Indian hip hop

Indian hip hop is a part of the South Asian hip hop culture, is a genre of popular music developed in India. Desi hip hop is a term for music and culture which combines the influences of hip hop and the Indian subcontinent; the term desi referring to the South Asian diaspora. The term has also come to be used as an alternative for rap music and even pop music which involves rappers of South Asian origins.

Indian hip hop
Stylistic origins	Hip hop R&B soul
Cultural origins	1990
Typical instruments	Bass drum machine rapping sampler synthesizer
Derivative forms	Urban
Subgenres
Urban trance R&B EDM (complete list)

Overview

Apache Indian, UK artist of Indian origin, was the earliest to make an impact on the UK charts with a series of hits during the nineties.[1] Baba Sehgal introduced Hindi rap in the nineties with his albums.[2] His album Thanda Thanda Pani (1992) sold 100,000 copies in three and a half months and brought rap music to the Indian club scene.[3] In the 2000s the desi hop scene remained limited largely to the underground, with a very niche loyal audience.[4] Hip-hop culture, including graffiti and b-boying started seeping into the club scene and street culture of big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.[5]

Ashok Kumar’s recitation of Harindranath Chattopadhyay’s poem Rail Gaadi is considered to be one of the first rap songs in Bollywood. It was featured in the film Aashirwad (1968). In the 1990s rap started getting popular following the success of Baba Sehgal’s album Thanda Thanda Paani. [6]

Besides Bollywood and commercial rap music, the underground hip-hop scene started shaping. Many emerging rappers, crews started to create a buzz in the underground hip-hop scene. In north India groups like 2 ShadeZ, Desi Beam , while in south Machas With Attitude, Hiphop Tamizha, Street Academics pioneered respective vernacular rap music scenes. In Mumbai Mumbai's Finest, Bombay Bassment, Gully Gang became popular.

There was increased interest in the rap genre in India after 2011, with many rappers emerging from across the country.[4] This is largely credited to the success of Yo Yo Honey Singh in India and Bollywood, India's Hindi film industry.[7][8] Following huge success of his album International Villager,[9] Singh went on to release several hits songs both in independently and in Bollywood.[10] In the wake of success of Honey Singh, a new trend was formed in Bollywood with many producers roping in rap artists for their songs.[7] Even some big Bollywood actors like Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan tried their hands at rapping.[11]

Indian hip hop has picked up steam in the suburbs of India's biggest cities creating big names like Divine, Emiway Bantai, Naezy, Muhfaad, Raga & Raftaar who have been picked up by talent management agencies like OML[12] who now have music videos with millions of views on YouTube. Down in the scene, rappers like Brodha V and KR$NA have kept the flag of the Indian hip hop flying high.

Due to the exposure through Bollywood, rap became a household term and an increased production of rap music was observed, especially in the Punjabi music industry.[13] There is an ongoing debate among the hip-hop community about the contribution of Honey Singh to the genre. While some artists including Badshah,[14] Ikka,[15] Deep Money[16], Manj Musik and Bohemia[17] have acknowledged his contribution to the industry, others like Raftaar,[17] some Pakistani artists and Imran Khan[18] have openly denied it. There is also a negative sentiment among some followers of hip-hop culture in India regarding the recent commercialization of the genre.[19][20][21] Even though many fans are not happy with the recent commercialization of hip-hop in India, this commercialization has also led to expansion of the underground scene, with independent artists building a name in Indian hip hop. Because of this, the future of hip-hop in India is generally perceived to be positive.[19][22] There are many rappers in India, rapping in different languages like Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Khasi etc.

Kannada Rap

Kannada Rap / hip-hop In the late 20th century, Indians adopted the Rap culture. It became a bandwagon among the youth. The Fad for Rap is seen in most of the Indian Languages. It is a new trend among the youth to take up issues and rap about it. However in Hindi Rappers like Yo Yo Honey Singh in same way Kannada Rapper[23]like AllOk, Chandan Shetty, Gubbi, Mc bijju, Rahul dito and others had been critically acclaimed for their rapping skills.

Tamil hip hop

Tamil hip hop is getting popular in India. Artists like Brodha V, Dopeadelicz and Yogi B are known for their acts in Tamil language. Many other south Indian languages like Kannada, Telugu and Marathi is also becoming popular among masses in India.[24][25]

Protest hip hop

Protest hip hop came into limelight after mass protest started all over India against India's citizenship Law 2019. Since the crackdown in JMI, AMU and JNU, several rappers from all over the country have joined the cause with their own sonic protest. Rappers like Madara, Rapper Shaz, Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer (EPR),[26] Ahmer and Sumit Roy gained recognition for their protest songs.[27][28]

