Sarmad Ghafoor, a well-known music producer and guitarist, feels that a lack of intermediaries out here has resulted in a situation in which underground bands with considerable fan following haven't been able to arrange a respectable number of gigs. He gives the example of the band Mizraab, of which he is a huge fan, and which has numerous fans in Islamabad as well. Yet, it hasn't had a single gig here because there are no event managers who focus specifically on unsigned bands. Most concerts are either corporate concerts or heavily corporate-sponsored concerts which aim for an audience of 50,000 rather than 1000, even though a cult market is still a market, with a potential of its own, he says.

Adil Omar has been writing since he was ten and has recorded up to a 100 songs in a studio he set up himself.

"I rap about everything you see in Wes Craven and Tarantino films. Death, destruction, brutality, and horror. I'm an entertainer. I aim to shock. I aim to offend. And it's a healthy way to express emotions rather than acting it out," he says.

His most famous raps, generating the most downloads, are 'Stomped & Defeated', 'Eradicate' and 'Retaliation'. He has even worked with a few famous rappers such as Twiztid and The Insane Clown Posse, "primarily known for their public feud with Eminem a few years ago", says Adil.

"A person in their management approached me and my rap-friend B-Leave. He asked us to spit verses on an unreleased project of theirs which they might put out in the future, so he emailed us the song and we sent it back after we recorded it. We're in touch on and off."

He says his fans, within the age group of 13 and 25 are mostly outside Pakistan, and are either into death metal, which has the same content as his music, or underground rap, which he distinguishes from mainstream rap by linking the former with skill and creativity and the latter with marketability.

What is surprising is that he gets inspiration from rock bands like Marilyn Manson and the Nine Inch Nails and even plans to set up his own rock/metal/rap band when he completes his education. Most people who are heavily into rap seem to have extreme contempt for rock.

Rizwan Chaudhary, a 20-year-old American citizen, who was born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, and is currently studying in Pakistan, is heavily into rap, and demonstrates just that.

"I bang with rap cuz it's the best way to express how I feel. The rap game is all about being on top and destroy any niggaz career whose tryin' to limit your digits. Its either you on top or get knocked," explains Rizwan with a heavy 'gangsta' accent.

"As far as rock goes, I don't wanna hear that sh-- around me," he adds with a chuckle.
But Adil feels that good music is good music, and he finds it highly stupid when rappers cannot seem to admire anything good if it isn't hip hop.

What is a future like for an angry rapper also into hardcore rock? In his own words, not anywhere near Pakistan.

He feels his music has no scope here, and despite all the hard work he puts in, it will never be taken seriously. Consequently, he has plans of flying off to the States and forming his own indie label because there is a huge demand for his kind of music out there.

And there are other aspirations too. "I see myself in the field of media and entertainment, releasing my own albums, making films, being single and enjoying myself, touring with a band, signing young talent, writing and selling hit pop tracks to singers who can't write their own stuff, probably acting too," he says.
Though Adil Omar has lived in Islamabad all his life, he has successfully formed a cult association, courtesy the Internet, with like-minded musicians and fans from all over the world, who only listen to his raw, explicit material with glee, rendering his nationality and ethnicity totally irrelevant. He will use this gained recognition when he tries to set something up in the States after he finishes his education.

The internet seems to have changed the rules of the game for musicians, to the extent of making established bands in the West like The Crimea take the first leap of acknowledgment. It remains to be seen if and when such an acknowledgement will reach Pakistan and how it will hit our developing music industry.