Rewind 2024: What was the Malayalam music scene like?

With offbeat stories, incredible direction and stellar performances, Malayalam cinema touched new heights in 2024. The music scene was equally vibrant and happening with viral tracks and experimental soundscapes. Here’s how the industry fared in 2024.

Sushin Rocks

Starting off with a survival thriller, Sushin Shyam hits all the right notes sweet boyThe highest-grossing film in the history of Malayalam cinema. ‘Kuthanthram’, his collaboration with rapper Vedan, created an unmatched atmosphere while ‘Nebulakal’ in the voice of Pradeep Kumar had lyrical finesse and a fresh soundscape.

Mass passion Had a blast with lots of hit songs. ‘Illuminati’, the rousing fan anthem of Fahadh Faasil’s character Ranga, performed by Dabzy, became one of the most viewed songs on YouTube, despite it not even being featured in the film! The ‘Illuminati’ hook was too good to resist.

‘Jadaa’ in the intoxicating voice of Srinath Bhasi was another winner. Tracks ‘Mathapithakkale’ (MC Cooper, Malayali Monkey), ‘Adholokam’ (Vipin Ravindran), ‘Thurupu Cheettu’ (Munj, Sushin), ‘Galatta’ (Pal Dabba, Sushin), ‘The Last Dance’ (Hanumankind), ‘ ‘Odimaaga’ (Nazariya Nazim, Sushin) and ‘Armadham’ (Pranavam Sasi) completed the festivities.

from ‘praise’ bougainvilleaSung by Sushin and Mary Ann Alexander, it was another masterstroke from the young musician, especially as Kunchacko Boban and Jyotirmoyee slay it with their dance in the music video.

Sushin’s mastery of his art was also heard in the background score of the intense drama, उल्लोझुक्कु,

rappers have a secret

This year, Kerala-born rapper, Suraj Cherukat aka Hanumankind, became a global sensation with his music video ‘Big Dogs’, a high-energy track featuring death-defying figures in the well of death in Ponnani, Malappuram. Stunts were shot. ,

Hanumanji Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In fact, this was the year when Malayalam film music embraced rappers like never before. Apart from rap numbers, he also sang tracks in other genres. passion It included hip-hop artists Dabzie, MC Cooper, Malayali Monkeys, Hanumankind and Pal Dabba. Among them only Hanumanji sang a pure rap number.

Baby Jean became a sensation with his unique voice river tax (‘Komban’) and was recently heard marco (‘Marappa’). Reason – Biopic of One Billion Boys Featured hip-hop artists Nomadic Voice, Jay Stellar, Racz Radiant and Arcado; Raikou was included in Mura’s promo soundtrack. Tamil rapper Asal Kolar heard Malayali from India And Guruvayur AmbalanadayilVeterans Thirumali and Fejo were also released.

Old is gold.

Popular numbers from old films were reused in many films this year. The classic example is sweet boyBrilliant placement of the evergreen Ilaiyaraaja number ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ fold One of the emotional and important moments of the film was on point. Within no time this song started trending.

a scene from sweet boy
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

From ‘Ravin Poonthen’ of Siam naduvazhikal was used in ReasonFrom Keeravani number ‘Ya Ya Yadav’ Devaragam In lovingAnd from ‘Azhagiya Laila’ ullathe allitha In Guruvayur Ambalanadayil,

While in these cases the original tracks were used, new versions of Siam’s two compositions ‘Poomnam’ nirakkuttu And from ‘Devadaru Puthu’ Angne Ni Marakkam was used in Abraham Ozler And katha innuvare Respectively.

master stroke

AR Rahman’s mastery is heard once again in Prithviraj’s Malayalam cinema. AdujivithamA real-life survival drama that has been more than a dozen years in the making.

Although the songs did not gain traction despite pre-release promotion, the album contained gems such as ‘Perion’ and ‘Omane’. Vidyasagar mixed the tune with the songs Marivilan GopurangalIt was great to see Rex Vijayan, one of the pioneers of the alternative music scene in Malayalam, back in the picture with an upbeat track. rifle club,

live batch

drama of the coming era, Reason – Biopic of One Billion BoysThere was a group of musicians working on the track – Rajat Prakash, Electronic Killy, Parvathish Pradeep and rap musicians Nomadic Voice, Jay Stellar, Rackz Radiant and Arcado, with Ankit Menon overseeing the track.

