Iykki Berry’s alter ego oscillates between two personalities: that of the “funky, vibe-y, cute-sy, effervescent Barbie”, and the “stubborn, bold, raw and rooted queen”. When one of these personalities takes over, the words write themselves. Her new single ‘Ithihasam’ taps into the latter.
The rapper and singer-songwriter — a familiar face and name, thanks to her debut in the reality television show Big Boss 5 — hails from Thanjavur and discovered the world of hip hop only in 2015. Before that, pop icons like Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga and their distinct soundscapes reassured little Iykya Kamaraj of the world of possibilities in music. Cut to 2024, and ‘Ithihasam’, released on November 1, celebrates Tamil pride, through crisp verses that honour the many greats of the Tamil literary world.
Iykki calls ‘Ithihasam’ a “magical work for the whole crew”. It started with an impromptu beat that Dev Major — who has composed the music for the song — belted out on a random evening. Iyyki was quick to jam to that beat with verse: I believe in the sun/ I do surya namaskaram.
You’re doing pazhi pavam, you gotta do pariharam. “We moved on to other work until we got a call from [AR] Rahman sir’s office. They said they are going to launch an Unreal Engine music studio and asked if we would like to work on a music video,” recalls Iykki.
Unreal Engine is a software tool used to create interactive, 3D visual worlds using realistic lighting and special .