A new millennial generation in the working-class homes of far-away Vashi and Belapur is now exploring the music scene after being influenced by artists like Kendrick Lamar, Nipsy and The Weeknd. Nikit Holkar and his friends are among them. 

The civil engineering graduate turned to rap in 2015 as a way to express his inner turmoil.  “We usually had rap cyphers held around railway bridges, underground subways or parks in CBD Belapur and Nerul. We would spend Saturday and Sunday having battles,” he says. Seven years on, he has released the first R&B single in Marathi, Thamb zara, earlier this week. With lyrics that seamlessly blend Marathi and English, Holkar says the song attempts to introduce the genre to the Marathi 
music space.