Rapping to the beat of Bahrain

What defines your identity? Your skin colour, the passport you hold, the language you speak, the clothes you wear or the culture you grew up in?

Emcee and hip hop artist Big Philly aka Mark Philips, an Indian, born and brought up in Bahrain, says nothing matters more than realising and remembering that you are a human being just like everyone else.

Through his lyrics he raps out to the world's youth and urges them to get comfortable in their skin and individuality.

His music, which has caught on in the leading clubs of Mumbai, India, is soon to woo hip-hop lovers internationally with his debut album slated to hit music stores in 2009.

Indian emcee and hip-hop artist Big Philly, aka Mark Philips, is set to introduce his music to the world through his debut album, which he says will be dedicated to the island were he grew up.

The album will be produced under UK-based label, YourDamSelf Entertainment and is due for release early next year.

Packed with a variety of music that will include relaxing, unwinding and club beats, Mark also promises tracks that talk about relationships and life. He said he will also rap about how Indian he feels, despite having Bahrain in his blood.

As the artist and songwriter of this yet to be named album, Mark, 25, said: "I am a product of this island. Through my music I am going to let the world know that nationality and belonging - all this is important to an individual but it really means nothing to the masses.

"When you are with everyone you are just a human being and then boundaries or nationalities become meaningless.

"It is only when you are alone that you are an Indian, Arab or Filipino. It is not the other way around. People get mixed up and tend to believe that the reason to be together is being an Indian or something else ... what they don't understand is that it is a way to keep us in different groups."

Mark was born in Salmaniya, grew up in Gudaibiya and was schooled at Sacred Heart in Isa Town. He moved to Mumbai, India in 2002 to pursue his graduation in mass media. The move, he said, was the greatest culture shock he has ever experienced.

He explained: "Being brought up in Bahrain is like growing up in another culture. We used to cycle to Gudaibiya half court to play basketball with the locals and go to Manama and eat Arabic food. We grew up on cheese khaboos and shawarmas, which are not Indian in any form.

"At the same time I am as Indian as they get. I love 'daal bhaat' and using my hands when I eat. I stand up for the national anthem.

"Bahrain is a safe, air-conditioned, closed up environment where when we get robbed we talk about it for a year but in Mumbai someone is probably robbed every five seconds and yet there is safety in numbers.

"Living in Mumbai after growing up over here has been a culture shock. But it is where I found my other half.

"Today it is the new Paris, London and New York. It is the biggest mixing pot of Indian cultures and other nationalities. And the country is so vast that we don't need to go anywhere else for our holidays."

Mark is part of the Gullywood crew, a hip-hop clique, along with 26-year-old rapper, producer and DJ, Sin aka Himesh Patel from London and 22-year old Spaz aka Rohan Mazumdar from Mumbai who sings R&B and A cappella. Together, they opened 50 Cent's concert in India in November.

The three youngsters, two of whom were brought up outside India, are together part of the country's hip-hop movement and believe that they are, through their music, helping the youth of India find their identity in the midst of economic development, globalisation and satellite television's assault.

Mark said that India is full of contradictions and is going through a period of massive change. He explained: "Youths in India right now need someone, people just like them, to tell them that it's OK to be themselves. People end up wearing T-shirts tighter than their skin because they see it on TV.

"Having seen other cultures we are able to see things in a broader perspective. And the only way you can appreciate someone else and somebody else's opinion is if in some form you know who you are, what you are doing and where you are from.

"We give music our own touch and my lyrics are about life and its ironies. We sing club tracks, tracks about women, about what we aspire to be, fancy cars, what we want and expect. We are trying to get the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) to mesh with the local community.

"We are singing to the people of India - mothers, fathers, uncles and aunties, youth, employed and unemployed. Rap is about letting them know that they don't have to give up their roots, beliefs or their parents' beliefs ... they can seek and find their own identity just as we as a group have found ourselves and our identity.

"We are today one billion strong ... that should be one billion individually strong."

Mark Philips used to write for the 'poets corner' in our sister publication the Gulf Daily News and has taken part in the Bollywood film, Aryan, and in a couple of MTV and Channel [V] advertisements.

He is a graduate in mass media in advertising and also enjoys performing stand up comedy and street theatre.

His father, Thomas, is a chef with the BDF and his mother Carol works in a firm in Manama. His sister is studying hotel management on scholarship from Oberoi Lake Palace in Rajasthan, India.