Shaista Fatima/New Delhi

After the exhilarating success of the single "One minute up and one minute down, baby, this is downtown", Musaib's newest creation "Excuse me" is also on the loop for many millennials these days.

While the song "Downtown" has garnered around 6.5M views by the time of writing this story on YouTube since its release on July 25 last year, "Excuse Me" is on 300k and counting.

Subtle in sarcasm and political satire, filled with verisimilitudes of real-life irony Musaib's songs create a buzz among the youth. Though his songs are sung in Kashmiri, the beats are catchy and the chorus says it all.

Dedicated to Srinagar Downtown, according to Musaib, “this is where my heart lies, from my childhood to my adolescence and now my adulthood, this city has seen it all..”

Youngsters are trending the song by posting reels and short videos of the same on Instagram and other relevant social media platforms. Musaib Bashir, 28, is the voice and face of the video song DownTown, Excuse Me and prefers going by his stage name Mr Musaib is known for his quirk, wit and humorous videos that would tickle your funny bone.

Musaib says “...It was my friend who introduced me to Tiktok, my boredom became my reason to come to TikTok and then later when it was banned, I shifted my comedy videos to Instagram and kept my prank videos on YouTube.”

An optimist and a believer Musaib says “...an empty vessel makes more noise, thus I am a solution finder.” He is probably alluding to the troublesome situation in his home. According to him the youth of Kashmir have faced a lot of traumas; comedy comes as a relief and stress buster for many, “there isn’t one soul in Kashmir who hasn’t lost a loved one…”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Musaib Bashir (@mr_musaib_)

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Musaib Bashir (@mr_musaib_)

Talking about the lockdown imposed for security reasons after the removal of Article 370 on August 5 two years ago, he says “that period was very tough and boredom made me explore a more creative side of my personality, though mostly I was in Delhi exploring business avenues. While talking to Awaz-the voice, he recalls his first ever viral video. “I made this video on transgenders and it became viral.

“I haven’t looked back since.” A very quiet and shy human in real life, Musaib is an ardent follower of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and calls himself a full-time businessman and part-time comedian. He is filled with novel ideas for the curation of TV Serials, Video songs, and other content, if given a platform he’d love to take his art form to an augmented podium, “the returns aren’t that huge, I cannot afford to put in 2-3 lakh into one video, but yes I’d love to get noticed…”

The influencer who now owns a fan fam of 141k on YouTube, 150k on Facebook and over 70k on Instagram, was once disowned by his parents, “I was shunted from my house, my parents didn’t talk to me for over two years…”

Musaib's screengrab from his video Downtown

He says that “my journey hasn’t been a bed of roses, I have had my share of struggle.” Belonging to a reputed family of Doctors and Advocates, today after a span of 4 years, his family has accepted his choice of profession. He is valued among his family and peers. Musaib feels that the genre of comedy brings people and societies together.

The same is portrayed in his original song DownTown which also is a Kashmiri homage in Gangnam Style Shehr-e-Khas (a colloquial term for Srinagar) has immense historical importance as well but the irony is “relative to its considerable population, it faces a severe dearth of essential services like ambulances, fire tender services, and petrol pumps, these factors together compelled me to compose this song.” he further added. Musaib’s heart on sleeve attitude has brought a paradigm shift in Kashmir, though according to him “...people aren’t that broad-minded here, people are different culturally and traditionally…”

Musaib says that he has to keep in mind the likes and dislikes of his audience while performing, “we have an inner circle and we perform accordingly…” An introvert in real life, Musaib is a bag of smiles for his doting audience, “I am a very quiet and shy human in my real life, but it is the camera and loves for my audience that makes me don the role of a witty counterpart…” Fan moments make him nostalgic, “I remember a last-stage cancer patient calling me and thanking me for my videos, he told me that they make him laugh.”

Musaib in a comedy act

During the pandemic lockdown he used to get calls from Covid patients who blessed him for his content, “...an elderly lady who was covid+ called me to bless me and asked for more such comic relief.” In spite of all the invectives and struggles, he is hopeful and is aiming at getting verified by the social media platforms as well, “I have been trying to get a blue tick for the past year, as today being verified makes your content more viable...”

He hopes for a better tomorrow and wants people of Kashmir to be more inclusive and accepting of the new and upcoming artists, “there would be times when your choices would be questioned, but one must never bow down to peer pressure…”