21-year-old Mehak Ashraf is the first female rapper from Kashmir

Fahim Mattoo
Srinagar

Mehak Ashraf breaks gender stereotypes by becoming Kashmir's first female rapper.
21-year-old Mehak Ashraf is the first female rapper from Kashmir who dons multiple hats as a rapper, a teenager from the old city of Hazratbal area of ​​Srinagar, better known by her stage name Menim, is pursuing her Graduation from Women’s College Srinagar. Her forays into rap began in 2016, when political unrest broke out in the Valley over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

She said, “I was 12 when I first heard Eminem’s songs. And I started to learn from his vocabulary, his assent and rapping style that’s when I found a way towards rapping.

Mehak’s parents were not in favour of her choice to become a professional rapper and she faced resistance at home and outside but she didn’t give up on her passion. She had faith in what she was pursuing. And wanted her parents to trust her.

“When I first shared this with my parents, they said that there are many male artists here before you.  What will you get as a girl when they don’t get any platform here? You will get only bad comments and backlashes,” she added.

“The loved ones are no more…,” she raps on her own lyrics in one of her hip-hop songs, pointing out the plight of Mehmood-ul-Hassan whose two sons were brutally killed on spot.

Watch the full story in her own words below

I’m from Kashmir, they take us for funI saw a big killer with a gun
Saw my friends body in a slum
I miss him, I need him, I love him, I’m sorry, I miss Tasleem
Glad his death wasn’t glorified on film
My valley smells like death alley
Death angel aiming at another individual
Darkness mess up any individual’s visual

Apart from rap, Mehak is also an avid nature and animal lover. She intends on composing some raps on climate change and animal abuse in the future.