In the past few years, there has been a noticeable change in the pattern of music in the country. The traditional style of composing the music on musical notes has been replaced by creating the songs on beats. The evolution of rap culture has further strengthened the trend and has completely transformed the music in the country. You can spot rappers in concerts, award shows and even TV nowadays because of the immense popularity they have enjoyed, thanks to their art.
Rap – Rhythm & Poetry has been there for a long period of time but it was until a decade back, that it became popular in the country. In the west, the rap culture was started by blacks who used their voice and this art form to tell their stories to the world. Soon, it became popular because of the use of slangs and disses that used to happen. This rise of rap culture in India has happened after people started listening English rappers, mainly Eminem. People think that rap in songs has started with Honey Singh in Hindi film industry but the truth is, rap is there in Indian music since the last two decades.
First wave of rap in 2000s
Blaaze was one of the first rappers of the country who has collaborated with AR Rahman in various songs. He has provided rap in many of the hit songs and movies including Delhi-6, Yuvraaj and many other movies. Before Blaaze, there was Baba Sehgal who started the rap culture in the late 90s and early 2000s and enjoyed popularity of his style of rapping. However, the person who took ‘desi rap’ to the next level is Bohemai. This California based rapper used to rap in Punjabi and he took everyone by storm because of his style of storytelling and hard hitting poetry. Soon, people started following different Indian and other sub-continental artists like Billy X, Hard Kaur, etc. and this was the first wave of rap.
Honey Singh and underground rap
Soon, Honey Singh came into the scene and brought rap into mainstream by doing commercial rap for many popular Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. The evolution of Honey Singh was liked by many and disliked by many too because of his typical party raps. However, he single handedly introduced rap to many Indians who did not know about this before. While all this was happening, underground rap was finding its voice in Mumbai and it introduced a new breed of rappers like Divine and Naezy. It is safe to say that after all these small evolutions, rap culture has become an integral part of Indian music and is dominating the music charts.
