Hiphop Tamizha

Hiphop Tamizha
Jeeva (left) and Adhi (right) at the audio launch of Aambala, 2014
Background information
Origin	Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Music Director , Singer , Actor , Lyricist , Director , Composer ,Writer, Rapper & Independent Musician
Years active	2005–present
Website	web.archive.org/web/20141225173039/http://www.tamizhanda.org/main/
Members	Adhi Jeeva

Hiphop Tamizha (pronounced Tamiḻā) is an Indian musical duo based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The duo consists of Adhithya "Adhi" Ramachandran Venkatapathy and R. Jeeva. Hiphop Tamizha are credited with being the pioneers of Tamil hip hop.

The group remained underground until the commercial success of their track, "Club le Mabbu le" in 2011. The international brand Remy Martin launched Hiphop Tamizha as an official brand after hearing the song. In 2012, Hiphop Tamizha released their debut album Hip Hop Tamizhan, which is India's first Tamil hip hop album. It was a major success with both the general public and critics. While the duo are primarily independent musicians, they have also contributed to numerous works outside independent music, such as composing and performing music for films. They have also launched a clothing brand.

Adhi (born Adhithya Ramachandran Venkatapathy) was born on 20 February 1990. Jeeva R. was born 29 June 1991. Adhi's family is from Punjai puliyampatti sathyamangalam in the Coimbatore district. Adhi was born into a middle-class family with no knowledge of music or cinema. His father works at Bharathiar University while his mother comes from an agricultural background. Adhi's first exposure to rap came when his neighbour showed him Michael Jackson's "Jam". His interest in hip hop music started developing in the tenth grade. He uploaded rap songs to the internet and got positive responses from people expressing interest in his music, who also encouraged him to start rapping in Tamil. His decision to rap in Tamil rather than English was made, in his words, to avoid looking like a "". Adhi named his account on the video-sharing site YouTube "Hiphop Tamizha", with a profile picture of the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, to avoid being caught by his parents. Adhi's father had initially opposed his choice to pursue music professionally. He wanted Adhi to pursue higher studies, but gave him a year to do what he wanted, with the only constraint being that Adhi should not expect any help from him. After realising that Adhi was "trying to do some good work", he encouraged his sons musical interests. Adhi then moved to Chennai to "try [his] luck".