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Toronto-based Tamil hip hop group Little Empire, from left tha REAL, DNA Blitz, Sanskrit, 6ix Facist and Milan, say their lyrics aren’t always understood. Photo Ashley Hutcheson/Toronto Star
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Little Empire is more than just a music group. It's a movement spearheaded by five Canadians of Tamil descent committed to raising awareness about the oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka, running a community basketball league and mixing hip hop, Tamil, rap and reggae.
Sanskrit, tha REAL, Milan, 6ix Facist and DNA Blitz, the group's five members who range in age from 22 to 32, sing about religious strife, the impact of the tsunami on Sri Lanka and Tamil identity in Canada.
While immigrants often leave their homelands in search of a more prosperous life, Mayuran Rajashivam, a.k.a. tha REAL, says his parents "were forced to relocate from paradise to Canada because of genocide."
He speaks nostalgically about Nuwara Eliya, in the heart of Sri Lanka's hill country, with evergreens and rich tea estates, waterfalls, mountains, palm trees and quiet streams. But for Tamils, the natural beauty of the country can be overshadowed, he says.
"When you're Tamil and moving around the island, you can be stopped and searched with no sense of safety. I felt and saw that first-hand at checkpoints, how vigorous and even vulgar they could be," says Rajashivam. "Generations of Tamils grew up in northern and eastern Sri Lanka (Tamil Eelam) owning their own property and not worrying about mortgages and other bills.
"The new lifestyle in Canada and the pain and anguish of starting over has lead to a lot of growing pains for the Tamil community in Canada," he says. "Losing loved ones and various symptoms of war have left many of us distraught. After seeing paradise first-hand, I realize what my parents and many others like them felt."
Little Empire combines various musical genres to forge its own style. The group views hip hop as the voice of the oppressed and a tool for empowerment. "Growing up, I had a lot of friends who were black," Rajashivam says. "Even from kindergarten my best friends were black. At many times, I felt very much the oppression that blacks felt, and (I felt) as a Tamil. This made the bond between me and my black friends even stronger."
The track "No Country for Me" starts out with Martin Luther King's words: "I'm happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation . . . "
Rajashivam says Little Empire's lyrics about freedom are not always understood. While the group tries to shed light on the circumstances that lead some community members to extremist measures, some confuse the message as support for the Tamil Tigers.
"We are just trying to show how innocent individuals, due to desperate circumstances, can get caught up in extremist means to fight oppression. We are not Tamil Tigers, we are freedom fighters," he says.
Little Empire has received positive feedback from the local Sri Lankan community, from parents who buy their CDs for their children because of their educational message to youth who identify with their lyrics and rap.
When they're not working on their music, tha REAL, Sanskrit and 6ix Facist run the Toronto Tamil Basketball Association to help build leadership skills among Tamil youth.
What's next for Little Empire? The group is working on a new album, Hiplomacy, to follow up Eye of the Storm, a mixed tape available at HMV. Check out Little Empire's home page at myspace.com/littleempiremusic for more information.
Amita Handa hosts and produces Masala Mixx (Saturdays 4-6 p.m. on CKLN 88.1 FM), and is resident DJ of Besharam, Canada's largest monthly Bollywood party.
