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Bayaan Cover Art — inspired by Gandhi's Dandi March
DECEMBER 28, 2018
बयान
Bayaan

A statement. A confession. A revolution. The debut album that rewrote Indian hip-hop.

Produced bySez on the Beat
LabelAzadi Records
Tracks12
Cover ArtJayesh Joshi
How It Was Born

Calm had never rapped in Hindi. Then someone asked him to try — and everything changed.

Before Bayaan, Calm rapped in English. Encore ABJ was the Hindi voice. But their manager heard Calm drop a few bars in Hindi during a freestyle and asked him to write a full verse for "Class-Sikh Maut Vol. II" — a collab with Prabh Deep. That one night of recording changed the trajectory of Indian hip-hop.

Over the next year, Calm and Encore locked in with Sez on the Beat to build what would become their debut album. They originally called it "Kranti" — Revolution. But as the album took shape, they realized it wasn't just anger. It was something deeper. A bayaan — a statement, a confession, a testimony.

The cover art, by Jayesh Joshi, draws from Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March — a visual statement of revolution, of ordinary people marching forward against impossible odds. That's what Bayaan is: two ordinary kids from Uttarakhand, marching.

The album opens with gossiping aunties — the sound of Indian society judging before listening. It closes with "Chalta Reh" — keep walking. Between those bookends: the fire of "Shaktimaan," the vulnerability of "Gehraiyaan," the tenderness of "Pankh," and the existential weight of "Kyu."

The Tracks

12 tracks. One year of work. A lifetime of truth.

01
Intro 0:25
Two aunties gossip about Seedhe Maut and their parents. The sound of a society that judges before it listens. The perfect frame for everything that follows.
02
Shaktimaan 3:05
The lead single. Named after the 90s Indian TV superhero — a metaphor for self-worth, for the power that lives inside ordinary people. Furious lyrics over Sez's explosive production. The track that announced their arrival.
03
Gehraiyaan ft. Vaksh 3:42
Depths. A mood piece about the complicated geography of relationships — how love can feel like drowning and breathing at the same time.
04
Uss Din 3:02
"That day." Personal reflection — the day everything changed, or the day nothing did. Contains the line: "Inko lage poore 10 saal jo kiya 2 saalo me bohot hi mushkil" — what took others 10 years, they did in 2.
05
Jolly (Skit) 0:23
A breath between storms.
06
Meri Baggi 3:18
"My ride." Pure wordplay — the language of Delhi's youth when elders aren't around. How friends talk in sesh, in gatherings, in the spaces where pretense falls away.
07
Dehshat 2:56
Terror. Aggression distilled. The track that makes you rage — punchy, boomy 808s behind Encore's verses. Pure ferocity.
08
PNP 3:01
Plug and play. Versatility as a weapon — the ability to drop into any beat, any cipher, any setting and leave it burning.
09
Pankh ft. Bawari Basanti 3:47
Wings. A letter to every school-going kid struggling with expectations, comparison, the weight of growing up in India. The track that made kids feel seen. Gentle, powerful, necessary.
10
EDOKDOG (Skit) 0:37
The calm before the storm.
11
Kyu 5:08
Why. The longest track — five minutes of existential questioning. Why do we do this? Why does the world work this way? Why keep going? The weight of consciousness in a country that demands compliance.
12
Chalta Reh 3:50
Keep walking. The closing statement — a track of hope. If you just keep your head down and keep going, you'll get there. The answer to every "Kyu."
What It Meant

Before Bayaan, they were promising.
After Bayaan, they were undeniable.

Critics called it one of the greatest Indian hip-hop albums ever made. Fans didn't just listen — they lived it. Every line became a caption, every track became a ritual. "Shaktimaan" opened shows. "Chalta Reh" closed them.

But more than the acclaim, Bayaan did something structural: it proved that Hindi hip-hop could be intelligent, vulnerable, political, and banging — all at once. It didn't choose between head and heart. It demanded both.

बयान — because some things need to be said, not whispered.

The gossip aunty returns in Nayaab, four years later. She's still judging. But her daughter went to the show anyway.