Sibling duo Pratika and PrabhuNeigh debut EP called ‘Growing Up’ is out now on streaming platforms worldwide. The EP features singer, rapper and composer Pratika on vocals, and the music for all tracks are produced by Pritesh Prabhune, who goes by the producer name PrabhuNeigh.

The EP follows the life of Pratika (through the lyrics) and Pritesh as children, who were raised in a small neighbourhood on Chapel Road in Bandra West, Mumbai. As a young girl, Pratika learned with the innocence of any other child - to distinguish between good and bad in examples and settings subjective to young children. She was unaware of what was considered cruel and wicked, the meaning of physical, mental, sexual abuse, patriarchy, toxic masculinity, crime, and the many woes of society.

The EP traverses through her personal experiences, a story from the neighbourhood, all the way until she turned into a young adult, understood what it meant to grow up and power through tough situations, proudly being among a generation of people today who are constantly fighting for themselves, and helping others out of the mindset and situations they’re shoved into.

The backbone of ‘Growing Up’is the powerful production by PrabhuNeigh, mixing all their influences from over 15 years of playing and making music, fused into a rap meets hip hop meets metal culmination that’s never been seen before in India. From the typical old school hip hop meddling with electronic sounds and synths, all the way to pounding bass drops, metal guitar riffs and even a guitar solo, the EP is a unique blend of sounds. The EP also shines a light on Pratika’s range as a vocalist, with clean singing vocals stacked with layers of harmonies, unique flows in her rap verses, multiple voiceovers and adlibs enacting situations, sprinkled with some heavy metal vocal screams and growls in places.

‘Growing Up’is a collection of stories that have not been easy to talk about. “It’s been very tough to be so vulnerable about my personal life and place. But it was time to speak about the things I have because I want women and people to know they’re not alone. I want them to think back and gauge how they’ve been taught to stay silent through some of the darkest times in their lives, and I want them to also know that it can get better; you can emerge victorious, you can work through the trauma, and someday, be whoever you want to be,” she said. “Life has been a rollercoaster for many of us. I, personally, wasn’t very good when it came to my own physical or mental health, and I was among the few people in my family (along with Pritesh) who was open enough to learn that your past and your trauma often stays with you. Most families would prefer not to pay attention to mental health and well-being around us, but if I hadn’t learned what I did by going to therapy and discussing these topics more in open forum, I wouldn’t have been bold enough speak about my experiences, or even be outspoken, calling out life and people for what they really were.”

About the songs:

Growing Up

The title track is a spoken-word narration of incidents from Pratika’s childhood where men have taken advantage of her innocence. From people around her former home in Bandra, to experiences schooling in Virar, scars were dug into her skin for no fault of her own. She’d be called by different names because she grew faster physically than many in her batch, and was subject to the eyes of predators lurking around school and at home. The narration goes into breaks of choruses that bring harmonies from Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell to mind. Going from singular in the first chorus to speaking as a collective voice of women in the second chorus, the song gives you a taste of what you can expect through the EP.

Lawrie

The song is about a person from Pratika’s old neighbourhood, ‘a notorious man hiding in the zig zag lanes of Bandra west’ - as the opening line of the song suggests. Pratika talks about the layers of horrendous things one man was engaged in, from sexual abuse all the way to do number ka kaam, or what we call illegal activities. Lawrie goes into a very dark space, lifted later with the narration of an incident between two aunties in the middle of a brawl outside their house which was a real incident between the siblings’ grandmother and a neighbour. The incident also suggested Lawrie used to run into random neighbours’ houses to hide when someone came looking for him, locking the door behind him. The song leans more towards hip hop, gliding from a west coast old school hip hop beat into a modern trap-sounding punchy halftime beat, and PrabhuNeigh’s signature synth layers.

Same Mistake

Possibly among the two more hip hop sounding songs on the EP is Same Mistake, a bold song that talks about how Pratika, and women in general, are sick of beingtreated badly, being objectified, and always made to take the backseat. Pratika takes a stanceon lowering the power of patriarchs and enablers, who are always thinking they’re aboveeverything and everyone else. Their thoughts on women always being ‘feminine,’ ‘tender’ and‘gentle,’ and the need to stay that way are crushed. The chorus of the song is a plea to societyand everyone to not let the mistakes of our past be repeated again or made again in our futuretoo. As the world progresses, the regressive ideologies of a male-dominant society need to beshown the backdoor and given an exit into an abyss, to never return or tarnish the world forcoming generations.

Evolution of Thought

This song was released as a single in July 2023, along with an animated music video by Chinmay Patkar (Corner Cafe Chronicles). Pratika was in a conflicting phase while writing this song last year, wondering whether being an artist fixated to a genre was a good thing, or if being able to do more and create art from the heart was more important. A random scroll on Instagram had Pratika stumble upon a post by Sandunes, talking about lodging a protest against specialisation, or the idea of being just one thing. It also addressed being multidimensional, the evolution of expression for artists and not always making your art or your work easy for people to understand. Evolution of Thought is a song that speaks in two ways - one keeping in line with the idea of the EP being about how life from a young age to now has evolved for us as people, devoid of the obsolete thoughts older generations used to force us to believe, and breaking out from those thoughts to be a better person. The second angle was inspired by Sandunes’ post - Pratika interpreted this as making what you truly want, not dumbing down your sound, your originality and skill set just for mass appeal, but hoping to engage more minds in changing their perspective of art and becoming more seasoned listeners vs expecting what you expect. The song has an upbeat industrial rock vibe, with a beautiful guitar solo featuring DefGiant, a project of Reinhardt Dias, the guitar player of Mumbai alt rock band BLAKC.

Survival

The concluding song of the EP was originally released in May 2021. The song’s vocals have been re-recorded, and it has been re-mixed and mastered to fit well with Growing Up and the idea behind it. After Evolution of Thought, where Pratika learned to be the independent person she is and work towards achieving her musical goals that came after much deliberation, this final song delivers a punch at how people in society will still be complacent about being more, standing up for themselves, especially if they’ve found a comfortable way to be. 

No one wants to risk their lives for what they truly believe in, which is the hidden truth behind the facade of the everyday world. They just want to fit into society, work their jobs, earn money, and sit quiet. It’s a shout out to everyone who takes the risk, has slurs hurled at them, to stay strong. Pratika acts as the hypocrite and the frustrated person when narrating this song. At the end of the day, “It’s all a game of survival.”

‘Growing Up’ - EP Credits:

Vocals written and performed by Pratika

Music produced by PrabhuNeigh

Mixed and mastered by Shikhar Yuvraj Manchanda at The Beast India Company

EP Artwork by Vivek Iyer (@dismaystrange)

Vocals recorded at Hilltop Studios, Borivali (West), Mumbai

Evolution of Thought - Animated music video and artwork by Chinmay Patkar

Copyright Prabhune Sisters 2023