Inside Vile Parle's simmering underground rap scene in Mumbai

This is where Divine used to live this is where he filmed Mere Gully Meinrdquo Kuldeep C aka Deep points out as we move past the slums of JB Nagar in Andheri East Divine Emiway Bantai Vijay DK mdash these are names you will hear at Vile Parlersquos Dubhashi Ground every Saturday evening as rappers from all over the city gather to cypher A hotbed for impromptu beats and bars cyphers are an integral part of rap culture all over the worldDeep films the cypher PICSSHADAB KHANDeep who organises and documents these gatherings on social media vileparlescene walks us through the accountrsquos early days ldquoI have been running this page since 2025 Most of my friends are rappers I began by mentioning them in stories eventually word got aroundrdquo The account mdash now averages thousands of views and has become a realtime archival of the hiphop dreams that Mumbairsquos slums fosterKamathipurarsquos firstGautam Khakhodia MC AatankAs Deep gives us the lay of the land we prod him into picking who we should begin chatting with With a cheeky smile he points toward Gautam Khakhodia MC Aatank who was already walking towards us with a swagger in his step ldquoI am the first rapper from Kamathipura I started writing rap when few people knew about hiphop I grew up around crime and so decided to change my life by entering the public eyerdquo he revealsKuldeep C and Pranjal IngleldquoMusic is in my blood While at school my friends would make beats on the bench and I would rap alongrdquo the 25yearold rapper recalls For Aatank brotherhood is marked by a shared love of the game ldquoAnyone who is attached to hiphop is my brotherrdquo There is a glimmer in his eyes as he speaks about those who came before him ldquo7 BantairsquoZ Emiway Bantai Divine bhai mdash today theyrsquore rocking the mainstream tomorrow I believe I willrdquo Young dreamersWe notice many rappers gather around Deep as he films content for the week Among them are two visibly younger members Karan A Lil Karan and Arnav M Lil Sayko are shy at first but open up about their journeys with a little encouragement ldquoIrsquove been doing this since 2022 I hail from a poor background so I rap to support my familyrdquo 16yearold Lil Karan shares 14yearold Lil Sayko echoes a similar sentiment ldquoI started hiphop for my family and I will do it till the end I consider Vijay DK to be my gururdquo ldquoI have three brothers and they inspire me to do something big in life so I entered the hiphop scenerdquo he adds while revealing that his first song will release on May 20 although he is yet to decide on a titlePannursquos peaceLater that evening Pranjal Ingle shows up Also known as Pannu Peace she is the lone female rapper who presented at the cypher that day Her entry is unmissable with her striking blue hair She tells us it was red before but she had to colour over it because her family disapproved Anyone who knows her will vouch for the fact that she isnrsquot one to let anybody tell her what to do ldquoAt first my family forbade me from rapping because Irsquom a girl they would call it cringe But one day I sneaked out to a cypher and people noticed me People in my area would sing praises about my rap to my mother who started feeling proud of merdquo She began her rap journey four years ago ldquoMy elder brother would listen to rap music by 2Pac and Snoop Dogg He inspired me I thought it rap was really cool Itrsquos been four years since he passedrdquoldquoArey apun kuchh karte na yaar apne public ke liyehellipHaa apne pasha log ke liyerdquo these lines open Divinersquos breakout track Mere Gully Mein As Deep explains his unwillingness to monetise the account he echoes those lines like a shibboleth ldquoI donrsquot do it for the money I do it for the peoplerdquoLog on to vileparlescene