'I would take it to heart': Local hip-hop artist faces backlash for his English tracks

When the haters came for him online, Mehtab Brarwent silent.

It was 2021, he was 15and an aspiring urban music artist making music in his Winnipeg basement.

"Low key,I would take it to heart, every single comment," said the now18-year-old, whose stage name is M.B.

Part of the problem? Brar, who is Punjabi, was singing in English.

"I'm a Punjabi person making English songs and I'm hopping on other rappers' music, and people didn't seem to like that,"Brarsaid.

YuvrajSidhu, Brar's Calgary-based producer and audio engineer,agrees.

"There was always Instagram comments, Tik Tokcomments from our own people, too, which is upsetting for us. We are trying to boost our community out to the world and then our own community is hating on us," saidSidhu, who is also Punjabi.

Brarhas moved on from the negativity and poured those feelings into his music, including his song Preach, which recounts, in part, his feelings about the hate and then quitting music for a time. (The song and three others are available on his EP, Cold Collection.)

Brar's story of perseverance isnow the subject of a short documentary by students in theCreate programat Sisler High School in Winnipeg. The post-high program trains students in the creative digital arts, including filmmaking.

Create studentsFateh Brar, 21, (no relation to Mehtab Brar),Caryl Jazz Cruz, 18,andTekie Gebrehawaryat, 19,produced the new video.

Sisler Createis a post-high school program thattrains students in the creative digital arts, including filmmaking.

The short documentary was produced as part of CBC Manitoba's Project POV: Sisler Create, an ongoing video storytelling collaboration.

Meet the filmmakers

Fateh Brar is an experienced cinematographer with more than eight years behind the camera. He has made multiple music videos, short films, commercials and documentaries. Outside of film, he has a passion for dance, particularly Punjab's folk dance bhangra, which he has been doing since 2013.

Caryl Jazz Cruz is a graduate of Sisler High School. She can be found taking photos with a film camera and filmmaking. She also loves art and consuming media, which inspires her creativity. Cruz thrives whenever she spends time with her friends, dresses up or expands her taste in music.

Tekie Gebrehawaryat is a graduate of Gordon Bell High School. He has a strong passion for film, photography and various visual arts, including digital design. Gebrehawaryat is also a hard-working painter and designer who adapts to challenging circumstances. In his free time, he also enjoys playing sports.

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba's Project POV: SislerCreate is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBCManitoba journalists to produce short docs. The collaboration is in its second year. You can see past projectshere.

The Winnipeg School Division's Createprogram is hosted at Sisler High School and trains post-high students in the creative digital arts.

During fall 2023, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking studentsand led producing workshopsat theCreate program at Sisler High School.

The post-high school programfocuseson education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.