SREYOSHI GUHA THAKURTA
During the 80s and the 90s, rap written in Hindi and/
or English found its place in Indie-Pop and RnB music
in India, but became popular in its most original
form, that is, with Hip-Hop much later. Since the early
2010’s, Hip-Hop has seen a steady rise in mainstream
Indian music. Rap written in Punjabi started becoming
popular in Northern India and it slowly travelled
southwards, where it cemented its position in Bollywood.
The early practitioners of rap, Honey Singh and
Badshah have now become pioneers in Bollywood
and are popular household names all over India.
A throwback to the last three years in India is enough to
dig up a number of national and regional protests that
have taken place. Whether it has been about women’s
safety, the political upheaval in Kashmir, demonetization
or the Long March- concerns have been voiced by
hundreds of citizens, who had also taken to the streets.
These mass protests have paved way for many artists
to make art for the cause. Rap in India has also found
a voice of dissent right in the heart of this mayhem.
Rap in America has forever been embroiled in
controversies around problematic and misogynist lyrics,
and conservative political and media groups have always
blamed rap for culturing a seeming trend in violence
among youths. This problem also exists in the both
mainstream Bollywood and dissenting rap cultures that
have been brewing in Indian regional languages. But this
kind of accusation or an interpretation fails to address
and contextualize rap through its frame of social context.
The form of rap that is fast gaining popularity in India,
and rising up as a competitor of Punjabi rap, comes out
of alleys and slums of metropolitan cities like Kolkata
and Mumbai. Popularly known as Gully rap or Ilaka
rap, these songs talk about local concerns; the basic day
to day struggles of the grassroots. These rappers from
the slums have recently come under the limelight with
Zoya Akhtar’s film, Gully Boy. Loosely based on the
lives of Mumbai based rappers DIVINE and Neazy, this
film also has songs written and composed by them.
Besides local and larger concerns, Ilaka Rap also has
a tradition of writing songs about their pride for their
locality, thus challenging other slums in the city. Two
or more rival slums often open dialogues and have
arguments over songs they post on social media. In May
2018, Minaj Khan of Khidderpore, Kolkata, released his
song- “Khidderpur Basti” on YouTube. It talks about the
fearlessness of the local boys and their love for violence
thereby establishing the superiority of their slum over
all other. As a response, Kolkata Rappers of Park Circus
realised “Park Circus Zabardast” in July of the same
year. Another popular name in the city is Awessum
Frankie who released his song “Ilaka Rap Kolkata
Rajabajar” on YouTube, almost a year before Khan and
Kolkata Rappers. Released under the banner of Radio
Mirchi, this song introduced the new sound to the city.
Despite promoting violence and communal
sentiments, this marginal form of music has
risen to the position of one of the biggest voices of
dissent in the larger context of Indian culture.
LOCAL VOICE OF DISSENT:
LOCAL
DISSENT:
RAP IN
IN THE METROPOLIS
RAP
METROPOLIS
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