Mid-Day Anniversary Special: Wild Wild Women revisit their journey breaking barriers to carve their own space

Preeti Sutar aka Hashtag Preeti was asked about the early memories of Wild Wild Women, and she said, “We always talk of those memories, and how the space was. We were amateurs then.” Having just returned from their first international tour at the Jenseitsvon Nelken und Pralinen Festival in Germany, the tag no longer applies to them.

The quintet of Pratika Prabhune, Ashwini Hiremath, Preeti Sutar, Jacquilin Lucas, and Shruti Raut, are as fluid in their conversation, as their rap verses. Their appearance on the Mumbai circuit in 2021 was a breath of fresh air. Dressed in their traditional saris, lehengas, they were as fierce as they were feminine. Yet, it was painting — not music — that brought them together.

Rap is their language of expression. Pics/SATEJ SHINDE

One could call it, sisterhood at the cypher. “I remember it was back in 2021. Ashwini [Hiremath] was participating in a painting session at the garden, and I decided to join in,” shared Sutar. Hiremath was a graphic design student at IIT Mumbai, and often teamed up with the Marol Art Project. The session Sutar spoke of was the debut of the Ladies First Street Art Festival held by the community.

The venue of BharatVan in Marol was one of the many open spaces in the suburbs that was a nurturing ground for an underground hip-hop movement. From graffiti artistes, skateboarders, rappers to b-boyers would flock to the open space. “We started chatting over a post-session dosa about our musical interests and rap. That’s where it all kicked off,” shared Sutar. “The group is an amalgamation of [talents]. It attracted people who were curious, willing to push the envelope,” shared Prabhune, who joined the team later in the year.

One of the events that drew the young women was the rap cyphers. Ask them to explain, and multiple voices pipe up at once. “A cypher is simply a gathering of hip-hop artistes and rappers. It is open to everyone, and anyone,” explained Jacquilin aka JQUEEN.

But like many things in the country, cyphers are often dominated and steered by male privilege. “I attended for four months, and soon realised that there were no girls participating. They would be present in the audience, but few would step up,” revealed Sutar. So, the group found a little corner of the garden to jam amongst themselves. With few of the male rappers willing to share tools of the trade, the group self-taught themselves the secrets to hip-hop. “We fight a lot as well, although it never lasts too long,” added Prabhune.

This did not mean Mumbai girls did not rap. Far from it. There had been many other names on the independent crew. They just had not teamed up together. “There was no place for an all-female cypher. Every time we would bring it up, they [the boys] would say there is no audience for it,” explained Sutar. Undaunted, they decided to host an all women cypher titled Wild Wild Cypher in 2021. “About 13 female hip-hop artistes, aside from graffiti artistes, b-boyers from across the city turned up,” stated Prabhune.

Not that it made them acceptable. “I still recall that we were at my sister’s wedding in Tamil Nadu. And we decided to perform in the evening. In our traditional outfits, most of the guests expected a Karan Johar-musical number. When we started rapping, jaws dropped. That was the first time my mother truly felt that I had found my tribe,” said Jacquilin.

They might be performers constantly on the move, but the group is not interested in being tagged as just that. Almost echoing Tupac, Sutar said, “Hip-hop, for us, was more than just a form of expression or music. It was a means to bring about change. When we started, we wanted to rap about the things no one would talk about; at home or in cyphers.” Having participated in menstrual health campaigns, hosted initiatives for girl child education across the city, the group has grown beyond just music. “It all starts from that one conversation that has now grown into something much larger than ourselves,” concluded Sutar.

2021
The year of a meeting that sparked bigger things