Spotlight On... Supermann on da Beat

Since he started producing music in lockdown, Sanjeev Mann, aka Supermann on da Beat, has released countless collaborative tracks with other both local and international artists, averaging at least one new track every month in 2023 by our calculation. This year, his plans are no less ambitious – tomorrow he releases his brand new ten-track record BREATHE, his debut spoken word project which sees Mann take to the mic for the first time in his music-making history. Combining his love of hip-hop, grunge and punk with his vital activism work, Supermann on da Beat has undoubtedly made one of the most important records that will come out of Scotland this year – we catch up with Mann to find out more.

Firstly, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and how you got into making music?
Yeah so I'm a music producer, activist and promoter based in Ayr, I have South Asian background and live with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, all of which has really shaped my path in music and my general outlook on life. I love creating music with the aim of unity and collectivism through collaboration in the hip-hop community and beyond. The main thing that drives is to help show people like me what is possible and also change societies unconscious bias around disability through content and raising awareness. As a promoter, through my platform Hip Hop Scotland I also want to keep bringing people together through the common thread of music and love.

I started producing in lockdown, roughly four years ago. It was always something I was interested in but couldn’t see how that was possible when I'm not able to physically play instruments. So I decided to give it a go while I had so much free time during shielding. I taught myself using a DAW (digital audio workstation) called Soundtrap via Youtube tutorials and trial and error. I realised I had a good ear for it so continued to invest time and make at least a beat a day and continued since.

From there I started to connect with people in the local scene and go to local shows to get to know people on a personal level. I slowly began to send out beats and network with people on Instagram and progressed from there! I'm so grateful it really feels like I've found my purpose to inspire and bring people together through music. It's a powerful form of creativity that can cross languages and cultures and give new perspectives. This is why I'm so passionate about it! I had no idea how much making music would help me mentally. I'd never really had a form of expression that allowed me to voice my emotions in an artistic way until that point. It felt so freeing to find a form of creativity that I could be part of.

It’s interesting, on your debut solo record, to hear what feels like your signature hip-hop beats sat alongside rockier tracks like I DON’T NEED TO BE FIXED, THE SYSTEM ISN’T BUILT FOR US and FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM. Can you tell us about what other artists influence your music-making?
It's an interesting observation because metal, punk and grunge have always been a massive influence of mine growing up; bands like Nirvana, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine and Slipknot come through in a lot of my hip-hop production, so it felt quite natural to lean into that on this project and also felt like the right fit with the lyrics. I think punk and hip-hop are heavily aligned in terms of what they represent. They both provide a voice for the voiceless and speak about issues facing minorities, and this is the main driving force for the project.

I love combining genres and experimenting with different sounds. I'd find it too difficult to stay within one lane or sound, so my music will always be sonically quite diverse. As well as rock, alternative hip-hop/trap like JPEGMAFIA, Scarlxrd, Playboi Carti & the 'SoundCloud era' as a whole is an influence alongside traditional hip-hop so I always try to fuse genres to create something fresh and unique. I listened to a lot of heavy metal and hip-hop growing up; it was always a way to help me feel my emotions and let them out.

Besides being influenced by other artists, can you tell us a bit more about your experiences that have helped shape and influence your debut record? Why was it important for you to make this record?
My personal experience played such a massive part in the record, especially as a disabled person living in the UK. We are a group underrepresented in all areas of society which leads to society and the system not understanding the issues facing disabled people every day. I think there’s generally a lack of understanding around disability because of the unconscious bias that surrounds it. Disability isn’t inherently a bad thing and this is exactly what I want to change with this project and activism work – raising awareness.

As well as the collective experience, the project also is a personal one where I speak about my journey. For example, I DON’T NEED TO BE FIXED is essentially a letter to my younger self. It stemmed from thinking about what the younger version of myself would want to hear to feel more confident to pursue his dreams. Growing up I never really felt like I was part of a community, so these words would have really meant a lot. I also speak about my experience with life expectancy as someone with my condition and how this has radically changed my perspective on life. It’s really made me prioritise what’s truly important and meaningful to me. As I say on the last track: ‘Live every day like it’s your last’. This as well as finding my spiritual path has been a huge influence to me over the last few years, and in turn becoming central to the content of the project.

I want to change society's perspection of disability; I'm genuinely glad I'm disabled because it’s my path and I wouldn’t be doing what I'm doing without my experiences and the people I’ve met. The fact that this statement is challenging for society to accept is exactly why we need change. I really wanted the project to challenge norms, the low expectations of disabled people, and I'm hoping people will connect and reevaluate and challenge their unconscious bias and beliefs. The first step is awareness and making people aware of the issues to then take action and it’s the same when it comes to the lack of physical access too.

It wanted to create this project to share my own experiences through my music and to continue raising awareness about the issues facing so many that aren’t spoken about in the mainstream media. It’s also important to show people like me that anything is possible and you can always pursue your dreams and live the life you want to live. Also, as mentioned previously, to try and challenge how society looks at disability. We need to continue educating to push forward collectively.

This record sees you take to the mic for the first time and I love that you’ve got your own voice in there, it feels really important. What was it like for you writing and recording vocals for the first time?
It was cool to finally incorporate my vocals in my music, it’s something I’ve been building towards for a while. Like incorporating rock in my production, it felt like the natural progression in combining my activism work. It’s so important to speak about my perspective as a disabled person because it’s not spoken about enough. This is one of the roots to why there’s a lack of understanding. There’s also a lack of disabled artists visible in the music industry on all levels and that’s exactly what I'm trying to change. Growing up I never saw anyone like me making music, so I never saw it as an option – there weren’t any role models.

It was really fun to write lyrics for the first time because it aligned quite well from my journalism background. It was good to express myself through lyrics and words because you can be quite direct and really give the audience something to think about. It was nerve-racking recording on the mic for the first time but we kept the process quite casual and I tried not to put too much pressure on myself, which helped. I really wanted to keep the raw emotional energy of the tracks, so we ended up using a lot of first takes. I wanted to speak from the heart and be authentic in my delivery because it makes it so much easier for the listener to connect with what I'm saying. It was a fun process and I'm excited to write and record more!

As well as telling your own stories in your own voice across the record, throughout BREATHE, the interludes and tracks like INSPIRATION PORN share the stories of others. Why did you feel the need to include others’ voices?
I think it’s important to share our experiences and incorporating different voices reinforces a lot of what I'm speaking about on the project. The more we share different perspectives the more we will learn about the world around us. This helps society become more accepting.

Finally, with the record out on Friday, what’s next for Supermann on da Beat?
I'm so excited for people to hear this project because it’s so different to anything I’ve heard in the music landscape here so I'm buzzing to see how people react; hopefully it will help to challenge their thoughts around the issue and bridge the gap. In terms of the rest of the year, I’ll be releasing singles regularly with a number of artists across genres, also releasing a number of EPs and hopefully performing more with my collaborators. There’s also some cool collabs coming with artists outwith Scotland which I can’t wait for. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future will hold and I trust that good things will come if I can continue to put in the work, grow and improve everyday!

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BREATHE is released on Fri 29 Mar

instagram.com/asksupermann