Chetavni is a double-edged word. On one hand, it could have a threatening watch-out-I'm-coming-to-get-you kind of meaning. On the other, it might be construed as a piece of friendly advice. Local hip-hop crew Swadesi meant the latter when they used the term for the title of their debut album, which they will launch at a gig next week. They have earlier been known to not mince words with singles like The Warli Revolt, where the lyrics held a dagger to the state government's throat in response to the incessant tree felling inside Aarey Colony. But here, they are talking to you, the citizen. They are asking you to be more aware of your rights as a free-thinking member of our democracy.

The inaugural title track in fact consists only of vocal samples from political speeches, news clippings about issues like Gauri Lankesh's murder, and bits from Vivek, the Anand Patwardhan-made documentary that warns you against being blindfolded and herded like sheep. That same theme runs through the rest of the tracks, which puncture holes not just in governmental lies, but also in societal hypocrisies. This is out-and-out conscious rap, a genre meant to grab us by the shoulders and shake us awake in case we have been dormant observers of the injustices around us.