The Gully Gang is taking over the city

Divine

Indian hip hop may have arrived a while ago, but as time passes, it just keeps going places. And DIVINE, as always, is spearheading this movement. Our favourite rap genius is here with a one-day hip-hop music festival, which will feature some of the biggest and upcoming stars of desi hip-hop, professional MCs and DJs, beatboxers, b-boys and aims to showcase the best of street culture in India. "Gully Fest is the voice of streets. It's not just a stage, it is a community of voices from my generation that are only just starting to get heard. This is only just the start," DIVINE, aka Vivian Fernandes, tells us.

The performing artistes include Gully Gang (DIVINE and his live band that includes drummer Jai Row Kavi, guitarist Randolph Correia and bassist Krishna Zaveri, alongside hypeman and visual director, JD and turn-tablist Spindoctor); reggae and dub artistes Delhi Sultanate and Begum X and some of Mumbai's most promising acts like Enkore, D'evil, MC Altaf, Gravity, Dee MC, 7 BantaiZ, Proof and Major C. "The line-up for Gully Fest is not only just hip-hop, it will have reggae, a genre which is closely linked to the origins of hip-hop to Trap which is something that evolved from hip-hop. We have artistes who've been releasing music for a years and also artistes who are very fresh but have a lot of potential, and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more music from all the above mentioned," DIVINE says when we ask him about how the line-up was chosen. Along with music, b-boying, which has seen a spike for the past few years, will also be represented by the three-time Red Bull BC One India Champion, Flying Machine.

Delhi Sultanate

Divine, who will be releasing a full-length album soon, has built a large and loyal following thanks to his honest and relatable lyrics, that stem from his own life and growing up on the "gullies" of Mumbai. His continuing stardom is due to his innate and undeniable talent, and hints at the not-yet diminising trend of hip-hop music in the country. As DIVINE says, such a festival is very important for the future of the genre. "Ah, but there
is so much more that can happen! On the live front, I think the festivals and promoters in our country (as tastemakers) could help by programming hip-hop artistes. It can happen on a local and national level both. "

Where: Studio 1, Famous Studios, Mahalaxmi
When: September 22, 7 pm onwards
Entry: By RSVP only on Insider.in

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