Rappers

Groups and duos

Artist	Known for	Years active
Bohemia	Kali Denali He was the one who invented desi hip hop in India and represent desi rap in western countries by his collaborations lot of international artists like snoop dog, Sean Kingston, Jay Sean etc Sahara Ik Tera Pyar Koi Farak Nahi Diwana Salute Kurti	2011-present
Divine	Kohinoor Mere Gully Main Farak Kaam 25 One Side Azadi Sher Aaya Sher	2010–present
Badshah	DJ Waley Babu Saturday Saturday Mercy Genda Phool	2006–present
Raftaar	Swag Mera Desi Desi Hip Hop Baby Marwake Manegi Dhakkad	2008–present
Raja Kumari	Change Your Life (Iggy Azalea song) Never Give Up Mute The Come Up (EP)	2012–present
Ikka Singh	This Singh is So Stylish Half Window Down Sapne Shuruwat	2014–present
Yo Yo Honey Singh	International Villager Desi Kalakaar Lungi Dance Loca Moscow Mashuka	2006–present
Brodha V	Aathma Rama Indian Flava Aigiri Nandini Let Em Talk Aathma rama	2008–present
Naezy	Aafat! Mere Gully Mein Asal Hustle Aafat Waapas	2014–present
Fateh Doe	Bring It Home 15 Minutes	2009–present
Raxstar	Ego Brand New Swag Bandook	2005–present
KR$NA	Seedha makeover Maharani Untitled Makasam	2005-present

Artist	Known for	Years active
Street Academics	Chatha Kaakka Native Bapa Pambaram	2009–Present
Hiphop Tamizha	Hip Hop Tamizhan Meesaya Murukku International Tamizhan	2005–Present
Machas With Attitude	Red + Green = Brown Making our Money Ready Steady Po	2008–2013

References

1. Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p.13
2. "Baba unplugged".
3. Gargan, Edward (August 23, 1992). "THE MANY ACCENTS OF RAP AROUND THE WORLD; India: Vanilla Ice In Hindi". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
4. Mehrotra, Palash (12 August 2012). "Indian rap scene: A revolt that will not get televised". India Today. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
5. Kappal, Bhanuj (12 October 2013). "Inside Mumbai's Burgeoning Hip-Hop Scene". The Sunday Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
6. Ghosh, Devarsi. "Before 'Gully Boy': Rap's journey in Hindi films (1968-continuing)". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
7. Nijher, Jaspreet (17 December 2014). "Punjabis who rocked 2014: Imran Khan, Honey Singh, Badshah, Dr Zeus". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
8. "Rappers on the rise". The Times of India. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
9. "Punjab's bhangra-rapper comes to Bollywood". Mid-Day. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
10. "Yo! Yo! Honey Singh tops the chart of trending videos of 2012". India Today. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
11. Abraham, Letty (13 September 2015). "Rap music is making a comeback in Bollywood films". Mid Day. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
12. Chakrabarti, Samrat (2015-12-13). "Hip Hop on the Central Line". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
13. "From Bambi Bains to Aman Sandhu: Punjabi musicians talk about their journey". The Times of India. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
14. Jones, Raaj. "BADSHAH INTERVIEW @104.8 OYE FM BY RAAJ JONES". Youtube. Oye 104.8 FM. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
15. Jones, Raaj. "IKKA SINGH RARE INTERVIEW (TALKING ABOUT HIS MUSIC & YO YO HONEY SINGH @104.8 OYE FM BY RAAJ JONES". Youtube. Oye 104.8 FM. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
16. Jones, Raaj. "DEEP MONEY - RARE & MUST WATCH INTERVIEW @104.8 OYE FM BY RAAJ JONES". Youtube. Oye 104.8 FM. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
17. Batra, Ruhi (15 March 2015). "Honey Singh versus the bitter rest". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
18. "Imran Khan says "I don't even know who Honey Singh is". Satisfya". Youtube. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
19. Omulo, Bob (19 September 2014). "How India is Taking to Hip Hop". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
20. "Rap is rebel music worldwide, here it's 'pop rap': Badshah". Hindustan Times. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
21. "Imran Khan: Rappers are destroying image of Bollywood music". The Times of India. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
22. Mahmood, Rafay. "Bohemia: More than just forties and shorties". The Express Tribune. Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
23. https://kannadagottilla.com/2017/03/05/the-journey-of-rap-culture-in-kannada/
24. "It's a rap! New single goes viral on day one". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
25. Tagat, Anurag (2019-06-07). "Can't stop, won't stop: the rise of Tamil rap". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
26. "Rapper EPR's Song About Farmer Suicides Is Powerful Beyond Belief". The Quint. 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
27. Majumdar, Meghna (2019-12-23). "How art on social media became the face of anti-CAA protests". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
28. "Voice Of The People: Protest Music In India". www.thewildcity.com. Retrieved 2020-05-03.