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Writer's pictureRaktim Kashyap

THIS IS DESI HIP-HOP

Updated: Aug 16, 2020

ASSAM'S LOCAL HIP HOP SCENE

When people talks hip hop in Assam, they generally thinks of cheesy Assamese Rap songs or Rap bihu, but there is actually an actual underground hip hop scene that is happening in Assam that rarely gets the spotlight they deserves.


In the mid 2010’s or so some well-known rappers emerged in Assam ever since the era of desi Hip Hop came in in India with Rappers like Raftaar, Bohemian and so on.


In Assam the scene of Hip Hop started with some established rappers that gets less recognition and so today we bring in some of the dopiest flow stars from Assam.


1. MINIMI: - An established rapper in his own right who has bought the era of Assamese

lyrical rap in Assam to the point that he became a matter of talks among many hip hop fans for his hardcore flows and delivery and spitfire lyrical ability over songs like “Gom Pabi roh” and “f**** yourself". He might be also involved in some rivalries but that doesn’t brings him down, the man is an unstoppable force with a message that needed to be heard.


2. Rock Glock: - Rocky Glock has been a part of many crews as well as bands like Rain In Sahara, although his choice of language is Hindi, he puts emotions into his flows and lyrical contents that are related to his own life experiences. One of his most known song is “Bad boys don’t cry”. Rocky is one of the prominent contributor to promote underground rap scene in Guwahati, hosting battles and gigs around Guwahati and live streaming platforms.

3. Abigail: - One of the most talented female rap artists in the current scenario, Abigail

shared stages on the national level as well as participated on some infamous street battles held in and out of Assam. A pure epitome of feminist attitude can also be seen over her lyrical contents and songs.

4. J’97: - Nishant Bharali, better known as J’97 is a young rapper from Guwahati who was active into the hip hop scene of North East since 2014. Although he started out as a lyrical rapper he slowly transformed into the modern mumble rap influenced by the modern day rappers. Nishant has also released a mix-tape titled as Payback that touches the various aspects of old school and modern day hip hop.


5. Kool-D: - Remember when rapper actually used to talk about the harsh reality and burning

issues of society? That was long lost in Assam, but the moment Kool-D came in the scene he breathed a fresh air to the scene with his songs like “Xomaj”. This was unlike what we hear from the mainstream rappers in Assam, it’s raw and underground at best


6. SIKDAR: - Power, flow, delivery and attitude, when one hears about these words in Assam, they only thinks of Sikdar. SKIDAR is one such rapper from Assam that does more of a spoken styled rap that was once popular in the mid 2000’s. His style is more like a motivation rap that can be seen over his songs like “dead rose”.


7. DEBO: - Back in 2019 one song that stormed the hip hop and rnb playlists in North East

was “Xullo son” by Debo a lo fi song by Debo and Rajnish. Now, this one was more like mainstream rnb with singing than rapping. But we couldn't just let go without including Debo into the list since his songs carries an emotion and feeling that knows no bound.


8. Van M: - People says that Van M spit Venom, since he is the one that is rapping about the current scenario in India and the world, like Covid 19 Pandamic, CAA, Recism and such subjects that are taboo. Such subjects could be heard over his songs, "SAVE DEHING PATKAI" and "ACCHE DIN?".



9. Rex Online: - . I guess it’s highly unlikely that anyone can imagine a hip hop scene taking

place in Goalpara district, but I was surprised when I recently stumbled upon a crew called Rex Online and their song “desi thug”. Technically the group lies more towards 2000 styled RNB then rap but they got some latent talent potential and talent that needs some more recognition and listening.

These hip hop artists from the North Eastern region are now helping promoting the hip hop scene here with their own style and spin.

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Raktim Kashyap
Raktim Kashyap
Aug 15, 2020

edited.

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Abhilash Kashyap
Abhilash Kashyap
Aug 15, 2020

Where is VAN M?

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