This Odia rap video is breaking the internet with its swag!

Bhubaneswar: If you are an Odia, the Mu Heli Odia rap video must be in your YouTube favourites list by now. Garnering over 5,00,000 views on social media platforms in just a week’s time, this Odia rap video created by Samir Rishu Mohanty is making every Odia sway to its catchy hook line.

Odisha Sun Times caught up with the Puri-born Samir who is currently based in Bangalore and he said, “I am overwhelmed with the love and support I have been receiving from my homeland. I never imagined that Odias all over the state would appreciate the video and shower me with so much love.”

It took Samir almost 2 months to get this video ready and he shot extensively in Puri to get the feel of the track and cinematography right. “We shot the video in five days and it was a heady experience. Though I had trouble getting the local people lip-sync to the rap, we managed to do it in the end and the result, as you can see, is wonderful, ” said the estactic Samir.

He plans of releasing another rap single in Odia, sometime in December this year. “All I can say right now is, it is a tribute to all the mothers,” winked the 26-year-old Samir, who swears by ghia anna and mutton curry as his all-time Odia cuisine favourites.

He has been approached by various music labels for upcoming projects and has a few English and Hindi tracks in the wings, waiting to be released. Adnan Sami has also roped in this Odia youth for his Kannada project BATAAS.

This rasagolla lover chose rap as his genre after watching Eminem’s 8 Mile and realised that this musical form of vocal delivery of his own lyrics helped him express himself better and blended well with his personality.

He went viral after rapping 2 lines in Odia in his single One Kid With A Dream in January last year and caught the attention of netizens of Odisha. He has been performing since last three years and has an impressive record of performing with renowned rap artist Blaaze (in MTV Sync) and Hard Kaur (for the American cable television network Vh1). He has also worked with Sneha Khanwalker and sung Bach Ke Bakshy in the Sushant Singh Rajput starrer Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.

“The best of my childhood memories revolve around the sea beach, Lord Jagannath, Ratha Jatra, my friends in Puri and the warmth of Odia culture,” reminiced Samir aka Big Deal. His love for Odisha is evident in his quicky rap where he talks about everything quintessentially Odia; from Lord Jagannath to Madhubabu and from pakhala to rasagolla.