Any apprehensions, criticisms or snarky observations I might have had about Adil Omar’s new single Off The Handle flew out the window when I heard him rhyme a reference to my hometown “And you wonder why I’m cocky/ cuz I stay burnin’ hotter than a summer in Karachi”.

Now, I realise this was a ploy, but I wholeheartedly embraced it because let’s face it, desis and hardcore rap haven’t always gotten along. To see our boy Adil Omar representin’ with rapper/actor Xzibit fills me with an unholy strain of patriotic pride. In fact when I heard Xzibit dedicate the song “for my land in Pakistan” I was tempted to jump up and hold the Boom Boom Afridi victory stance (there’s a reference to him as well!).

Hip-Hop has remained a criminally neglected genre in the Pakistani music industry. The only time we hear rap is when it shows up nonsensically and briefly in pop and bhangra songs, a catastrophically hilarious example of this being one of the Benjamin sisters rapping in Saleem Javed’s version of Jugni.

Enter a teenage kid from Islamabad who, in true indie fashion starts making genuine rap acceptable to the young Pakistani public. Adil Omar has been rapping since he was 16 and I consider him one of the pioneering artists when it comes to creating your own name through the internet. Building a name for himself through Myspace and Facebook, he managed to hustle himself into collaborations with some of rap’s biggest names including B-Real from Cypress Hill and of course Xzibit in Off the Handle.

This single is a more high-profile collaboration and the music video is directed by Matt Alonzo, who directed the video for Like A G6. The music video has the usual rap themes of intimidating, mean looking guys spittin’ rhymes at the camera while scantily clad women of presumably questionable morals writhe in the background. There are some quirky bits though, including Adil wearing a gas mask (this was awesome) and a girl randomly brandishing a Japanese sword (this was hot and confusing). Adil’s bro-hug/chest bump with Xzibit looked laughably awkward but one could forgive the kid for not matching the natural swagger that his far more experienced rapping partner might have.

However, if you ignore the visuals and pay close attention to the song, you’ll see that Adil Omar’s developing a punchy and unique rapping style that’s highly effective. His words have attitude but they don’t sound like empty boasts, the lyrics are alternately threatening and funny and more importantly he’s got a flow and urgent syncopation that is reminiscent of a young Tupac, rather than the more pop friendly, laid back delivery of someone like Snoop Dogg or Kanye West.

It’s a great to hear the contrast of the experienced, battle hardened menace of Xzibit’s voice against Adil’s younger, higher, more hungry delivery. On repeated listening the songs’ slow bouncing beat grows on you and the repetitive seven-note organ loop gives it a playful mood that provides a great foil for the sharp, percussive rapping. With hip-hop becoming the new mainstream music in America, the song is obviously up against a lot of competition but I think this a big step in the right direction for the 20 year old young rapper.

I enjoyed the song and I think that while it may not become a massive hit either locally or internationally, Adil proved that he can hold his own with the best of them and for that alone he should be applauded. If anything, we need to remember that he’s single-handedly landed Pakistan on the hip-hop map. And become the first guy to rap in a black shalwar.

Omar Bilal Akhtar hosts Manic Monday, 7-9 pm on CityFM89