EPR is an Indian rapper and poet known for his informative and conversational raps, which primarily focus on addressing social issues such as corruption, communalism, violence against women and farmer suicides.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
EPR (also known as EPR Iyer) was born on Monday, 3 April 1989 (age 34 years; as in 2023) in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. His zodiac sign is Aries. He studied at AK Ghosh Memorial School and Ashutosh College in Kolkata. He holds a Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from NSHM Knowledge Campus in Kolkata.
E.P.R in his school uniform
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 8″
Weight (Approx): 60 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
family and caste
EPR belongs to a Tamil Brahmin family from Kolkata.
Guardian
His father is a former classical singer.
parents of epr
wife and children
EPR is unmarried and has no children.
livelihood
!Restricted
EPR founded a rap-metal band named ‘!Banned’ in Kolkata in 2009. While he led the singing, Kuntal Dey played rhythm guitar, Rohit Mukherjee played bass guitar, and Anup Hela played drums. The band was active from January 2009 to March 2010. It participated in various competitions organized in cultural festivals of many colleges of Kolkata. Some of the events in which the band performed and emerged winners include ‘Ecclesia 2009’ at Heritage Institute of Technology (HIT), ‘AGON 2009’ at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH), ‘Srijan 2010’ at West Bengal. Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), and ‘Sanskriti 2010’ at Jadavpur University. It also won the ‘Times of Youth Challenge’ organized by The Times of India in 2010. The band, however, disbanded in April 2010 when bass guitarist Rohit Mukherjee left to join another city band called Five Little Indians.
EPR formed a rock band called Underground Authority in 2010 with members Adil Rashid, Sourish Kumar and Soumyadeep Bhattacharya. The band soon started performing at events in colleges across various cities in India. In 2010, the band also appeared on the reality show India’s Got Talent and reached the finals. In 12 years, he presented around 700 programmes. EPR decided to exit the band in April 2023 to pursue a career as a solo rapper. The last event of the Underground Authority was held on 13 May 2023.
Underground Authority Rock Band: (from front clockwise) EPR, Adil Rashid, Sourish Kumar, and Soumyadeep Bhattacharya
adiacott
On March 13, 2018, he formed a hip-hop group named Adiacott (A Dream in a Cup of Tea) with his producer, GJ Storm aka Kuntal Dey. The group, which is registered under the name Adiacott Entertainment, aims to address social issues and raise awareness. EPR was inspired to create Ediacot after meeting Sagnik Chaudhary and Soumyadeep Dasgupta, two kids from Shillong who used to take classes from them. They once shared a desire to form a group, which led to the formation of Crew Ediacott. With the help of videographer Joe, also known as Souvnik Kundu, he released his first video song ‘Gali Mein Apna Dog Bhi Sher Hai’, which received one million views without any promotional expenses for the shoot; The song was a diss track for rappers Divine and Emiway Bantai.
Solo
EPR made his solo debut as a rapper in 2020 with the album ‘Protest Poetry’. The album contained 17 songs, including collaborations with other artists such as Nikhita Gandhi, Karma and Void. Some notable tracks from the album include Srini Bana Apr, Ekla Cholo Re, Kaun Virus?, and Rastafari. The album received widespread praise from listeners and earned EPR the title of ‘Protest Poet’. In 2023, he released an album named ‘Uncertain Principles’.
mtv hustle
In 2019, EPR appeared as a contestant on a rap/hip-hop reality show called MTV Hustle. In the show, he presented raps on topics like farmer suicide, depression, acid attacks and corruption. EPR later emerged as the runner-up, while M-Zee Bella won the show.
EPR with M-Ze Bella after being declared the runner-up of the show ‘MTV Hustle’ (2019)
In 2022, he appeared in season 2 as one of the four squad bosses along with Dino James, D MC and King Rocco. In 2023, he remains the squad boss in season 3 of the show along with Dino. James, D MC, and Ikka.
EPR, along with Badshah, as a squad boss in the show ‘MTV Hustle’ 3.0 (2023)
Controversy
religious extremism
EPR’s song ‘Religious Extremism’, which they performed during a rap battle on the MTV Hustle 2.0 show, gained widespread attention. In the rap, he addressed sensitive topics like the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogan, which was used by some radicals to behead those who insulted Islam and Prophet Muhammad. EPR criticized the slogan and touched upon issues like 2022 Nupur Sharma case and Kanhaiya Lal’s murder. While some praised his bravery, others criticized him and accused him of seeking fame by addressing these topics. Some netizens also requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to provide security due to security concerns for addressing the controversial issues in his rap.
tattoo
EPR has a tattoo of a Native American girl on his right tricep.
