Raool is “Set To Blow” with over 100k views!
Raool are the Desi Hip-Hop duo made up of D Wunder and Macks Wolf who recently released their debut single ‘Meri Rani (Set To Blow).’
The video has over 120,000 views and the song shot straight to the Number 3 position in the BBC Asian Network Download Chart. Ra0ol have certainly captured the attention of the music industry so I caught up with the guys to find out more about them and they told me about how they met through MySpace 3 years ago. “We both had our individual music pages and by chance stumbled on each other’s. We began working together as a production team, writing and producing for other artists, but we eventually decided to step out of the shadows and claim the music we were making for ourselves!” Vocalist D Wunder tells me.
Originally from Australia, D moved to England 5 years ago, “I miss the combination of hot weather and beach attire the most,” he smiles. With D being from a Hip-Hop background and producer Macks Wolf coming from a more Electronica one, I wanted to know who had influenced them both whilst they were growing up. “MJ, The Bee Gees and Sonic The Hedgehog,” Macks tells me and for D it was also the King of Pop as well as “Deathrow Records as a whole and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.”
In 3 words RaOol describe theirmusic simply as, “It’s very good.” The guys definitely have a unique sound which sets them apart from a lot of other acts in the Asian music industry at the moment but what do they themselves think makes them so different?
“We do everything in house, songwriting, production, mixing, styling, the full monty! Oh and we have a Wolf.”
They are of course referring to their mascot Zeus The Wolf who himself is gathering a fan following to rival the one Ra0ol have themselves. He even has his own Twitter page!
Speaking of things out of the ordinary I ask the guys to tell us one strange fact about themselves, “I don’t tan – my freckles just get darker in the Sun,” D says and Macks reveals that, “My real surname ‘McCann’ originates from the word ‘Cana’ which means wolf cub! (Destiny),” he smiles. Still early in 2013, I wonder if the guys are working on their debut album, “We just want to get our sound out there at the moment so the focus is on the singles! I suppose we’ve always been working on the album, whether we knew it or not. No doubt songs from our past will make it on to the album as well as the music we’re working on now,” D says.
When it comes to music the guys are listening to right now, just like their backgrounds the two are very different. For Macks it’s, “Hurts. They’re one of those acts that get everything right! From the music, to the photography, everything is perfectly in sync.” Whereas for D it’s “Fall Out Boy, Script and the new wave of emcees Drake, Lil Wayne and Tyga.” If RaOol could get out on the road and perform anywhere they would choose Mumbai and why not? Like they put it, “It’s an exciting time for Hip-Hop in India right now.” If they could collaborate with anyone, they tell me that, “A collaboration with Nitin Sawnhey would be an honour and a collaboration with Honey Singh would be insane!”
“No one will want to turn your dream into a reality more than you so JFDI – Just Frickin Do It!”
The best piece of advice that D was ever given was, “No one will want to turn your dream into a reality more than you so JFDI – Just Frickin Do It!” and for Macks it was, “Do what you do best.” It’s safe to say these guys are certainly doing what they do best and that is making excellent music and giving us a new, fresh sound that the Asian music industry really needed. To their fans and critics they say, “Thank you and thank you,” they laugh. “In all seriousness, without our ‘Wolfpack’ we couldn’t have reached the Number 1 spot on the World iTunes chart or hit 100,000 plus views in our first week! Let’s keep it going! ‘Set to blow’ the roof off!”
By Dal Kaur