Nearly a decade ago, a teenage boy sat inside an abandoned kitchen room at his family home, secretly recording songs with a broken headset microphone and a copy of FL Studio. Today, Critical Mahmood has become one of the emerging voices of Bangladesh’s modern hip-hop scene.
Speaking with TIMES of Bangladesh, Mahmood reflected on his journey, unfolding the inside stories behind his rise.
Hs musical journey began in 2016 when he was still a school student in class six or seven. Unable to afford proper recording equipment or studio access at that time, he downloaded FL Studio and began teaching himself music production inside an unused kitchen room at home.
Using cheap headset microphones and free instrumentals downloaded from YouTube, he spent countless nights learning audio engineering, recording techniques and songwriting by covering songs from both international and Bangladeshi artists.
“At that time music felt very expensive,” Mahmood recalled. “So I kept trying to learn the software myself because that was the only option.”
Eventually, those experiments evolved into original songs. In late 2016, he uploaded his first track on SoundCloud with two close friends. The response was modest, but for Mahmood, even a few listeners felt life-changing.
“Back then one thousand views felt huge to me,” he said. “It felt like people were finally listening.”
By 2017, Mahmood formed a rap collective called East Track alongside several young underground artists, including future rapper CFU 36. The crew became part of a new wave of Bangla hip-hop artists trying to build a distinct sound and identity at a time when the local rap scene was still growing.
“We were all very young and passionate,” Mahmood said. “But eventually we realised everyone had different artistic visions.”
The group later split amicably so that each artist could pursue individual styles. Mahmood explained that while some members wanted politically charged rap music, he personally preferred energetic and emotionally uplifting songs that listeners could enjoy during long drives or social gatherings.
In 2019, Mahmood gained wider exposure through ‘Detos Rapstar’, a Bangladeshi rap talent hunt. Competing against nearly a thousand contestants, he reached the top ten before being eliminated during the battle rounds.
Although the competition did not immediately transform his career, it gave him something equally important: family validation.
“After the show, people around my family started believing I could actually do something with music,” he said.
During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Mahmood launched an independent music label called ‘Underrated Bangladesh’ with fellow artists including GxP, Crown Engine and others. Despite lockdown restrictions, the team continued creating music videos and online releases.
Around that time, Mahmood collaborated with rapper GxP on the song ‘Papi’, which received strong online attention. Soon after, his own track ‘Songrami’ became the first song on his channel to cross one lakh views.
The following years brought steady growth, collaborations and increasing recognition. Mahmood also began receiving opportunities from major commercial projects.
One of his breakthrough moments came after the management team of famous Indian composer Ram Sampath approached him to create the Bengali version of a campaign jingle for Sprite.
Later, he worked on projects connected to Grameenphone, Chorki, European Union and Daraz.
Mahmood credits musician Pritom Hasan as one of the key figures who encouraged and guided him professionally. According to him, Pritom Hasan appreciated his technical understanding of mixing and mastering and helped introduce him to larger industry networks.
However, behind the growing success, Mahmood was privately battling severe mental health challenges.
In 2024, he began experiencing terrifying panic attacks that initially felt like heart attacks. Multiple medical examinations found no physical illness before doctors eventually diagnosed him with panic disorder. The condition severely affected his mental stability and creativity.
“There was a time I thought I would leave music completely,” he admitted.
Recovery slowly came through therapy, medication and support from people close to him, including his elder sister Nusrat Jahan Mim and his childhood sweetheart, now his Wife, Ayesha Ariyana Hossain. “They carried me to the hospital and accompanied me throughout this period,” Mahmood added.
He specifically credited his wife Ayesha, his manager and close friend Shadman Shuvo, and fellow artists GxP, Crown Engine and CFU 36 for helping him survive the emotional collapse.
Rather than disappearing from music, Mahmood eventually turned his trauma into art through his 2025 album ‘Gulshan 3’.
Inspired by his hometown at Dhaka’s Kalachandpur area, which he jokingly describes as the struggling ‘downtown version’ of Gulshan, the project explored depression, panic disorder, emotional collapse and recovery through cinematic storytelling and autobiographical lyrics.
“My album, ‘Gulshan 3’, basically represents me,” Mahmood said. “If someone listens to the whole album carefully, it feels like watching a movie.”
Today, Critical Mahmood continues balancing underground hip-hop credibility with commercial work while preparing several new projects, including a hardcore rap EP expected later this year.
Yet despite the growing fame, he still views his journey as unfinished.
From hidden kitchen recordings to national advertising campaigns and emotionally raw albums, his story reflects both the possibilities and pressures of Bangladesh’s modern music scene, where survival often becomes just as important as success.
