For decades, hip-hop in India existed only in the shadow but after the audience saw the rapping scene in India in movies like Gully Boy and reality Shows like MTV Hustle, Hip Hop is getting some light of his own. Initially, some mainstream artists released some rap music but that was just the party starters. Now rap music is going viral and all the credits go to rappers like Raftaar, Badshah, Divine, Emiway Bantai. They played an important role in the revolution of rap in India. There are many Indian rappers whose songs and music videos are taking the Indian rap industry by storm.
Here are the top 10 most celebrated rapper in India who are representing Indian rap music globally:
1. Divine: At this moment Divine is the most celebrated artist in the Indian rap industry. Vivian Fernandes aka started his career as an underground rapper in 2011 and he is collaborating with legendary international rappers like NAS. In 2014 his song “Yeh Mera Bombay” received the best video of the year award by Rolling Stone India. His recently released album “Punya Paap” is proof why he is the finest rapper at this moment.
2. Raftaar: Dilin Nair aka Raftaar who is known as the pillar of Indian rap music played an important role in taking Indian rap music to the international level. In his career as a rapper he has done every kind of raps whether it be commercial songs, songs on social issues, or adult songs. He started his career with Punjabi artist Mang Musik who helped him to shine as a solo artist. He was already a big name in the rap industry but the whole nation gets to know about him after his beef with Emiway Bantai.
3. Yo-Yo Honey Singh: Yo Yo Honey Singh also known as revolutionary music changer of India, made rap music popular in India. Right now he is one of the most paid musical artists in Bollywood. He charges a whopping amount of $7 million for a Bollywood Song.
4. Badshah: Badshah is one rapper whom nobody can even touch when it comes to producing catchy party songs. He debuted in the Punjabi album Born Star in 2012 with Deep money. His first commercial success came with ‘Abhi toh party shuru hui hai’ in 2014. He has earned many awards like GIMA Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2016 and Punjabi Music Best Music Director for a Single Award. His debut single, “DJ Waley Babu” featuring Aastha Gill was ranked number one on Indian i-tunes charts within 24 hours of the release. His recently released song Paagal also crossed 500 views on Youtube.
5. Emiway Bantai: One of the hard-hitting lyrics and trap music Emiway Bantai is one of the well-Known faces of the underground rap scene. He made his debut with the song ‘Glint Lock’ but came into lame light after his diss track ‘Samjh mein aaya kya’ for Raftaar. His beef with Raftaar has played an important role in making rap music viral in India.
6. Naezy: Naezy the Baa is the real G.O.A.T. of underground rap industry. The film Gullyboy, starring Ranveer Singh as Murad a 22-year-old rapper emerging from the slums of Dharavi, Mumbai is loosely inspired by the life of gully rap pioneer, Naved Shaikh, Naezy The Baa and Gully ka sher Divine.
7. Ikka: Ikka is the real OG of the Punjabi rap industry. His songs like ‘Half Window Down’ and ‘Mujja’ helped him to get the spotlight. He has even given some blockbuster Bollywood songs like ‘Paani wala Dance’ and ‘Bholeynath”.
8. Raja Kumari: The only Indian rapper who has managed to get nominated for Grammy Awards. Raja Kumari is an American-Indian female rapper who fearlessly talks about diversity. She is known for her women's empowering songs. In Indian rap music, there are already very few female artists but the presence of Raja Kumari in the scene is motivating girls for choosing rapping as a career.
9. Dino James: He is that one rapper who has changed the aspects of Indian rap music. Dino James is legendary for his wonderful fashion of rap circulate which is totally different from the often we take heed to the other rap artists.
10. Prabh Deep: Prabh Deep is a Punjabi rapper known for raising political issues in this song. His melodic hooks made him famous among the youth. the New Delhi-based artist wore his heart on his sleeve, discussing the pitfalls of drug addiction, losing friends, and jail, all the while growing up as a Sikh in a Hindu-majority country.
