It is Wednesday afternoon in a Whitman study room. Although the room is dimly lit, the lights from a computer monitor and DJ controller illuminate the small space. I sit in a chair across from Raghav Pradhan, a first-years intending to major in SPIA. He plans to attend law school after graduating and is also involved in Princeton Mock Trial, along with other activities. In the darkness of Whitman’s basement dormitory halls, however, emerges his producer alter ego, Dhan.
Daily Princetonian: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Raghav Pradhan: My name is Raghav Pradhan. I’ve been making music for the past six years now. I started in probably September 2018 — it was the beginning of my seventh grade year. I downloaded a pirated copy of FL Studio and just got to work. I was inspired by some of my favorite hip-hop artists. Right now, I still make beats and instrumentals. I go by Dhan and I really enjoy it. I’m hoping to get a little bit more into the DJ scene and maybe record some more of my own vocals as well.
DP: Why did you choose your stage name?
RP: My artist name is Dhan, right? It used to be a whole bunch of other names. I was sorting through a bunch of them, and then my friend Joseph, back home, tells me, “Why don’t you just make it, Dhan?” Because in every song where they credit the producer, it’s “prod.” and then whatever the producer’s name is, so prod. and Dhan makes my last name: Pradhan.
DP: Very clever branding. What was your biggest inspiration when you first started?
RP: This is really embarrassing. I used to watch Genius Deconstructed videos: videos of famous producers deconstructing popular beats. In 2018, I’m in seventh grade, my favorite artist at the time was Juice WRLD, right? I'm watching Nick Mira deconstruct Juice WRLD’s “All girls are the same” beat. He’s on FL Studio, and he’s just got a laptop in front of him. This guy isn’t by any means popular. He’s maybe, honestly, 17, 18, years old. I think, “Oh, I can do this too.” So that was how I started out. Obviously, my influences grew from there as my music taste developed as well. I want to make it very clear that I’m not as big of a Juice WRLD fan as I was back then. Now, my inspirations have changed drastically.
DP: What places have you performed in person?
RP:I’ve done a couple of DJ sets at my high school and, you know, just in the surrounding area back in Seattle. Unfortunately, being a producer, there isn’t really much opportunity to do live performances. I think I would like to get more into DJing. I’ve got a DJ controller, and, you know, I mess around with it occasionally, but as an artist, I don’t have enough songs. What I will say is, I’ve gone to New York a couple times, and some of the artists that I’m working with there, that I’m sending beats to, I’ve been able to hear them perform their songs where they rap over my beats. That’s been really cool.
DP: That leads into my follow-up question: What would be your dream venue to perform at, both on and off-campus?
RP: I think on campus, Lawnparties seem like a fantastic experience. I know in the fall we didn’t have a student opener; I’m not exactly sure why that is, but Undergraduate Student Government, if you ever need somebody, I would love to DJ.
Outside of Princeton, I honestly think it’s those small venues that I really like to perform at. Although obviously, I’d like to get to the level where I’d be able to perform on a big stage as well. Or hear one of my songs that I produce played there.
I think a venue like Neumos, which is back in Seattle, was one of the first places that I heard a concert. To be able to go back there and have a small contingent of people where, you know, there’s a core fan base where I know that they actually mess with what I’m doing, rather than a huge crowd of people, I think that would mean a lot to me.
DP: Looking on the other side, as a listener, who are your favorite artists?
RP: The mainstream ones are probably Playboi Carti-esque; Ken Carson, whatever. I like a variety of genres, so R&B like Frank Ocean, Brent Faiyaz, and Daniel Caesar. House music too, like Kaytranada and Kali Uchis. I like bossa nova as well — I’m a big fan of Antonio Carlos Jobim. But for the most part, the things that I listen to on a day-to-day basis are “underground” SoundCloud rappers: OsamaSon, Nettspend, Xaviersobased. Just a bunch of the names you'll see pop up on Instagram with maybe 10-100,000 Spotify monthly listeners. They’re not immediately recognizable, but I enjoy the music, and I like being able to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s coming up in the music industry.
DP: Do you have a dream rapper for your beats?
RP: Honestly, like any of the artists that I listen to. OsamaSon on a beat could be really cool. I think he’s going up, especially. A lot of the more mainstream artists that I listen to are somewhat on the decline, at least as far as I can see. You know, they’ve reached their peak; they’ve done their thing. And so if they were to hop on one of my beats, it would be cool, but I think something new would be nice.
DP: Can you also see producing and like DJing in your long-term plans?
RP: I have two diametrically-opposed ambitions. One of them is to go to law school and rule the world, and the other one is to drop out and become a musician. I still don’t know where life is taking me — just depending on how much commitment I can put into making music. What I will say is the Princeton workload makes it tough to be able to really focus on music. I end up putting a lot of my time into law-related activities. I’m really passionate about criminal justice reform and whatnot. But music-wise, I find myself having to go outside of Princeton to really tap into the circles that I want to.
DP: Lastly, I have to mention — one of the first things I heard about when preparing to interview you was that you were involved in making the infamous Forbes Diss track that came out at the beginning of this school year. Can you tell me a little bit more about that process?
RP: I mean, I heard it going around. I assume whoever made it must be pretty cool.
DP: Is that all you have to say?
RP: You should ask some of the people in Baker basement. I know there's a guy that makes beats there.
DP: Would you or have you ever collaborated with him?
RP: Maybe? I heard his beats were kind of trash though.
DP: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
RP: If anyone messes with the type of music I’m interested in, hit me up on Instagram, and I can send you some beats.
Princess Fodeke is a contributing writer for The Prospect from Valdosta, Georgia.
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