Revisiting The Origins of “Ex Kadhali 2.0”, The Local Tamil Ballad Currently Taking Listeners By Storm

The Daily Seni‘s Tharany Maralitharan and Deric Ect spend a bit of time bringing Malaysian music fans back to the beginnings of recent smash “Ex Kadhali 2.0”, as well as recall feuds in the local Tamil industry.

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Local rapper Shaddy Danny has hit it big-time with ““, released just last month. It’s been a couple of years in the making to be honest, and we’re here to talk about that.

Havoc Naven (left) and Havoc Mathan (right).

Source:

But first, some basic details.

“Ex Kadhali 2.0” is a R&B ballad with rap sections, featuring local singer , with music by James Paul and lyrics by Danny himself.

“Ex Kadhali 2.o” has proven to be a big hit with Malaysian audiences – the music video reached 100,000 views within a week and it already has over 3,000 likes on Youtube.

Does it have what it takes to cross borders and go abroad? We certainly think so.

Danny’s come quite a long way; surely some of you still remember the havoc he served on the airwaves with the Havoc Brothers.

The Havoc Brothers were formed in 2009 and initially consisted of  four members – Havoc Mathan, Havoc Naveen, Havoc Danny and their designer slash manager, Havoc Resh.

In the middle of 2013, Danny and Resh left the Havoc Brothers and renamed themselves. Havoc Danny became Shaddy Danny while Havoc Resh turned into Resh Wagen.

Now, a special “Ex Kadhali 2.0” history lesson for the fans as found on ReTamil:

In February 2014, Shaddy Danny announced an upcoming solo single but did not mention any titles. Meanwhile, the Havoc Brothers announced “Ex Kathali” on THR Raaga in May 2014. They also released a teaser in June which was later removed from YouTube for unknown reason.

Screencap of Havoc Brothers’ response to Shaddy Danny’s accusations. Source: ReTamil

Immediately after this incident, Shaddy Danny posted a  accusing the Havoc Brothers of “stealing” his song lyric. Danny claimed that his family members and close friends knew that the title “Ex Kathali” was chosen for his song.

In response to Shaddy Danny’s claim, Havoc Brothers announced that the title of the their song has been simply changed to ““.

It was strange to see this happening in an industry as small as our own Tamil music industry.

In fact, this reminds us: surely many remember the controversy between Yogi B and Psychomantra in 2013.

Back then, Psychomantra attempted to explain his dissatisfaction towards Yogi B and what he perceived as wrongdoings in the industry. It would make one hell of a reading if we had to explain the 11-minute  so we’ll just leave it to our readers to watch it.

And of course, still fresh in our minds: the infamous “Mutthazhagi” girls and their crusade against the haters.

This is pretty much how music listeners start irrational fights with one another over an artiste problem, isn’t it? Although one can argue that competition is expected in every industry, we must add that keeping it healthy is a choice made by everyone involved.

Nevertheless, we at The Daily Seni are looking forward to more big songs that do our country proud regardless of where they’re coming. In the meantime, we’ll just continue watching “Ex Kadhali 2.0” on repeat.

Now this is what we call an understandable music video!