The craze of Indian rap music has reached an almost unprecedented level in the country. Over the past few years, diverse talent has climbed up through the ranks of the popular music genre, thanks to initiatives like MTV Hustle and Spotify’s Rap 91 Live which are not just helping Indian rappers reclaiming the space but also pushing them into mainstream consciousness by offering them “a dream stage” to showcase their talent to the world.
“This means the world to us because we were making music and the industry wasn’t really open to independent music,” says celebrated Indian rapper Raja Kumari, who was one of the headlining acts at the ‘Rap 91 Live’ that took place in Mumbai, where some of India’s popular rappers and hip hop artists brought the house down as Spotify presented its ‘Rap 91’ playlist live.
“Before pandemic, it was mostly only Bollywood music and we were on the fringe. I think during the pandemic with Bollywood films taking a backseat, it was independent music scene that took care of everybody and that growth can be seen. It means a lot that they started this and that there’s gonna be more of this, and I hope to see more female artists in the line,” Kumari adds.
Just like the West, Indian rap music, too, is no more about the boys club, with more and more women artistes changing the game by leaving indelible marks on the hip hop music world. “I think the more we provide platforms, the more talent we’re gonna find in this country. I have no doubt about that. There are so many female artistes that are doing their own thing, and they’re all different. And I hope that people see that we don’t need to fight for one spot,” says Kumari, who was nominated for the Best Indian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2022.
She continues, “There are hundreds of male artistes, there should be room for more than just one. So that’s really been part of my reason to push so hard. And I’m seeing rap songs by female rappers like Srushti (Tawade) and Siri, and I was just thinking we didn’t have those kinds of opportunities five years ago, and this is what we’ve done and it has really benefitted and I’m excited about what they are gonna do now. So, I feel confident with everything I’ve learned here and the stages that India has given me to really develop myself.”
On the other hand, challenging the status quo is not rapper Srushti Tawade’s goal. The MTV Hustle 2.0 fame, known for her trailblazing track ‘Main Nahi Toh Kaun,’ says she never set out to send any kind of message to society with her songs. “I mainly write and rap to entertain and express,” she tells us. “I have not been creating music or writing songs just to challenge the status quo. This is not how I think. Had I not discovered the art form rap, I would still have been entertaining and expressing through some other art form. But luckily, I discovered rap and fortunately it’s just automatically challenging the status quo and none of it was planned or a goal for me ever.”
For Srushti, as long as a talented artiste is being praised and recognised for their work, it’s all good in the hood. “I don’t think of music or art in general as something that needs to be looked at from the perspective of whether a man or a woman created it. That’s never been my thought process. As long as good artistes are noticed and their art is appreciated irrespective of their gender, it’s all good.”
It was an empowering sight to see 22-year-old Srushti belting out her hits in front of a packed house at the Rap 91 Live, with the crowd insanely cheering for her. “I think looking at the crowd and the response I was getting while I was performing at the event, I was dumbfounded. I have never dreamt of these things and all of this has happened to me within a span of a few months. This opportunity really stands out to me because I performed on the same stage as some of the people who I admire and look up to.”
Echoing a similar sentiment about not having enough opportunities earlier, rapper Emiway Bantai says, “Unfortunately, when I began my career there wasn’t a platform like this (Rap 91) for me, but I’m glad that now independent, non mainstream artistes are given a chance to showcase their talent to the audience. It’s definitely brilliant. I mean, as an independent artist, headlining a show for Spotify is simply amazing. I hope and I know that this will inspire every independent and non mainstream artiste in the country. If I could do it, they can too.”
Emiway further says that how such platforms have boosted more confident in independent artistes who are no more in need of major labels to make a mark in the industry. “As an independent artiste I have the power and liberty to create any kind of music that I want, I don’t need a label for that. I came up with a label to create a sense of direction to some of the talented artistes who deserved to be somewhere and reach a bigger audience. Basically, I want to give them what I didn’t have at that time but still let them have their own sense of freedom to create as an independent artiste.”
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