SELF.ish Has Issues. He Made J.O.A.T. About Them.

Rahul Joshi had a fairly unconventional route into rap. He moved to Mumbai to become an actor, spent two years trying to find his footing, wrote a screenplay, directed a short film and then decided to write some songs. No music degree, no long history of releasing records. Just basic guitar chords, a good sense of rhythm, a weakness for wordplay and a growing impatience with waiting for other people to make things happen.

When producer Siddharth Pandit put out a call for new artists with original music, Joshi took him up on it. He wrote a song and sent it over. Pandit didn't respond for three weeks. In that time, Joshi wrote three more. When they finally met, Pandit liked the songs enough to suggest an EP. The original material was soon out of the picture, replaced by five rap tracks that became J.O.A.T., released under his moniker, SELF.ish.

The name stands for Jack of All Trades, which makes sense for someone who's spent years moving between countries, theatre, screen work and now music. Born in Bangkok, Joshi grew up across several cities before training as an actor in the United States. A Broadway opportunity fell apart after production delays pushed it past the expiry of his visa, and his renewal was rejected. Back in Mumbai, he was tired of chasing the next job and decided to make something that didn't depend on someone else saying yes.

The five tracks on J.O.A.T. give that decision some personality. ‘T.D.S. (This Dope Shit)’ is an autobiographical introduction with jokes, wordplay and a very clear policy on late-night booty calls: 4 AM is for pyjamas and pizza. ‘Cold Heart’ gets more personal, looking at the emotional distance left by a relationship that ended in 2019. ‘God-zilla’ is his full Hindi rap, delivered with the attitude of someone who's worked to get comfortable with the language. ‘Soft Boiled Boys’ is for men who don't think being kind makes them weak. And ‘I'm Not A Rapper’ takes aim at the part of Joshi that spent too much time worrying about other people's opinions.

That last track is perhaps the point of the whole exercise. Joshi started writing songs in late 2025 and released the first one in May 2026. He's still figuring things out, but he's no longer waiting to be picked. The EP ends with his own declaration: “Jack of All Trades, been telling you since I was 9, swear to God, I'm the Joshiest of All Time.”

SELF.ish is already onto his next release. ‘Tin Diesel’, an ode to his two best friends of the past decade, is out October 30. Pre-save ‘Tin Diesel’ here.