A shout-out to aunty

Cringe pop made itself known amongst the Indian youth when Dhinchak Pooja’s songs like Swag Wali Topi and Selfie Maine Leli Aaj, made her one of the most famous, or perhaps, infamous, personalities in the world of pop culture. Now, a man who calls himself “Rap King” — Om Prakash — has been creating waves with his song Aunty Ki Gunty. The ridiculous song, is so bad that it’s funny, says Aakash Shah the guy behind the Unofficial: Bombay High Court page.

Indeed, Aakash thought that the song was such a barrel of laughs that he set up an event as a prank from his Bombay high court parody page, wherein people will gather together at Marine Drive and shout out the lyrics of the song together. “I just thought of it as a prank but then people started to say that they’re actually going to show up for it and they even tagged their friends. Now there are around 5,000 people who have said that they are attending the event and it’s incredible how people actually want to do this,” he laughs.

Wanting to make it big, Aakash also got in touch with the “Rap King” himself. “I spoke to him for a good half hour and he told me how his life has turned around now that he’s popular thanks to this one song. He’s really excited about the event and now he wants to come down for it,” says an excided Aakash, while acknowledging that if they can’t fix up a proper security plan for the trash pop rapper then it will be difficult for him to come. “Either way, we will all meet at Marine drive and have a whole lot of fun. If we can get him on board, it would be a bonus.”

Sajan Gupta, a digital marketing manager, who is all set to attend the event, says that he expects the event to be a great way to just meet people and have fun. “I’m an extrovert by nature, and this event just seemed like a fun thing to do. While people are asking me why I’m going, I ask them why not? It’s on the weekend and this seems like it’s going to be interesting. I doubt that there will be everyone who has said they will be attending will actually turn up, but it will still be worth going for. Delhi recently had a similar event and from the clippings on social media, it looked great,” he explains.

Harish Iyengar, another attendee, says that he is simply going because the entire idea seems to be hilarious. “It’s like being a part of a meme. I have no idea what to expect. If the rapper actually shows up, I’m sure half the people won’t even know him since they’re just going because they’re curious. I’d also love to see how the passers-by react, since they won’t have any idea about what’s going on,” he laughs.

Sajan adds that the song has become a cult in itself. “It’s really bad, but then after you’ve heard it enough times, it’s catchy enough to stay with you,” he laughs.

Aakash also believes that cringe pop has its own charm. And a lot of content makers end up making a bigger phenomenon. “It’s so bad that it’s good. It’s funny and everyone keeps watching it because they want to laugh at it.  The guy has become a meme and all the comedy brands —like AIB and Filter Copy — have picked it up. That’s what these cringe pop artistes also capitalise on,” he signs off.

On September 17, 8 pm, at Marine Drive