The Evolution of Indian Hip-Hop & It’s Future

The Punjabi artist Baba Sehgal brought hip-hop to India in 1990. (Harjeet Singh Sehgal). With songs like Thanda Thanda Paani and Dil Dhadke, which became popular, he established the Hip-Hop and rap genres.
Mafia Mundeer made up of Yo Yo Honey Singh, Lil Golu, Badshah, Raftaar, and Ikka burst onto the Punjabi rap scene, influenced by Bohemia. The movie Gully Boy, which was based on the lives of two deserving Indian street rappers Divine (Vivian Fernandes) and Naezy (Naved Shaikh), inspired many people to become interested in hip-hop culture and music. The movie is a coming-of-age tale about these two aspirant street rappers from the Gullies of Mumbai’s Dharavi slum. Hip-hop has existed in India for a very long time.Video Courtesy: Sultan NationMainstream artists like Raftaar (Dilin Nair). Ankit Khanna one of the co-founders of KALAMKAAR records, one of the first independently-run record labels in India dedicated to hip-hop music said that when he and Raa started working together rap was still becoming popular, every third song in Bollywood wanted a rap verse to make it more unique and attract an audience. With their Delhi slang and wordplay, as well as outstanding directing and production skills, the Kalamkaar gangu2014young and incredibly brilliant artists KRSNA, Deep Kalsi, Brishav, Karma, Harjas, Rashmeet Kaur, and Yunanu2014had a big impact on India’s hip-hop scene.Indian female rappers such as Raja Kumari, Dee MC, Sofia Ashraf, and many more have been steadily taking the reins of their artistry over the years.They’ve been writing about varied topics, from preconceived societal notions to personal emotions to protest music aimed at larger social issues.Many upcoming musicians make every effort to produce the greatest music they are capable of. The dearth of decent audiences and listeners who genuinely enjoy and support competing rappers, dancers, beatboxers, and artists causes a lot of difficulty for upcoming musicians. It takes a lot of work to write, compose, and produce your own music, and it is quite upsetting when it is not recognized or heard. An artist puts in the same amount of work whether a track has the most or the fewest views.Do you believe that hip hop is here to stay despite the ambiguity surrounding the music industry’s future?