Regional hip-hop and the big shift

Among the most visible hip-hop artists in India are those singing in Hindi, Punjabi and English. When you’re a Dakhni rapper such as Bengaluru-bred Pasha Bhai, you’re in a niche within a niche — as one of the few artists who makes music in a lesser-known language in Indian pop culture. Mo Joshi, co-founder of Azadi Records, who has worked with Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi and Kashmiri artists, in addition to Hindi and English heavy-hitters, says, “I think that somebody who’s diverse with their approach, that references Tamil and English, will reach a wider audience.” Pushing the niche tag Shuttling between Canada and India, and rapping in Konkani, Marathi, English and Hindi, FeniFina wants the best of all worlds by repping Indian hip-hop in Mumbai but also taking it to Toronto. “For instance, while ‘Taaza Hai Bro’ features new hip-hop music and artists from around India, ‘Indie Hip Hop Tamil’, ‘Indie Hip Hop Telugu’, and ‘Hip Hop Malayalam’ are language-specific,” he says. “And ‘Dillihood’, ‘Bambai Bantai’, and ‘Burrh Rap’ feature music from Delhi, Mumbai, and Punjab, respectively.” While there’s no confirmation from Spotify that another event of this magnitude would take place, it gave a stage to artists like Killa K, the Bengaluru-based Tamil rapper.