Laure’s newest song and music video Banawati (meaning Artificial) presents a striking departure from his well-known hip hop style. Laure who is widely accepted as Nepal’s best rapper, began his career in the accapella rap battle competition, Raw Barz, and is now preparing for the release of his second album. If Banawati is any indication of what to expect from his next release, it appears that his style is radically different. What stands out the most here is that the song lacks a drum beat, the key component in any hip hop song. The song then is not rap, but a piece of spoken word art with piano accompaniment.

The video opens with a lovers’ quarrel, in which the woman returns an engagement ring in anger. From here the video moves to Laure who sits behind a grand piano in a dinner jacket as the music begins. The viewer is left to think that he might be playing the piano himself. While Laure speaks in rhymes over the piano, the video cuts to a young man (played by Achyut Thapa) shaving his face, and to another scene where it appears that a woman is bathing and dressing. The video plays with perception and ties in lyrics and theme that things in our lives are not as they seem. As Laure moves through his poetry, the video finally reveals that the woman bathing was the same man shaving, and ends with the same young man in a wig, appearing as a woman. The final scene demonstrates good storytelling in that it breaks expectations and twists the understanding of the song and video. What appeared first as tension between lovers is later seen as a conflict within oneself.

Gender identity issues affect a small portion of the population who struggle to identify with the traditional gender roles of their society. For most people, this can be hard to comprehend and it often makes people uncomfortable, in part because it forces them to confront their unexamined assumptions about gender. As a result, trans people have historically faced hardship and social ostrasicm, being pushed to the margins of society. With this in mind, their representation in Laure’s video can be seen as promoting wider social acceptance. By offering a glimpse into the struggles faced by trans people, a simple music video can work to remove social stigmas, by presenting people in a compasisonate and human light. About the video itself Laure writes, “Banawati is a dark poem, and the introductory track on my upcoming album Chup Laag. Basically, the song is concerned with the inner feelings of an individual who is compelled to hide their gender identity from society. It is our hope that it inspires those who identify as the third gender.”

Music videos are unique in their ability to reach a wide and young audience, and to subtly communicate social messages. A music video however is also used to build the brand of artist, weaving artificial images into the life of the artist to create a charicature of the real person behind the music. This is because the way we perceive an artist changes the way we understand their art. Having fans then is as much about finding people who like the music as it is about having people admire the artist. Banawati as a music video pursues these two aspects of communicating a social message and building the “Laure” brand. In portraying Laure behind a grand piano in what looks like a luxurious private home in Nepal, the unspoken message here is that Laure (the charicature) is rich and stylish. Or at least he has friends who are. The vast majority of Laure’s fans will not identify with the world he is portraying, but if the video is to create admiration among his fans, displays of wealth is an easy and tested option. While Laure’s newest release might appear to have broken from his old hip hop genre, there is something decdidely hip hop about convincing people to aspire to a lifestyle beyond their means.

That said, Banawati is interesting because the music and lyrics are stripped down and the message is honest. Perhaps it is a calculated shift into a more mature sound. The video on the other hand dances between artificial depictions of a real world issue, and the artificial branding of a talented lyricist.It is appropriate then that the song should be so named. The video both conveys and distorts truth simultaneously, but the quality of the music keeps it grounded and sincere. All in all, the video is socially progressive, and the song displays some creative exploration on the part of Laure, the real artist behind the charicature.

Harris is the co-founder of the Ekantakuna-based Art Haus of Kathmandu