Ever since rap and hip-hop went mainstream in India about four years ago, we have been asking ourselves a question: How much of it is hype, and how far has the movement actually filtered down to the ground? Okay, so the emergence of DIVINE, Naezy and, more recently, Prabh Deep as shining beacons of the genre has painted a rosy future for the musicians still confined to the gullies, whose lyrical content is usually a reflection of the class struggles they reel under. But what platform do they have to showcase their talent beyond the confines of, say, Dharavi or Powai? Or, in other words, what path can they chart to find commercial credence in the outside world?

Malhar Phadke