THE way one expresses love for another is different for everyone, even more so a mother's love for her child.
Some give lavish gifts, some want to get together, some give surprises with little things and some produce a masterpiece for a loved one.
That’s what local modern Tamil singer, Stylomannavan did through his latest work, titled ‘Payanam Vol. 2 – Illakiyamozhi'.
‘Payanam’ in Tamil means ‘journey’ and the song was a special surprise from his wife Thiviyah for Stylomannavan about their love and the love for their young child.
'Payanam' is a continuation of the recent single 'Payanam Vol. 1 – Mannavannin Mannaivi' by Stylomannavan for Thiviyah, as a gift for the first wedding anniversary.
For Payanam Vol. 2, the lyrics were written by Thiviyah, who narrates the journey of the light of their eyes, their child Illakiyamozhi Yuhan Prakash, who is now two years old.
According to Stylomannavan, this latest single is the first work written by his wife, a professional makeup artist who has limited experience in the music industry.
Stylomannavan, whose real name is Yuhan Prakash, 37, is a rapper who started his career in the music industry in 2005.
Over the years he was well received by local music fans and produced more constantly fresh works such as ‘Rakammababy’ and ‘KL Kudimagan’ before getting married in 2018.
“The video for 'Payanam Vol. 1' was based on our story. It recounts our first meeting at the filming location for the soundtrack of the film ‘Vere Vazhi Ille’, where my wife was the make-up artist for all the artists involved and I was the rapper of the song.
"The clips during the filming of the song along with our memories from the three years dating until the wedding day were used as visual companions for the video of the single," he said.
On 'Payanam Vol. 2' which is available on Spotify, Stylomnnavan said, “The basic idea that was a surprise from my wife was actually to express our love and affection to our sweetheart named Illakiyamozhi.
"At a time when the country is facing the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost the entire country is trapped and feeling the impact. To an extent where suicide cases are on the rise and the workload from home forces us to reduce the time spent with family.
"Through this latest single, we want to show the importance of family and time with family, as well as the presence of children in a family," said Stylomannavan.
The lyrical verses are written by Thiviyah in a casual way, while inserting the narrative element of the experience from a mother’s point of view.
Sharing his life story as a local Tamil rapper, Stylomannavan noted in many aspects, rap is seen as an element that is at odds with the culture of the Indian community here.
"Rapping is a skill that is automatically in us. It's not something we practice. A rapper is an observer and sings what we go through.
"Being a Tamil rapper in our country's industry, I learned a lot from senior rappers through collaboration with them," he added.
Like 'Payanam Vol. 1', 'Payanam Vol. 2' was published by Superfly Entertainment and his wife earlier this month. It also saw the involvement of Santosh Logandran as composer, singer and songwriter, in addition to the appearance of Naaraayini Balasubramaniam as a singer.
The official video for 'Payanam Vol. 2', was made under the guidance of Prakash Ramachandran as executive producer and also part of the project's advisory body. It was further enlivened with Durges from Dc Flims Studio for a visual arrangement, involving photos taken by Janagaraj Tiruvalluvan, Celes Ferard as well as a poster designed by December Vinoth Madivanan. This video will be released soon. – The Vibes, July 24, 2021
* This article originally appeared in our Malay-language sister portal Getaran.
