Evolution of 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.

In India, the world’s second-most populous nation, underground rap has reached a milestone. What started off as mimicry of American hip-hop in the early 2000s has matured into an original art form, one that’s gradually branching out into various styles and subgenres. With a firm foundation in place, the stage is set for innovation.

Who started Indian Hip hop???

In 1990, Hip-Hop was introduced in India by Punjabi rapper Baba Sehgal (Harjeet Singh Sehgal). Baba Sehgal started the trend of Hip-Hop and rap with hit songs like “Thanda Thanda Paani” (sampled Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, which in turn sampled Queens’s “Under Pressure”), and “Dil Dhadke”.

Beginning of desi hip hop 

Influenced by Bohemia’s popularly, a group of five individuals, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Lil Golu, Badshah, Raftaar, and Ikka, together known as “Mafia Mundeer”, came crashing into the Punjabi rap scene. The group produced many hit Punjabi rap songs throughout their career. After some time, two more artists Alfaaz and J Star joined the group.

Unfortunately, the glory of this group was short-lived. Soon, several members of the group parted ways in order to work independently.

Rappers like Badshah, Raftaar have made fortune and still are part of the industry. Yo yo honey singh was out of the game for a while but he is now back with his album zoravar. Raftaar along with his friend has created kalamkaar records which gives exposure to new artists.

Rappers signed to kalamkaar label are -

1. kr$na

2. Rashmeet Kaur

3. Emcee Hasnain

Rise of gully hip hop

Everyone knows that Hip-Hop is an art form which was born in the streets of Bronx, New York. It was revolutionized by the likes of Jay-Z and Nas. Inspired by these legends, Naved Shaikh (Naezy) a young boy, emerged from the streets of Mumbai. Naezy dropped his first track “Aafat!” on YouTube with a raw music video in January 2014. The track went viral because of Naezy’s versatility, impressive skills, constructive storytelling.

After gully boy Divine broke all records of fame. As he says in his new rap "gully walene 5x plat diya".Emiway bantai, MC stan, Kaam Bhaari are also some big names which became famous after that movie.

Gully rap’s multilingualism and relatable lyrics has resulted in an audience in India that extends beyond just loyal fans. Where electronic music is largely the music of the urban upper middle class, gully rap boasts listeners across social strata. By giving a voice to the everyday citizen and representing their daily troubles, it’s slowly planting the seeds for a more inclusive music culture.

(In the next article we will talk about Aazadi records)