Indian hip-hop

Indian hip hop is a genre of popular music developed in India. Desi hip hop is a term given by Bohemia 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. It is widely known today as Desi Hip Hop or DHH.

Indian hip hop emerged in the mid-1980s, driven by American breakdancing films such as Wild Style (1982) and Beat Street (1984), gaining popularity in urban youth culture in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Kolkata.^[1] By the late 1980s, Kolkata became a centre for hip hop dance workshops, while Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai prioritised rap, leading to emergence of distinct regional hip hop scenes in local languages by the late 1990s.^[1]

Apache Indian, a UK artist of Indian origin, was the earliest to make an impact on the UK charts with a series of hits during the 90s.^[2] This also paralleled the rise of Asian Underground in the UK.^[3] The inflow of hip hop into India is also attributed to certain clubs and DJs in New Delhi in the 90s.^[4]

Baba Sehgal introduced a caricaturist version of Hindi rap in the 1990s with his albums.^[5][6] In 1992, his album Thanda Thanda Pani sold 100,000 copies in three and a half months and brought rap music to the Indian club scene.^[7]

Hip hop in India developed slowly in the early 2000s, though there had been earlier efforts by artists such as Baba Sehgal and Apache Indian, whose styles were more rap–oriented than representative of the larger hip-hop scene. It was initially confined to urban areas with niche and expatriate audiences,^[8] but it gained prominence through MTV and the increasing worldwide impact of American rappers like Eminem, 50 Cent, and Jay-Z. The release and popularity of Bohemia's Paisa Nasha Pyar in 2006 is considered as a turning point for Desi hip hop, accompanying the growing role of NRIs and cultural intermediaries bringing fundamental hip hop elements like DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing into Indian masses.^[9][10]

Yo Yo Honey Singh transformed, popularized hip-hop and rap into the mainstream Indian audience, beginning with the release of the track Glassy in 2006 with Ashok Masti which featured an English rap by Singh while also the music being produced by Singh. The track was the first time Singh featured as a main artist and a rapper as he was primarily only a music producer before with tracks such as "Jhanjhar Kehndi" from his underground music album showcasing a blend of Punjabi language with hip-hop coupled with music composed by Singh. Singh is one of the most well known and renowned artist in India due to his popularity amongst the youth and the audience who grew up listening to his tracks during their school or college days, which had a unique music to them alongside featured raps by Singh. Singh is largely credited for making rap and hip-hop mainstream in India during a time when majority of the people were not aware what either of the terms meant. The release of Singh's debut studio album International Villager in 2011, 8 years after his first underground album Desi By Nature in 2003, changed the Indian music scene forever and mainstreamed what being a rapper meant which further influenced and paved a way for the current generation.^[11]

One of the early moments of Indian hip hop was the Bengali-language underground film Gandu which narrated a story of a rapper's journey, accompanied by an innovative soundtrack, which became known for mixing rap with alternative rock.^[3] 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. Artists such as Roll Rida, Noel Sean & groups such as Machas With Attitude, Hiphop Tamizha and Street Academics pioneered respective vernacular rap music scenes.

Indian hip hop further became increasingly popular in India's biggest cities with big names like KR$NA and Seedhe Maut who have been picked up by talent management agencies like Kalamkaar^[12] and Azadi Records who now have music videos with millions of views on YouTube.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Director Zoya Akhtar was very impressed and fascinated after listening to rapper Naezy's "Aafat!" and "Mere Gully Mein". She wanted to portray the stories of both these young rappers and consequently approached DIVINE & Naezy, the artists whom she had in mind as the inspiration for the film's titular character. Akhtar pitched the idea of making a Bollywood movie based on their lives.

Due to the exposure through Bollywood, rap became a household term and an increased production of rap music was observed. This is notable especially in the Punjabi music industry being largely credited to Punjabi artists such as Sidhu Moose Wala, Shubh and Yo Yo Honey Singh. While Shubh and Sidhu have been fairly recent to the industry, Honey Singh has been producing hip hop beats and music since 2003 back when he was primarily only a music producer.^[17] There's been a debate among the hip-hop community about the contribution of Yo Yo Honey Singh to the genre. Singh is the most renowned and largely credited for the hip-hop and rap boom in India at the time when the large chunk of the Indian audience were not aware about what rap exactly is and what rapping really means. Aside from his legendary music production skills, Singh's featured raps on tracks and his mark on the music scene with the release of his chartbuster debut studio album International Villager in 2011, further popularized the genre of hip-hop and rap in India into the mainstream, paving a new path.^[11]

While some artists including KR$NA, Badshah,^[18] Ikka,^[19] Manj Musik and Bohemia^[20] have acknowledged his contribution to the industry, others such as Raftaar who has had a long beef with Singh,^[20] has 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.^[21][22] However, this commercialisation 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.^[21][23] There are many rappers in India, rapping in different languages such as Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Odia, Bhojpuri, Khasi and others.

Telugu hip hop became notable since the early 2000s when artists such as Smita started hip hop culture in the Telugu language. "Hai Rabba" and "Masaka Masaka" are her best selling albums which received wide acclaim, especially in the Indian sub-continent.^[24] Artists such as Raja Kumari,^[25] Roll Rida, Noel Sean and Manisha Eerabathini started the trend in the new-age Telugu hip hop by including rap.^[26] With the rise of its popularity, these artists started working in Telugu cinema since the late 2010s.^[27][28]

Tamil hip hop is gaining popularity in India. Many other languages like Kannada and Marathi are also becoming popular among the masses in India.^[29][30][31]

YoungProzpekt (now KR$NA) released "Kaisa Mera Desh" in 2010. The track was an anti-corruption anthem against the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the statement of Indian development in particular.^[32] It earned a #2 ranking as one of the most watched music videos in India overnight following its release.^[33]

Protest hip hop came into limelight again after mass protest started all over India against the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019. Since the crackdown in JMI, AMU and JNU, and the 2020 Delhi riots several rappers from all over the country have joined the cause with their own sonic protest. Rappers such as Rapper Shaz gained recognition for their protest songs alongside Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer (known as EPR Iyer).^[34][35][36]

Disses became particularly popular and played a significant role in shaping Indian hip-hop post-2018.^[3][37]

• Gully rap

• Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn; Fonseca, Anthony J. (2018), Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia, vol. 1&2, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-0313357596
• Williams, Quentin; Singh, Jaspal Naveel (27 July 2023). Global Hiphopography. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-21955-9.

• Kumar, Hemang; George, Arun (14 February 2019). "A History of Rap in Bollywood : From Baba Sehgal to Gully Boy". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
• Bhargava, Eshita (3 February 2022). "Tracing the rise of India's hip-hop scene: Baba Sehgal, Bohemia to Raftaar, Divine, Karma, Shah Rule, Devil". Firstpost. Retrieved 30 January 2025.