The earworm was the groovy ‘I Banana’, sung and composed by Electronic Killy, apart from ‘Athimanoharam’, written, composed and sung by Rajat Prakash.

Ankit Menon scored Extra decent, Oru Kattil Oru Muri, Nadanna Sambhavam, And Guruvayur Ambalanadayil.

Vineet Srinivasan’s Varshangalakku Shesham It was tremendous, but the music was of a different class with the compositions of Amrit Ramnath, who is carrying forward the legacy of his mother Bombay Jayashree. A seamless fusion of styles and genres occurred as he experimented with voices, orchestration and soundscapes.

Another notable debut has been from boy genius Lydian Nadhaswaram, who made his debut in Malayalam with a fantasy film. barrows, Actor Mohanlal’s first film as a director.

Experienced players like Prashant Pillai and Vishnu Vijay also left their mark. Malaikottai Valiban And loving Respectively.

Cristo Xavier’s haunting compositions and background score blend with the horror drama’s story BrahmayugamThe composer also composed the music turbo And microscope,

Dhibu Ninan Thomas, who has been busy in the Tamil industry, returns to Malayalam for only his second project after his debut seven years ago – ajayante ranadam moshanamThe chart topper was ‘Angu Vana Kolinu’.

Music composer Anand Madhusudhanan, who debuted as a hero specialWrote and composed the gem of a track, ‘Neeyum Njanum.’

word maker

Vinayak Shasikumar Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vinayak Sasikumar once again demonstrated his mastery as a lyricist. He enthralled the audience by introducing some catchy words, phrases and even a new language including ‘Illuminati’ and ‘Jada’, ‘Stuti’ and ‘K for Kalyanam’.

sounds of the year

Dabzie became an overnight sensation with ‘Illuminati’, while Srinath Bhasi was the perfect choice for ‘Jadaa’, both passion,

dabji Photo Credit: Ashwin Prakash

Amrit Ramnath made music lovers crazy with his voice in ‘Nyabagam’.Varshangalakku Shesham), a duet with Sindoora Jishnu. Jitin Raj got fame from ‘Periyon’.Adujivitham,

The best takeaways from Hand Vaikom Vijayalakshmi was singing in ‘Angu Vaan’.

Others who caught the eye included Baby Jean, Pranavam Sasi, Rajath Prakash, Mithun Jayaraj-Annie Amy combo (‘Neeyum Njanam’), Electronic Killy (‘I Banana’), Madhuvanti Narayanan (‘Maravikel’). bougainvillea) Etcetera. Some actors also became singers – Mohanlal (Malaikottai Valiban, Barrows), Aju Varghese (Guruvayur Ambalanadayil) and Arjun Ashokan (turbo,

indie music scene

There has been unprecedented growth in the independent music scene, especially dominated by Malayalam hip-hop artists. It featured the energetic ‘Ballatha Jathi’ comprising the trio of Neeraj Madhav, Dabji and Baby Jean.

He also had many other releases – Dabzy alone had 15 releases, including collaborations with other artists. Gene won the hearts of fans with his singles ‘Thalakkanam’ and ‘Kaayi’.

‘Panthalachant’, which celebrated Malappuram’s passion for football, featured Dubjee, Baby Jean, Joker, MHR and Wraith V. The project is part of a series planned by The Writing Company, headed by writer-director Mu.Ri, aka Muhsin Parari. ,

Veteran artistes Thirumali and Fejo were also not left behind, with the latter alone having eight releases. Rish NK, Lil Payyan, Sami, Mubas OK were among other artists whose releases were released. Musical trio, Malayali Monkeys, who hide behind their ‘Bandar’ masks, released ‘Okku’.

Haniya Nafisa brought out four original books – ‘Mulchedi’, ‘You Good’, ‘When Life Gives You Lemons’ and ‘Poovu’ with Govind Vasantha. ‘Bhagwati’ was an impressive project from Sithara Krishnakumar and the team of Project Malabarikas. Sithara also worked with Mu.Ri in ‘Jilebi’.