Tupac and 50 Cent rapped about their hardships and lives in the streets of New York in the '90s. Decades later and miles away in the bylanes of Mumbai, this rebellious form of self-expression is increasingly gaining popularity. Small groups of motivated individuals began congregating, rapping about their lives in the city in Hindi, English and Marathi. But it all began with an imitation of the West, where the subjects of grievances were guns and drugs.
Dopeadelicz, one of the early groups of gully rap, wanted to change this, because there was a lot in Mumbai to rap about: the police, crime, smoking and even going to church. “I just wanted to be real”, says Stony Psyko of Dopeadelicz. Filmmaker Naman Saraiya set out to chronicle the evolution of this artistic social movement in his documentary, Kya Bolta Bantai, which will premiere this evening in the city.
Desi rappers
The documentary features some of the biggest names in the gully rap landscape like Divine and Naezy. “The documentary tracks the journey of [gully rap],” says Saraiya, adding that the art form is a collective one, hence his efforts have been to also document the lesser known artistes.
“There are others who compile the scene, not just Naezy and Divine,” he adds. For Divine, the ‘poster boy’ of gully rap, the process is rather cathartic. “Gully rap talks about what I’m going through, what we see around us, what we feel,” says Divine.
Mumbai’s Finest, one of the oldest crews in the city, is known to guide new and upcoming rappers, taking them under their wings and helping them bring their songs into the public domain. And yet, not much is known about these crews. Ace, a member of Mumbai’s Finest, says, “When we used to do it in the beginning, I did not have a vision. I did not know what I was doing or where I was heading. I just [wanted] to be cool, or to be the go-to guy, who people used to look up to.” But things changed when gully rap became popular — from a hobby it became a profession. Divine, for instance, was also a part of Mumbai’s Finest but when he made it big with his collaborative single, ‘Mere Gully Mein’, with Naezy, it encouraged a new wave of rappers, demonstrating that gully rap too could be mainstream.
Gully rap is experiencing an unprecedented mainstream attention. Filmmaker Zoya Akthar is currently making a film on the indigenous music form, featuring Ranveer Singh. But for now, the Vice India documentary gives us a glimpse into gully rap, and what it means for those dedicated to it.
Kya Bolta Bantai – The rise of gully rap will be screened today at 5.30 p.m. at Godrej India Culture Lab, Vikhroli East. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Naman Saraiya, journalist Bhanuj Kappal, and Karan Amin, artist manager for Dopeadelicz and Dharavi United and Nirmika Singh.