He has a tattoo of EPR on his right tricep
He has a peacock tattooed on his upper arm and another tattoo on his lower left arm.
He has a tattoo of EPR on his left arm
He has a tattoo on his right arm.
He has a tattoo of EPR on his right arm
piercing
She has her nipples pierced.
EPR piercing
Favorite
- Poem: ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost
- Poets: Wilfred Owen, Pablo Neruda
- Author: Gabriel García Márquez
- Albums: ‘The Black Album’ by Metallica, ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ by Eminem, ‘No Pressure’ by Logic
- K-pop song: ‘How You Like That’ by Blackpink
- Quote: Until the lion learns to speak, hunting stories will be weak!
Facts/General Knowledge
- EPR stands for Emcee Poet Rapper. In an interview, EPR revealed that his real name is Yagya Swami Krishna Swami Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer; However, due to the length of the name, he is mostly called Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer.
- EPR developed interest in rap during his school days. According to him, he was influenced by listening to English rock music on channels like MTV, Channel [V]And VH1.
- EPR began writing songs in 2002.
- Since his school, AK Ghosh Memorial, did not organize a lot of festivals, he started looking for a bigger stage. After learning that The Telegraph in Schools (TTIS), a student-run newspaper in eastern India, would be hosting a huge festival at Swabhoomi, Kolkata, he formed a band called ‘Miasma’ with his friends to compete in the event. Formed. The group subsequently participated in various Western-band competitions, mainly inter-school festivals from 2005 to 2007.
- EPR was diagnosed with cholesteatoma in 2013; Cholesteatoma is an abnormal collection of skin cells deep inside the ear that causes hearing loss. According to EPR, doctors said he would never be able to return to the stage again. However, he participated in the Hornbill International Rock Contest in Kohima, Nagaland with the band Underground Authority in December 2013 after 3 months of recovery. The band emerged as the winner, and its members received awards for Best Band, Best Singer. Best Bassist, Best Drummer and Best Guitarist were runners-up at the event.
The Underground Authority rock band after winning the Hornbill International Rock Contest in December 2013
- EPR refers to himself as a “reporter from the streets” as he uses rap to address issues in society and the country.
- According to EPR, his primary genre is socio-political writing.
- EPR believes that neither the Gully Boys nor any other Punjabi rappers, who wear a lot of jewelery and flaunt guns, introduced rap in India. According to him, Indian hip-hop has deep roots and the first significant hip-hop culture in India emerged in the Northeast. Talking about this in an interview he said,
Contrary to what people think now, Indian rap did not originate from the streets. Before, you had to wear oversized clothes and jewelry to be considered a true rapper. After Gully Boy, you need to talk the street language of Mumbai to earn credibility. I don’t subscribe to anyone. Art is subjective and it doesn’t matter to me what I wear on stage because I live in hip hop.
- In an interview, EPR shared that he began his journey in rap battles by participating in text-based rap battles within the ‘Insignia Rap’ community on Orkut; The platform allowed individuals to engage in text battles with MCs from around the world.
- EPR had once condemned Divine, Nucleya and Raja Kumari. Talking about this, in an interview, he revealed that after listening to the track Nucleya reached out to him and expressed interest in collaborating with him on a track. EPR stated that although he initially had a strained relationship with rappers with whom he disagreed, over time, they became good friends.
- In an interview, he revealed that he studied Urdu for five months to write ADR/ABR lyrics.
- EPR follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- He consumes alcohol on various occasions.
- EPR loves animals, especially cats. He often posts their pictures on social media.
- EPR was once part of the theater company Hypocrites.
- According to him, he teaches rap in his spare time. In an interview, he shared that he used to teach rap and poetry at an institute called Home Sweet Cruiser Lane (aka The Haveli) in Kolkata, which was later closed.
- EPR was initially given the opportunity to host the show ‘MTV Hustle’ in 2019; However, he declined the offer as he preferred to participate as a contestant.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn