The Emergence of Hip-Hop in India

With local rappers, hip-hop artists, and millions of fans, Indian hip hop is a forced to be reckoned with.

The meteoric rise of Indian hip hop is similar to how the genre became popular in other countries like the US and UK – starting in the streets. Just two years ago, inequality was at its peak in a hundred years. In a big city like Mumbai, businessmen wearing thousand-dollar suits, celebrities in glamorous makeup, and people who had nothing to eat brush shoulders.

In a way, hip hop became a voice to those who dared to speak up. It was seen as the means of communication of people who felt ignored and left out by those who are in power.

People, especially the youth who were part of the marginalized sector turned to hip hop to air out their grievances when it comes to poverty and the widening financial gap between the rich and poor. Instead of holding placards in the streets to do protests, they had microphones on their hands.

Hip-Hop’s popularity catapulted when it became the subject of a hit movie entitled Gully Boy, starring the country’s biggest stars, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh. The film was inspired by the Dharavi slums and its underground rap movement.