When Chirag Rashmikant Patel and Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid published the tour book “Dødtid” in 2013, Chirag wrote in the foreword that they wrote the book themselves because they would never have opened up to a journalist. Nine years later, it seems that the almost 40-year-old rappers have opened up quite a bit to the journalist and author Yohan Shanmugaratnam. And that’s a good thing, because Shanmugaratnam’s prose has enough hurt, warmth and street smarts to accommodate many shades of the rap group Karpe. Karpe’s moon lander Shanmugaratnam has accompanied the Karpe team for six months leading up to the first of ten major Spektrum concerts earlier this year. The reader gets to participate in early planning meetings where the ideas are settled, but also at parties, concerts, conversations about song choices and smoke machines, and not least mood reports from tour buses and flights. IDEA MEETING: Much to be clarified before the Spektrum concerts, and the author gets to be involved from the beginning. Photo: Michael Ray Vera Cruz Angeles/ Bonnier Norsk Forlag Spenningstoppen is the year’s first festival concert in Trondheim in June. It is here that the concept is later launched in its entirety in Spektrum with a dance crew, guest musicians and not least the giant inflatable shark being tested for the first time. Shanmugaratnam uses Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, the book that is considered the world’s first sci-fi novel, as a common thread in the book. The connection is understandable as “Omar Sheriff”, Karpe’s last record and the basis of the Spektrum shows, flirts with science fiction aesthetics. In my opinion, this move is still somewhat tacky and unnecessary. Fortunately, this is not where the weight of the project lies. Viral about minority experiences Earlier this year, Shanmugaratnam went viral in Norway with the chronicle “Diasporaen lydverk”. The Klassekampen journalist’s interpretation of the Karpe song “BARAF/FAIRUZ” put into words the peculiar sadness of losing connection to an entire culture when parents who have grown up in another country, one day, will disappear. Precisely this perspective – standing between several cultures – becomes the driving force in this book. In the portraits, Shanmugaratnam brings out fine details about growing up, about language, and about parents who do not know Norwegian culture from the inside. It is enlightening to read about the difference between Magdi, who has an Egyptian father and a Norwegian mother, and thus knows the cultural codes in Norway better than Chirag, who has two parents who are originally from India. STANDING BETWEEN CULTURES: The book contains fine details from the upbringing of Magdi and Chirag, and how they know Norwegian culture in different ways. Photo: MICHAEL RAY VERA CRUZ ANGELES / BONNIER NORSK FORLAG “Let me take you on a tour of our city” One of several anecdotes that hits home is when Chirag’s father heard the Karpe song “Vestkantsvartinga” at Aker Brygge on 17 a few years ago .May. He posts a photo on Instagram with the text: “Let me take you on a tour of our city” followed by three red hearts. A perfect example of the small shifts in the language that only native Norwegian speakers will notice. The anecdote is effective because Shunmaguratnam systematically establishes language and the encounter between different cultures as a leitmotif in the book through the many small and large stories. The project Karpe Shunmaguratnman is, on the whole, a skilled storyteller, and he also gives glimpses of the lives of the people in the team around the duo. For example, the dancer Kalim, who has completed dental studies in Poland and has parents who fled Afghanistan, or the kora player Ibou, who continues the musical tradition of his father from Senegal and dreams that kora will one day become so common that they are sold in music stores in Norway. By releasing the many different voices, Shanmugaratnam creates a broader understanding of Karpe’s project. At the same time, he provides insight into a number of different minority experiences. Not least, he shows the importance of a community. THE TEAM: Letting go of the people around Karpe makes the book something more than a portrait of the duo. It enhances the community. Photo: MICHAEL RAY VERA CRUZ ANGELES/ BONNIER NORSK FORLAG More than celebrity journalism Yes, the dynamic between Magdi’s optimism and Chirag’s melancholy has energy in it, too, in Shanmugaratnam’s version. It is exciting to read about the creative process. The way Karpe meets the contemporary and at the same time adds friction to the same zeitgeist, makes them fascinating pop stars and almost perfect interview subjects. But all this is known from the past. It is when this book touches on questions of belonging and multilingualism, of outsiders, experiences of loss, of dealing with change, that the book lifts and becomes something more than well-written celebrity journalism. Entertaining and existential This book therefore fits in several places on the bookshelf. It can stand well next to any other pop star biography, but also stands well with, for example, the anthology “Third Culture Kids”, which is about growing up between several cultures. Shanmugaratnam has written an artist’s book that is entertaining, enlightening and existential at the same time. It must be said to be, as Karpe sings in the song “Kenya”, a “good run for the money”. CONTEMPORARY: The book covers many topics that lift it to become something more than well-written celebrity journalism. Photo: MICHAEL RAY VERA CRUZ ANGELES/ BONNIER NORSK FORLAG news reviewer Photo: Bonnier Norsk Forlag Title: The heart for two – six months with Karpe Author: Yohan Shanmugaratnam Genre: Nonfiction Publisher: Bonnier Norsk Forlag Number of pages: 246 Date: 24 October 2022
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“The heart for two – six months with Karpe” by Yohan Shanmugaratnam – Reviews and recommendations
