Marco song Blood: Did Santhosh Venky replace Malayalam rapper Dabzee? KGF singer clarifies

Marco song Blood: The first single from Unni Mukundan’s upcoming film Marco came under fire, when rapper Dabzee’s version was heavily criticized, forcing the makers to change it

Santhosh Venky and Ravi Basrur (left); a still from Marco

Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan’s action thriller Marco is set to release on December 20, ahead of which, the team dropped the first single over the last weekend. However, the reception to the song was far from what they expected. The Ravi Basrur composition was sung by Malayalam rapper Dabzee, and the unanimous response to it was that his vocals did not suit the song. What the makers did, thereafter, had netizens divided – they released another version with Kannada singer Santhosh Venky’s voice, which prompted reports that he’d ‘replaced’ Dabzee.

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Netizens felt that while it was commendable that the team of Marco took corrective measures based on audience feedback, that action was a form of public embarrassment for the rapper. Santhosh, who’s at the centre of this ‘issue’ is surprised at this turn of events, and explains that while he has sung the song, it was before Dabzee came on the scene and not after.

See below, the version of Blood sung by Santhosh:

Santhosh Venky: Makers of Marco used the rough track I sang

“I did not replace Dabzee. I have been associated with Ravi Basrur for more than a decade. We are very good friends. I have sung many songs for him, right from Ugramm, and this particular one, Blood, was a rough track that we’d sent for approval to the producer, to be used during the shoot, with the final version to be recorded with another singer. Honestly, I had no clue that they released the version I had sung. They wanted Dabzee, but after hearing his recording they were not fully it would work. Then, when the feedback from audiences also was negative, they put out my version,” Santhosh says.

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There was no question of disrespect to Dabzee from the composer’s side, asserts Santhosh. “I was there when Dabzee came to Bengaluru to record the song. In fact, he struggled with his pitch through some portions of it, but kept trying till we got to one version. What’s happened is unfortunate, but I must clarify that I have not sung a final version after him and will not do so also,” he says.

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