon franchise. (Laughs) I’m going to be going into other things like merchandise as well. I’m really good at management so I think I would have probably done that. I’m also looking after some acts under my management company which is called Music Ltd. These acts are going to be coming out one after the other next year but I don’t want to talk about this yet. I’ve just signed on a girl band and I’ve got Des-C and Anushka Manchanda. Lots of scripts are coming my way for acting as well which I’m checking out as well as hosting on MTV India and stuff like that.
Looking back, what in your mind was the single biggest hurdle you had to overcome in order to get to where you are today?
To not worry about what anyone is saying. A big thing with some people in our culture is the taboo of performing in front of people for money. Some people think that you’re disrespecting yourself by doing this because the only people who used to dance for a living in the old days were prostitutes. But these people don’t understand that times have changed and that dancing and performing are an art form as well as a business and that no one looks at it that way anymore. This is just one of the many things people say to put you down. Words are the most difficult things to get past. You really have to understand what it means to not let anything get to you enough to get in your way or stop you from achieving what you have planned for yourself.
What do you believe is the single most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your career?
Don’t trust ANYBODY in the Business. I’m glad I went for it because I never want to ever say, “shoulda, coulda, woulda” because that’s the excuse people use when they don’t achieve things in their life. I don’t let anything affect my career, whether it’s boys or anything. I just don’t let anything get in the way of my career.
If you could turn back the clock, what would you change about your past if you could and why?
I don’t regret anything because I’ve learnt so much in my life from everything I’ve gone through. But if there’s one thing I could change, I would have not gone out of my way to help everyone I did. I would have been more selective because not everyone you help helps you. I’ve been stabbed in the back by some people I’ve helped so if I could change that, I would. But then again, what have I really lost from helping them?
Nothing but attracting good Karma for giving without receiving.
I like that, yeah!
Your first love is Hip Hop. Do you have a second love?
Drum and base! (Laughs). I love drum and base.
What about a human — a guy maybe?
There’s hasn’t been too many because I’ve been focused on my career most my life and I have to be really choosy because I don’t want to go out with a guy who says, “Yeah, yeah I’m going out with Hard Kaur!” like he’s won a prize or something. I know from the moment I meet them that it’s the pose they’re after so I get turned off and bored and say, “Yeah, yeah whateva!” I’ve been single for about a year and a half because what happened in my last relationship was that on one side he was supporting me by saying, “Keep going” but by the same token he would look at me and say, “but you’re Hard Kaur so it’s a bit difficult to be with you as in marriage” and I was like “Huh?” It’s really weird because no matter what you do, men don’t like you making more money than them or being more successful.
If you could create Mr Perfect, what would be his top five characteristics?
You’ve got to be really, really funny; intelligent — you can’t be a dumbo; ambitious — I don’t want a lazy person, I can’t handle that; good hygiene — I have a big issue with bad hygiene; lotsa, lotsa, lotsa love, care and attention because I’m such an attention seeker!
If you could create the perfect friend, what would be the top three criteria you would need to exist?
Understanding, honesty and being genuine.
How would you describe yourself as a person?
Little bit mad, amazingly funny, stylish and short-tempered.
Tell me something about yourself that people outside of your personal circle would not know about you?
I’m a gangsta housewife (Laughs). When it comes to cooking and cleaning, I’m the perfect housewife!
What do you like most about being Indian?
Our roots, culture, principles, shame and our food.
What about being a woman?
I don’t look at it as being a woman because I think men and women are equal–we can’t live with each other or without each other. It’s the same for both of us.
And about being Hard Kaur?
That no matter how much it hurts, I’ll still get up and make it happen. I don’t give up. I’m not a quita!
What is your most prized possession?
The tracks for my new album.
Describe the perfect day off from work?
I love to play cricket with the kids on the beach. I love to invite my friends over and eat crap ALL day and watch DVDs.
Finish the sentence: ‘Today, for me, life is…’
Being happy.
The future: What’s the next installment from the Chronicles of Hard Kaur?
Look out for my new album coming early next year because I’m about to become the Shah Rukh Khan of music! (Laughs)
First published in the Fall 2008 issue, www.AnokhiMagazine.com.
Photo Credits/Captions:
Cover Model Hip Hop Artist, Hard Kaur. Photos Courtesy of Kaur Music & Big Music
Photo i, ii, iii: Hard Kaur
Photo iv: With Fardeen Khan
Photo v: With Bappi Lahiri
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