Six, like priests, rappers have a sense of their flock. It’s not clear at times what is wrong with the world but the world is always an enemy until it provides you with unconditional love. It’s grist for his mill.įive, rappers are always in a state of versus. On the whole, the public school-educated big city band kids live in their own arrogant bubble, which the vernie rapper spits on. There is an unbridgeable class and language divide, only broken in the rarest of cases like when Aditya Parihar aka Faadu and Menwhopause collaborated on On A Boat. It’s not for the world to see.įour, the English-speaking band scene and Hindi rappers have nothing to say to each other. If they have self doubt they conceal it well. They believe the world revolves around them. This is partly the reason I’m fascinated by rappers as a breed – they’re the opposite. As an old-fashioned writer of books and columns I’m always crippled by nagging self-doubt. Never say that you like a rival rapper in the presence of your friend, the rapper. As homie, your job is not to question the rapper ever. Two, if you’re hanging with a rapper you’re either a homie (a “follower”) or the enemy. The generation I’m talking of had access to the Internet but somehow the vast tradition of black hip hop was never an influence. One, the bulk of Hindi rap in India takes Eminem as its starting point. Desi rappers have clearly observable characteristics and traits. You track down the maker and become friends. This happens when you are seduced by someone’s art. It’s my first language I was in a reasonably good position to judge the quality of wordplay, the range of references. Off late, I’ve become interested in Hindi rappers. Then came the internet and changed everything.
So in a way even this didn’t amount to a full introduction to the genre. The first introduction to rap came by way of Eminem’s albums (released in the Noughties), all of which had their lyrics censored, the four letter words being blanked out by some inventive scratching of the turntable. What we got in India was the entire back catalogue of Garth Brooks, the king of white boy commercial country. Dr Dre’s The Chronic went number one on the Billboard charts in 1993, introducing the world to the likes of Snoop Dogg. We got Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer of course, and that, pretty much, was where it ended. Photo: ReutersĮMI India released a compilation album called Rap City, which featured UB40 and Red Hot Chili Peppers – not the best introduction to the genre. The bulk of Hindi rap in India takes Eminem as its starting point. Iconic acts like RUN DMC and NWA went unheard. Thinking back to the eighties and early nineties, when it came to new releases, all that comes to mind are white rock bands. The reason for this being that not much rap was released on cassette in India.