Aamchi hip-hop

Last month members of Swadesi a multilingual hiphop crew from the city had organised a trek for Mumbaikars to the Sandhan Valley deep in the heart of the Sahyadris A host of adventure sports were part of the itinerary apart from a live gig that Aklesh Sutar aka MC Mawali performed at night This show included Marathi rap tracks that have shot him to fame within the Indian hiphop circuit Itrsquos a musical genre that none of the local residents who attended the gig that evening had been exposed toMC DodoYet when it ended they went up to Sutar and told him that they had understood and imbibed every word of the lyrics and had thoroughly enjoyed his performance They even asked him for YouTube links for more Marathi rap material telling him that they would share the same with the friends and neighbours who hadnrsquot been there that night Remember this is Sandhan Valley we are talking about a place thatrsquos nestled in the Western Ghats But that didnrsquot stop Marathi rap from spreading its influence further in a state where the people take immense pride in their literature and languageThis subgenre of Indian hiphop first started emerging around 2010 Thatrsquos when some youngsters who had been part of Bboying crews started exploring other elements of hiphop culture including rapping Sutar was one of them starting out in 2012 The Mumbaikar tells us ldquoNo one told me to rap in Marathi I just felt that since I am good with the language Irsquoll go with it There was no Marathi pride involved in my decision It was simply because itrsquos the language that my people understandrdquoGradually others started following suit Pradip Kashikar an architecture student had already set the ball rolling after spitting Marathi bars at a reality show on television Dopeadelicz a crew from the slums of Dharavi released a single called Aai shapath in 2013 that became a sleeper hit This gave other youngsters in the state the confidence to ditch Hindi or English as their preferred medium for rapping Ashutosh Rokde aka MC Dodo is someone who started a hiphop group called Street Force Crew in Pune around 2015 They too had concentrated only on Bboying in the beginning Rokde says ldquoI liked what I saw when I came across people like Pradip and MC Mawali There are a lot of rappers who say whatever they feel like but these guys were really sharing their knowledge and I felt that I could do it as wellrdquoBut he also adds that in the beginning most Marathi rappers were more interested in beef scenes mdash meaning dissing each other at rap cyphers with the choicest of abuses They lacked nuance Rokde thus chose to remain underground improving his knowledge and education so that he could add a level of sophistication to his poetry He says ldquoI feel that the truth shall prevail The abusive ones will fizzle out But those rappers who are actually trying to say something mdash who have a social message mdash will stand the test of timerdquo Thatrsquos a valid statement given the fact that today Swadesi remains the preeminent name in Marathi hiphop at a time when rappers are popping out of places like Amravati Nashik and Pune apart from Mumbai like mushrooms in the monsoon The grouprsquos very first song Laaj watte kai was an antirape anthem and they have followed that up with tracks such as The Warli revolt mdash a war cry against the felling of trees at Aarey Colony mdash and antiestablishment albums such as Chetavni ldquoWhen I wrote Laaj watte kai Irsquod been listening to a lot of foreign rappers who spoke about serious issues and I felt that I must do the same because a song remains foreverThere is of course an audience for rap tracks with abusive lyrics Kids find them entertaining But Marathi culture has a lot of influential literature Wersquove had poets and philosophers but in todayrsquos day and age thatrsquos kind of dead Rap verses can thus be a continuation of their work in the modern day it can be a new way of learning for the younger generation Thatrsquos why older listeners can also connect to it and there are many people even in rural Maharashtra who enjoy the musicrdquo Sutar tells us about something we can well believe given the reception his performance got from the villagers at Sandhan Valley