RHEA MAHULE
Hip-Hop in India : A world Beyond the Curtain of Gully Boy / Hip-Hop in India : How it Evolved
Hip-hop is one of the fastest growing genres in the country right now . It ’ s one of the fewer genres which can be found in every language and regions of India . Recognising this growth , a lot of the top festivals are increasing the number of hip-hop acts at their events , some even reserving the headlining acts for this genre . JID and Tyga were some of the international artists who performed in India in this past year .
But to be honest , India ’ s love for hip-hop perhaps did not start by listening to international music . It was Indian artists that have really helped shift and re-distribute the listeners of other music to hip-hop . We cannot deny that the Bollywood movie ‘ Gully Boy ’ had some effect in popularising hip-hop , but to truly understand it growth and evolution , we must look beyond the film . The movie itself references to hip-hop and rap communities that have set up their own lifestyles for years now .
So how did Hip-hop actually change the scene Indian music scene and when did it happen ? Let us trace the music back to its introduction in India . Baba Sehgal ’ s ‘ Thanda Thanda Pani ’, a fun localized re-creation of Vanilla Ice ’ s ‘ Ice Ice Baby ’, album was India first ever Hip-hop and rap album that came out in 1992 . In this album Baba Sehgal uses many of the techniques used by hip-hop ’ s MCs in the west at that time . The techniques included use of engaging language , simple rhyming with the beats and samples , funky hooks , and light topics of daily life to rap about .
In 1994 , A . R . Rahman released a track called ‘ Patti Rap ’ as part of the soundtrack for the Tamil movie ‘ Kadhalan ’, dubbed and titled in Hindi as ‘ Humse Hai Muqabala ’. These few songs were merely just a start , as the artists here were only beginning to use technicality of the genre . The real game changer were the Indian and Pakistani origin artists that had settled in the west . They saw the power and market for the genre in India . Late 90s ’ and the 2000s saw some solid hip-hop songs that had impact on the music scene in India forever . Some of these artists were Panjabi MC , Bohemia , Hard Kaur , Bombay Rockers , Ishq Bector . They rapped in English , Punjabi , and Hindi to build the bridge between the music and the language that people in India identified with . These artists released well written , well produced , and nicely marketed tracks .
By touring in India , these songs created a strong base for the hip-hop scene , thus creating the culture of underground rap brought in from the west . This culture then nurtured the rap artists of the next decade to come . Early 2010s ’ saw the rise of highly talented artists such as Divine , Yo Yo Honey Singh , Raftaar and many more . After this , it was only a matter of time that these artists and their music reached out new height of success . Like any every kind of music , success for good music comes from word of mouth of the listeners .
Hip-hop , being one of the highest influencing genres , became a favourite for a lot of people from every economical class in India .
The minimalistic requirement for performing and even producing the songs made poor people of the country to identify and create a culture of their own . Artists such and Divine , MC Stan , and MC Altaf proudly rap about belonging to the areas housing mostly people living in poverty .
The reason for why artists from poverty struck areas relate and use hip-hop as tool of expression is because of the influence the western hip-hop music . A lot of rap music that evolved in USA in the 90s fell under the category of gangster hip-hop , which expressed the poor conditions of poverty hit areas . This included topics such as violence , substance abuse , and crime ; topic that people from lowincome family can identify with . Several organisations now actively work with kids from lower income homes in promoting and educating them in Hip-hop music , amongst other hip-hop art forms such as dance and painting / graffiti . This practice is being used to help channelise their trauma and social conditioning into developmental talent and skills . This real-life existence of the hip-hop community is what the movie ‘ Gully Boy ’ was based on . The movie did play a role in showcasing the real soul of Hip- Hop to the mainstream audience in the country who might not have known about the genre and its influence . And it is true that a lot of Bollywood music has played its part in using hip-hop songs in big production movies , but it is genre which prides in creating a community , a culture , and its own history created only by its own capabilities .
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