Meba Ofilia quit her Law degree to be on stage

Name: Meba Ofilia

Profession: Musician

Genre: Hip-hop, R&B, Soul

Location: Shillong, Meghalaya

Why you should care: Years before Indian musicians like Diljit Dosanjh and Hanumankind began to vault straight from Instagram algorithm to Coachella, Meba Ofilia’s buttery voice broke through the aggressive, testosterone-fuelled noise on the airwaves. Her powerful track ‘Done Talking’, with Shillong-based producer Big Ri, went on to win Best Indian Act at the MTV European Music Awards in 2018, an achievement big enough for her to quit her Law degree and dive into music full-time.

Since then, the singer-rapper-songwriter has only stacked wins, with high-profile collaborations such as ‘Rani Cypher’ with Raja Kumari in 2019; her critically acclaimed debut album, Untitled.shg in 2021; a vibey EP with Ranj & Clifr, PLAY ME!, last year; and a litany of singles on which she flexes her lyrical dexterity and vocal prowess. Now, you can witness all of this—and her magnetic stage presence—first-hand at her first-ever 90-minute set at the NMACC, Mumbai, on June 20. 

On returning to the Mumbai stage: “My most memorable gig was at the indie festival Control ALT Delete in Mumbai in 2019. It was my first show—I didn’t even have enough songs of my own and was writing as we were rehearsing. We played raw songs that hadn’t even been formed properly. We didn’t have background vocals; we just had a guitar, keys, drums, and bass. And I sang. It was amazing. That was when I thought, ‘Oh shit! I made it!’. For the show in Mumbai at NMACC, my friends RANJ and Clifr will be joining me on stage, along with Elza, this 21-year-old super-talented musician from Shillong who has a band called Soul Roof. I’ve never done a 90-minute set before, so I had to actually go back and revisit my old songs and bring them back to the stripped-down versions and feel again the connection with them when they were made.”       

The miseducation of Meba Ofilia: “I grew up listening to a lot of gospel songs because I used to sing a lot in church. But, also as a teen growing up in the 1990s-2000s, I had access only to what was shown on TV—Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys and all that. Those were the artists that I grew up with, and looking back now I don’t think I can deny their influence on my music. I got into Alicia Keys and Beyoncé later when I decided I wanted to be a better singer. Britney Spears is an entertainer, and when I could differentiate one’s craft from the other’s, I really wanted to understand how Beyoncé sings the way she does, how she projects her voice.”

Music was in her genes: “My grandfather is a well-known songwriter locally—he writes all the songs for my aunt, who is a traditional folk artist. My dad, while he didn’t take up music seriously as a career, has also influenced me. I do think I’m the first one from my family who took to music and wanted to make a bigger career out of it, but I never really dove into the whole traditional music aspect because I feel like I need to be in a certain place and state of mind to be able to understand my tradition, culture, and this knowledge, and not just sing about it blindly. I do want to start writing and singing in Khasi—I hope to get my grandfather to write a song for me one day. He doesn’t understand my music right now, since it’s rap, but he says, ‘It’s good, keep it up.’” 

On her new single, ‘All Night’, out tomorrow: “It’s a summer banger—the first release of several this year—that I thought would be nice to drop just in time for World Music Day. It’s completely homegrown, with producers and videographers all hailing from Shillong. We shot the music video (releasing on June 21) in one day at a warehouse in Shillong. With this single, what I’ve unlocked is the confidence to dance on camera. I used to love dancing in school. And then, around 2020, I just completely abandoned it. I took some time, and then I revisited it this year. It’s a very spiritual thing for me to dance. It’s very therapeutic. There’s no one form—it’s mostly freestyle…just moving.” 

Why Indian hip-hop is so exciting right now: “We all used to rap in English, but now there are so many rap songs in local languages where they bring their own lifestyle, their own authentic lived experiences, into the genre. It’s much more relatable now. Swadesi Movement, for example, really encapsulates that for me—they began a sort of revolution. I also love how different sounds are being brought into the genre, like how Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park used to mash rock and rap.”  

A track she’s tired of performing: “‘Done Talking’ is one of those songs I’m tired of listening to, but I don’t think I get tired of performing it. I’d hear it everywhere in town. And also, there’s this ‘ick’ with artists when they listen to their younger selves—when you hear yourself in a voice recording and wonder if you really sound like that. But you know, you’ve got to cut yourself some slack. You were young.” 

She’s a baddie but…: “I used to consume a lot of fashion and hoard clothes, but my outlook has changed. I’m more into the comfortable and the affordable at the moment. I love to thrift. There’s this weekly market in Smit, about 45 minutes from town, where everything—curtains, bedsheets, clothes—is laid out in a field. I once got this really nice bag for ₹50, and when I took it home and cleaned it, I saw the label—Etro. I googled it and found the original price, ₹75,000!”  

An unforgettable piece of advice: “My mom used to say, “When you come home, you come home with your clothes on.” I think that was meant to say don’t embarrass yourself, and carry yourself with dignity in the world. She also used to say that, yes, money helps, but it’s not all that you have to live for.” 

What showbiz taught her: “You don’t always get what you want. And what you visualise today—a song or anything else—will definitely not stay that way. Ideas change. I’ve also learned how to stop micromanaging others’ work. I mean, it’s good to help out, but there’s also a degree of toxicity to it—limiting another’s vision and not letting them execute their idea. You can’t control the outcome.”     

Meba Ofilia performs at The Studio Theatre, NMACC, Mumbai, on June 20, 8 pm onwards. For tickets, click here