Popular for: Nephop rapper, Sports news presenter, Sports journalist
Sudin Pokharel, better known as DA69, was born on February 23. Even though he was born in Kathmandu, he was raised in Biratnagar. Pokharel was popular among girls with his cool personality and the super hit Nephop music. He is also a sports news anchor and is himself into sports. He presented sports news on Kantipur Television as well.
He had given lots of hits in music among which the most popular were “Ma esto chu ma testo chu” and “She’s the bomb”. After marriage, he moved to Australia and disappeared for 7 years. And, after a long break from music, he made a comeback in 2019 with new songs and is available on his YouTube channel.
DA69 was the one to make the Nephop culture alive and with his group “The Unity”, he won the hearts of Nepali youngsters. The early 2000s generation still loves him the same and he is still a topic of popularity.
Sudin Pokharel studied in St. Joseph’s School in Biratnagar. He was an average student and was more interested in sports and music. He used to play sports with his seniors even carried a small radio in his backpack to listen to sports news. He also played cricket as an opening bowler and middle-order batsman in his local team. And, when it came to singing, he used to be the first in class to get up and sing every time he could get a chance.
After SLC, he realized that he was not serious in his studies and saw his friends grabbing bigger opportunities. To get away from the bitter feelings, sports helped him. Then, he came to Kathmandu and joined Ratna Rajya Campus for his I.A. There he met one of the most loved artists in Nepal Sugam Pokharel.
Sugam and Sudin were both into music. They had a friend named Yaman who was pretty good at writing. Yaman randomly wrote the song “Ma Ghar Janna” and they decided to record it. Sugam knew someone named Avash who had a studio in his house. Avash created a track for that song and they recorded the song successfully.
The next step was to reach Radio Nepal. They went to Biratnagar and distributed their song. A guy from Biratnagar said to Sudin that he had an uncle working on the radio so he could help. Sudin and Sugam gave the recording to him. The song of the duo named SPOx made it to the radio but most of the credit was for Sugam Pokharel. The funny incident didn’t even bother Sudin as he was happy that the song was played on the radio.
Pokharel came back to Biratnagar because his parents wanted him to continue his study there. In Biratnagar, Pokharel wrote another song and let Sugam know about it because he wanted to record it too. Then, he recorded the song in a National Panasonic cassette and the beats of music were made tapping on the table. He sent the song to Kathmandu where Sugam was. Sugam had just started working in Radio Sagarmatha then.
Sugam organized that song for recording in Jems Pradhan’s studio, Opus Recording Studio. Sudin then made up excuses and went to Kathmandu to record the song. That particular song taught them a bit more about music but unfortunately, it could not go well. Then, Sugam composed the song “Udi Jane Panchi” that was good compared to the previous song.
Pokharel’s life as DA69 began after he met Girish Khatiwada. There was a program in Mahendra Mohan Campus where Sudin Pokharel and Bibek Pokharel performed together. Damodar Acharya, who was also a friend of Pokharel, was the emcee of the event. After the performance, Girish Khatiwada met Pokharel and praised him as well. Pokharel sang a few songs and Khatiwada encouraged him to contact him if he ever wanted to make music together.
Then, Sugam, Sudin, and Girish started their journey together. He completed his bachelor’s and went back to Kathmandu. He still wrote a few lines for his rap but he was still serious about his profession as a journalist too.
In Kathmandu, Girish wrote a part for a song and called him on Alpha Studio for recording. They recorded “Ma esto chu, ma testo chu” and it was perfect in just two takes. The song was a massive hit. Then, DA69 became a popular rapper in the Nephop industry. He gave new power to Nephop and a lot of youngsters would often copy his style.
For Pokharel, the fusion of his career as a news journalist and a rapper was not considered well among a few audiences. But, Bhusan Dahal and Somesh Verma comforted him saying that rapping is an interest and he shouldn’t feel discouraged about his interests.
Then, he worked with Girish Khatiwada in The Unity with the album X. After Khatiwada went to America. He started his solo journey which was half way on the album X. He got featured with other artists and every song with him had a cool touch.
As a journalism student, he also wrote a few articles on Yuwa Manch and earned some money. He wanted to earn a decent amount so he applied for a job in Laxmi Bank, but even there he had a talk about music. Later, Kantipur Television had a vacancy in 2000 and he applied there.
During the face to face interview, he saw Bhusan Dahal there at the Kantipur TV office. When asked about the latest update on the newspaper, he updated about the sports segment. He also mentioned that he read the second last page of the newspaper where there were updates on sports
A day after the interview, Pokharel had a performance in a show Popmandu where Bhusan Dahal saw him. After a week of the show, Pokharel got a call and got the news that he got selected for a job in Kantipur Television. Then, his journey as a rapper and a news journalist went at a smooth pace where he learned more about writing as well. Bhusan Dahal and Somesh Varma were his mentors and encouraged him throughout his journey.
In the sports section, Pokharel did a great job as a news presenter and a producer. He did more than 400 episodes of a weekly sports show called SCOREBOARD. He started working in Kantipur Television in 2001 till 2012. He also presented news on FIFA world cup.
Sudin Pokharel lives in New South Wales, Sydney. He is married to Rashmi Rijal and they have a daughter together, Maya. After marriage, he moved to Australia and works there. Along with his wife and daughter, Pokharel also had his father and mother with him.
Pokharel currently works at Office Works, New rocks, Sydney. With a professional life as a business specialist now, he has made a comeback in his music. He has his YouTube channel and shares his new music there.
He studied in St. Joseph’s School and his intermediate in Ratna Rajya Campus. He did his bachelor’s at Mahendra Mohan Campus and did his masters in College of Journalism and Mass Communication at Tribhuvan University.
X, Vyakaraan of Rap
Kantipur Television Network – Senior Sports Presenter SCOREBOARD (more than 400 episodes produced and anchored)
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