The Loudest Rappers In India Right Now!

THE GROWING POPULARITY OF HIP-HOP MUSIC IN INDIA

You are reading this article because of probably two reasons, either you are aware of the growing popularity of Hip-Hop music in India or you want to learn about it. How am so sure that you want to, probably because you can hate if you wish but you certainly can’t ignore it. Hip Hop and India would not really be placed together if we were in the 2000s or even early 2010s but the locus has switched sides now and for better. According to Nielson’s annual report, Hip Hop is the most listened-to genre in the whole world and India certainly wants a piece of it. Following the suit is the younger generation of India. According to Wikipedia, India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. The past couple has seen a drastic change in the mindset of Indians. The movement started by Bohemia back in the early 2000s had certainly lived underground even before and after his arrival but nothing went viral other than the infamous Yo! Yo! Honey Singh. Times have changed, haven’t they? We have put together a list to 5 Rappers/Hip-Hop Artists from the India that have aced the ears of the Indian audience, and certainly written a few pages in the history books other than writing in their rap notebooks.

Divine

[caption id="attachment_3254" align="alignleft" width="347"] Divine[/caption] Vivian Fernandes aka Divine is a rapper based out of Mumbai or JB Nagar, Mumbai – 59 to be precise. Divine can be regarded to be the poster boy for the rap music scene in India. To validate the former statement, Divine is the only Indian rapper to have appeared on the ‘Fire in the booth’ with Charlie Sloth. Divine initially started with spitting in English but soon found Hindi to be well suited for the Indian Audience since recognition is one of the objectives. The transition has done Divine more good than anything else. His street-style flow and lyrics that everyone relates even landed him a Bollywood project, wherein he collaborates with Nucleya to punch out Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkebaaz’ lead single ‘Paintra’. Divine was also a part of Puma's new campaign 'Suede Gully', you might have already seen the video or heard the track somewhere. Here's some Divine intervention for you: [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYDo_3WIDQU[/embedyt]

Naezy The Baa

[caption id="attachment_3253" align="alignleft" width="326"] Naezy The Baa[/caption] Naezy The Baa aka Naved Sheikh is one sweet example of overnight success, well overtime to say the least. He started rapping in his school days just to impress people around him. A song recorded on Garageband on an IPad sent by his father from Dubai and video for the song recorded on the same amassed over a million views within no time. Naezy has now become a household name in the Indian rap circuit. His collaboration with Divine – Mere Gully Mein even cemented him as on the finest to have emerged in the scene. The music that followed has been equally good with aggressive mumbaiya-flow and honest lyrics, he seems to have carved a niche for himself. The 'Baa' means crazy, which certainly makes his moniker even more interesting: Naezy The Crazy, which is for sure translated in the flows that he spits. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mre56rwF6Y8[/embedyt]

Prabh Deep

[caption id="attachment_3255" align="alignleft" width="300"] Prabh Deep performing alongside BFR Sound System[/caption] Prabh Deep is all real and no gimmicks, with no moniker, sincere lyricism and hunger in his voice. He is an MC/Rapper, Producer, Videographer and B-Boy based out of West Delhi. Prabh proudly reps ‘Dilli – 18’ aka Tilak Nagar, even in his music is signed to Azadi Record, an independent record label. Prabh is mostly heard rapping on beats by Sez, a label mate and one of most promising hip-hop producer in India. They recently dropped collaboration album ‘Classikh’ with Azadi Records. Prabh Deep has been equally active in the live music scene and performed at most monumental venues in India. He can also be seen performing with boxout.fm on lucky days. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWQz7HaQs6A[/embedyt]

Poetik Justis

[caption id="attachment_3252" align="alignleft" width="332"] Image Courtesy - Voice of the Tha People (VOTP.in)[/caption] Vineet Nair otherwise known as Poetik Justis or PoJu (By close friends) is one Indian rapper that personifies skills and hard work in his character. Poetik is one of the oldest still holding it down. He initially took off with rhyming in English but soon transitioned to Hindi following the trend but the hunger in his delivery is still the same. Poetik Justis is an active member of Slumgods, a collective that is based out of Dharavi. Slumgods is a group of movers and shakers consisting MCs, DJs, Beatboxers, B-Boys, Grafitti artists and more. The collective defines and embraces real hip hop life, simultaneously working towards the betterment of kids from the Dharavi area. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB2P3QQWQRU[/embedyt]

Swadesi

MC Todfod and MC Mawali are Swadesi, which is a rap crew based out of Mumbai.  This super crew spews rhymes in various languages including Hindi and Tamil. The crew recently collaborated with Viveick Rajagopalan, a renowned percussionist and music composer for Konnakol inspired ‘Ta Dhom’. However, Swadesi has been active for years and has collaborated with names like Bandish Projekt, Dopadelicz, Slumgods and more. Also, Swadesi’s bandcamp reads:

Swadesi is a group of young Emcess producers, DJs and graffiti artists that aim to bring about a change through our art and music. We believe that the future of our country lies in the hands of the youth empowered with the idea of 'Swadesi' i.e. Embracing all things Indian.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq0SGssWx4k[/embedyt] However, the culture is only going to grow from here. There’s a number of talented artists that are shunning the criticism and working towards their craft. Here’s a list of wonder MCs that you ought to know to understand better:

• Enkore
• Seedhe Maut
• Pardhaan
• Dopadelicz
• Emiway
• Raga
• KRU 172
• Dee MC
• Mumbai's Finest
• Youngsta
• KeepSake