{"id":903624,"date":"2026-05-05T08:12:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/thirumali-is-redefining-nostalgia-in-malayalam-hip-hop\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T08:12:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:12:43","slug":"thirumali-is-redefining-nostalgia-in-malayalam-hip-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/thirumali-is-redefining-nostalgia-in-malayalam-hip-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"ThirumaLi Is Redefining Nostalgia in Malayalam Hip-Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Kulasthree\u2019 produced by ThudWiser brings a visual straight out of the Nineties, while \u2018Nonsense\u2019 featuring an Eighties movie song sample produced by Jay Stellar<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ThirumaLI-photo-960x720.jpg\"> <img alt src=\"https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ThirumaLI-photo-960x720.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" nitro-lazy-empty id=\"MjQ1MjoxNTc=-1\" data-nitro-empty-id=\"MjQ1MjoxNTc=-1\" previous-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgOTYwIDcyMCIgd2lkdGg9Ijk2MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI3MjAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+\"> <span>  <\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Malayalam hip-hop artist ThirumaLi. Photo: Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In the music video for his breezy romantic rap song \u201cKulasthree,\u201d Kerala hip-hop artist <a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/tag\/ThirumaLi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ThirumaLi <\/a>and his longtime producer ThudWiser are sat in an old Mercedes, outside an ancestral home and he looks every bit styled like a Nineties Mollywood star.<\/p>\n<p>With the black oval-rimmed sunglasses and a polo T-shirt, they shuffle through beats until they find one that transports them even further back in time. With an enchanting flute and Carnatic percussion elements, \u201cKulasthree\u201d kicks off with proclamations of love, even as ThirumaLi and ThudWiser are now dressed up like royalty amid a <em>tharavad<\/em> \u2013 an ancestral home in Kerala. \u201cIt\u2019s actually hip-hop and classical music blended together, but also a fusion of two cultures, something that switches from South India to totally modern hip-hop and R&#038;B. It turned out to be something beautiful,\u201d ThirumaLi tells <em>Rolling Stone India<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>While the rapper says it wasn\u2019t fully intentional to look like a Nineties Malayalam star, \u00a0the goal was to shoot in a <em>tharavad<\/em> to create a sense of nostalgia. His next release \u2013 \u201cNonsense\u201d \u2013 was more socially conscious in its anti-alcohol and drug abuse messaging, but also mined nostalgia. Released via Saregama Malayalam, the track produced by Jay Stellar samples \u201cKiliye Kiliye\u201d composed by Ilaiyaraaja and sung by S. Janaki for the 1983 film <em>Aa Rathri<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p> <iframe title=\"KULASTHREE (Official Video) - ThirumaLi x ThudWiser | Def Jam India\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\" nitro-og-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SyluwH2ycDA?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" nitro-lazy-src=\"data:text\/html;base64,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\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Rapping since 2013 and making it his career by 2018, ThirumaLi is among the few who has led Malayalam hip-hop to the globally-recognized level it\u2019s reached now, thanks to songs like \u201cMalayali Da,\u201d \u201cAvastha,\u201d \u201cOMKV\u201d as well as more recent bangers like \u201cPacha Parishkari.\u201d Working with everyone from <a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/tag\/Hanumankind\/\">Hanumankind <\/a>(\u201cAyyayyo\u201d) to <a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/tag\/Fejo\/\">Fejo <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/tag\/Dabzee\/\">Dabzee <\/a>(\u201cSambar\u201d), he admits he\u2019s seen an \u201cexponential growth in the listening base\u201d for rap music from Kerala. He says, \u201cWhat we usually consumed were movie songs, and maybe Tamil songs and Hindi songs. But over the last couple of years, the audience\u2019s tastes are changing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Considering that \u201cKulasthree\u201d has racked up over 10 million YouTube views and 13.4 million Spotify streams and \u201cNonsense\u201d has just over 600,000 views on YouTube after its release in February, it\u2019s understandable when ThirumaLi says the Kerala audience is \u201cthe best in the entire country right now.\u201d He explains, \u201cWhether it\u2019s listening to music or movies, this crowd is very open and very accepting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even a conscious song like \u201cNonsense\u201d striking the right balance between playful yet hard-hitting rap to drive the message against substance abuse, ThirumaLi says he wrote it because it\u2019s something that \u201caffects the current generation.\u201d He adds, \u201cCurrently, rap music is more about style, swag and some things have changed, but I think it can also be used for great things like educating the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p> <iframe title=\"Nonsense - Music Video | ThirumaLi | Jay Stellar\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" data-lazy-type=\"iframe\" frameborder=\"0\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\" nitro-og-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zbfiAtbRTMc?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" nitro-lazy-src=\"data:text\/html;base64,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\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>ThirumaLi is thoroughly established and thriving in his own lane, even as his contemporaries and younger Malayali rappers might get tapped by the Kerala film music world. There are, at best, a handful of Malayali film songs that ThirumaLi has been a part of \u2013 \u201cNaade Naattaare\u201d from the 2021 film <em>Operation Java<\/em> is among them \u2013 and that\u2019s intentional. \u201cIf I work in movies, it\u2019s someone else\u2019s ideas \u2013 there will be a story or concept I need to work on. In most cases, it\u2019ll be fictional and in a rare case, if the movie has that type of concept, an important socio-political message will be there. Otherwise, it\u2019s all about entertainment, and it\u2019s commercial music that\u2019s what the movies are doing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1440\" alt=\"Thirumali \"   src=\"https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-960x1440.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-960x1440.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-480x720.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-1024x1536.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2-150x225.png 150w, https:\/\/cdn-ilegigk.nitrocdn.com\/sccIUIbmWTauRiOqCExZqNNyEmbLBkSx\/assets\/images\/source\/rev-5f9caa1\/rollingstoneindia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Thirumali-2.png 1365w\" data-old-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgMSAxIiB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\"><figcaption>ThirumaLi. Photo: Courtesy of the artist <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Compared to that, there\u2019s still plenty of freedom working with major labels like Def Jam India (who released \u201cKulasthree\u201d) and Saregama, but independent releases are still his jam. \u201cWhen I\u2019m dropping [music] independently, it\u2019s a full-fledged idea around my thoughts, or anything when I want to say,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say he wasn\u2019t drawn to more reach that film songs and major labels can give him. \u201cIn the past years, I was actually chasing stardom and commercial value as an artist. Currently, I\u2019m focusing on experimenting in music,\u201d he says. Finding out that his audience was very accepting of whatever experiments he took on, ThirumaLi says he\u2019s grown more confident to keep pushing the envelope and blending styles.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also not being weighed down by industry expectations like releasing music to keep the metrics high. \u201cI\u2019m not thinking about releasing very consistently, but once I make something, that work should stay for a long time in people\u2019s mind,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rollingstoneindia.com\/thirumali-interview-kulasthree-video\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Kulasthree\u2019 produced by ThudWiser brings a visual straight out of the Nineties, while \u2018Nonsense\u2019 featuring an Eighties movie song sample produced by Jay Stellar Malayalam hip-hop artist ThirumaLi. Photo: Courtesy of the artist In the music video for his breezy romantic rap song \u201cKulasthree,\u201d Kerala hip-hop artist ThirumaLi and his longtime producer ThudWiser are sat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":903625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54946,149299],"tags":[20441,149298],"class_list":{"0":"post-903624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-redefining","8":"category-thirumali","9":"tag-redefining","10":"tag-thirumali"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}