(From left to right) Neeraj Madhav aka NJ, Karan Aujla and Divine, Hanumankind. Photos: @photographer__babs/AMF Creation (NJ), Instagram (Aujla and Divine), TalesByTanay (Hanumankind)
This week, over 25 artists gather at the third edition of Spotify India’s showcase gig Rap 91 Live, which takes its name from the music giant’s flagship playlist for rap in India.
Rap 91 has seen an over 110% growth in followers in the last two years alone, according to Spotify.
If you’ve followed the playlist, then you know that for quite some time – and deservedly so – Bengaluru-based rapper Hanumankind was on the cover of Rap 91. This seems to have changed only recently, bringing in Kr$na on the cover, which is only apt since the “Joota Japani” rapper takes top billing at Rap 91 Live, taking place at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai on Nov. 10, 2024.
Including the success of Hanumankind and producer Kalmi’s “Big Dawgs,” there’s a lot more bubbling in terms of trends in Indian hip-hop. Here’s a look at just a few movers and shakers.
Which language has seen the most growth in hip-hop in India in 2023-24?
Although it’s safe to say that Hindi and English-language rap songs from India continue to deliver a high volume of releases in the span of the past year, Spotify India says Malayalam and Haryanvi rap have such a huge growth spike in terms of releases and therefore, have seen the most rise in listenership across India.
The “Big Dawgs” Phenomena
When an artist scores a monstrous, globally-known hit like Hanumankind did with “Big Dawgs” earlier this year, it sends listeners into his back catalog. Spotify India says in the two months following the release of “Big Dawgs,” Humankind saw a listenership growth of over 3500% on Spotify (monthly listeners). This includes streams coming from “Big Dawgs,” but also his earlier songs. While his songs for films like Aavesham (“The Last Dance”) were already popular with the film push, it’s grown in streams alongside songs like “Damnson” and “Go To Sleep.”
Some of the most streamed hip-hop collaborations of 2024 on Spotify by Indian artists
The true stars of Indian hip-hops shine even brighter alongside, well, other stars of Indian hip-hop. The most streamed collaborations include Divine and Karan Aujla’s joint album Street Dreams, while King’s hip-hop-centric album Monopoly Moves also spawned plenty of team-ups – songs with Seedhe Maut (“Kodak”) and MC Stan (“F*ck What They Say”) are also among the most streamed Indian collaborations on Spotify. Badshah’s star-driven project Ek Tha Raja garnered similar listenership for collabs, including “O’Sajna” with Divine and Nikhita Gandhi, plus “God Damn” with Karan Aujla and Hiten.
Down south, a new kind of stardom is emerging thanks to songs like “Ballaatha Jaathi” by Malayalam artists NJ, Baby Jean, Dabzee and Rzee, also becoming a high-streamed collab project on Spotify.
Indian hip-hop artists have seen the most streams coming from outside of India
It’s not surprising to hear that Hanumankind has been getting the world’s attention, helped by making it to the cover of several editorial playlists on Spotify in different regions. However, Spotify India reveals that Mumbai rapper Divine and Punjabi artist Karan Aujla are also receiving plenty of streams internationally, on the back of releasing Street Dreams.
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