HipHop Tamizha Adhi

Adhithya Ramachandran Venkatapathy (Adhi) was born on February 20, 1990. His musical partner, Jeeva K.R.S., was born on June 29, 1991. Adhi grew up in a middle-class family without any music or cinema background. His father worked at Bharathiar University, and his mother had agricultural roots. Despite having no formal music education, Adhi excelled academically. He studied electrical engineering at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology. Later, he earned an MBA from Madras University after securing a state-level rank in the entrance exam. By October 2014, he began pursuing a Ph.D. at Bharathiar University.

Adhi first discovered rap music through Michael Jackson’s hit song “Jam”. During tenth grade, his passion for hip-hop truly blossomed. He started uploading rap songs to the internet and received highly positive feedback. Consequently, this encouraged him to rap in his native Tamil, where he felt most comfortable.

To avoid getting caught by his parents, Adhi named his YouTube channel “Hiphop Tamizha”. He used an image of the legendary Tamil poet Subramania Bharati as his profile picture. Initially, Adhi’s father strongly opposed his choice to pursue a music career.

In 2005, Adhi met Jeeva on the social platform Orkut. Soon after, Jeeva adopted the stage name “DJ Jeeva Beatz”. The following year, Adhi released Viswaroobam Arambam. Fans widely consider this the very first Tamil hip-hop mixtape. Furthermore, it played a massive role in blending hip-hop with Tamil culture.

That same year, Adhi connected with Yogi B from the Malaysian hip-hop group Poetic Ammo. Yogi B quickly became a mentor to the duo. Adhi regularly sent him underground tracks. Eventually, Yogi B called Adhi and urged him to officially launch Hiphop Tamizha.

The duo operated entirely underground until the Tamil Nadu Election Commission unexpectedly approached them. They asked Hiphop Tamizha to compose a 2011 election anthem. Consequently, their single “Ezhuvoam Vaa” became the official state election anthem. Although it was not a commercial success, the duo considered it their best work at the time.

Even though Hiphop Tamizha is a duo, Jeeva rarely makes public appearances. Adhi attributes this to Jeeva’s shy nature. Interestingly, Adhi compares Jeeva to the unseen fourth lion on the Indian national emblem. Over time, the duo has collaborated with several independent artists, including beatboxer Bharadwaj Balaji (Triple B) and B-boy Bravo. Today, their official brand logo remains a striking graffiti rendering of Subramania Bharati.