We Need to Talk About Hanumankind
With an electrifying, viral video, Hanumankind’s “Big Dawgs” has become Indian hip hop’s biggest global smash. In an email exchange, Karan Madhok and Nakul Yadav discuss his unlikely breakthrough, the future of Indian rap, and Baba Sehgal’s “Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Ja”.
- Karan Madhok and Nakul Yadav
Karan: When a friend first forwarded me a clip from Hanumankind’s new music video “Big Dawgs” on Instagram, I watched it on mute. The visuals, however, seemed to burst out loud through the screen. Filmed on the set of a maut ka kuan (‘well of death’) at a traditional Indian circus, Hanumankind raps in a white baniyan (his American side might prefer calling it a ‘wife-beater’) while cars drive in the ‘kuan’ around him. Soon, he rides one of these cars as part of the death-defying stunts himself.
The Kerala-born rapper (Sooraj Cherakut) has been a mainstay in India's underground hip hop scene for years. I remember watching him live at the NH7 Weekender in Pune about five years ago—his music was good, but not moving enough for me to pay too much closer attention.
With the release of “Big Dawgs” (produced by Kalmi) in early July, however, closer attention has been inevitable. Unless you’ve been living under a rock—or your algorithm hates new music –I’m pretty sure you’ve come across the video, which has already amassed over 82 million views in about 7 weeks on YouTube. For comparison, the video for Kendrick Lamar's song of the summer “Not Like Us”—published just a week prior to “Big Dawgs”—has over 118 million views. By early August, however, “Big Dawgs” had even surpassed Kendrick's great PDF File Drake Diss on the global spotify charts! As I write these words, another Instagram post tells me that “Big Dawgs” has leaped over “Not Like Us” on the Billboard Global 200, too.
Now, we’re now talking global, record-breaking numbers. Hanumankind is a viral sensation. Arsenal FC used it in the promo before their season opener. Music and culture brands across the internet published “Who is Hanumankind?” articles. The rapper was seen in posters making his film debut with Rifle Club. And nearly every NRI friend I have sent me the video with a sense of desi pride.
Safe to say, no Indian rapper (and I’m not saying ‘rapper of Indian descent’) has enjoyed a mainstream breakthrough of this calibre.
“The visual execution is on point, and so is Mass Appeal’s marketing push. Then there's also a small factor of national pride in seeing an Indian artist scale heights not previously achieved by anyone else. That just created the perfect storm for ‘Big Dawgs’ to break through into the global zeitgeist the way it has.”
But... Would I be crucified for saying that “Big Dawgs” is, at best... overrated? The flow, cadence, and lyrical ability is clearly worthy of being a hip hop single from any average American rapper with a record deal. I know he has a Houston connection, but none of his lyrical content sounds strikingly unique. He talks about being a “straight terror”, about “making a money pile”, about being really good at what he does, not being afraid... It is just generic stuff copy-pasted from other rappers, in the style of other rappers.
Who is Hanumankind himself? What is his story, his artistic voice?
I want to ask you, Nakul, as you have closely tracked the ascent of underground and mainstream hip hop in India for over a decade: How surprised are you by Hanumankind’s big moment? Are you shocked that it was him with this crossover hit, rather than someone like DIVINE (who has achieved several major milestones himself in recent years) or KR$NA, Raftaar, etc? Is “Big Dawgs” significantly different from Hanumankind’s other work, or just a polished version of it (with a killer video)?
Nakul: I think there’s so much ground to cover about this song—like you mentioned, the beat, the visuals, Hanumankind's rapping, the larger musical ‘scene’, etc. So, I'll just begin with the rap itself. On first listen, I felt the flow was quite similar to the artist’s previously established style and persona. To my surprise though, accusations of him biting Project Pat’s flow from Drake’s “Knife Talk” began to pop up on my timeline. Deciding to give “Big Dawgs” a second listen, the homage to Project Pat was clear. Then, learning that Hanumankind is a fan, and was based out of Texas and influenced by the Houston rapper, helps paint a more nuanced picture.
Which brings me to the subject you mentioned: the lyrical content. On my first listen it was clear this one was gonna be filed in the ‘braggadocio’ rap space. Fun, energetic and a chest thumper? Sure. Like you said though, the lyrics themselves aren’t particularly creative or a clear step up from what he’s been writing and rapping about previously. It’s more his delivery that carries the rap. It tells you nothing about him other than the stereotypical claims that are no different from hordes of other artists. I remember being excited about “Genghis” (2021) but his writing seems to be on a plateau that’s ‘safe’, and, dare I say, formulaic at the moment. In an interview Hanumankind himself mentioned he wrote the lyrics to “Big Dawgs” in 20 minutes, adding that the lyrics weren't his focus—it was more about the energy of the music.
Kalmi’s production on this definitely helps give the song its grungy tone and drive. In that sense, I do feel he was successful in accomplishing a switch up more authentic to Hanumankind’s style. It's not the typical trap beat or the generic hip hop triplet cadence flow but the beat only carries the song so far. Again, I felt like it was an echo of “Genghis”.
The element of the song that really stood out to me was the video. Picture yourself listening to the song the first time without the video. It just doesn’t hit the same. It’s an homage to a very Indian form of entertainment that resonates strongly with the regional diaspora. That, mixed with the fact that most folks outside the country have never seen a ‘Maut ka Kuan’ plays to the video’s virality. The visual execution is on point, and so is Mass Appeal’s marketing push. Then there's also a small factor of national pride in seeing an Indian artist scale heights not previously achieved by anyone else. That just created the perfect storm for “Big Dawgs” to break through into the global zeitgeist the way it has.
Also, I can't help but mention, he sounds very American and that is a big part of him getting international acclaim too—while guys like DIVINE, KR$NA, Raftaar, rap primarily in Hindi, which is a separate but huge hurdle for international crossover success.
Karan: I wondered the same thing: What if my first interaction with “Big Dawgs” had been without the visuals? I would probably imagine that this is a new middle-of-the-pack American rapper—blessed with a nice flow—and a producer who absolutely understood his assignment. Perhaps, this was Hanumankind’s intention all along, to blur the line between his work and American hip hop.
And you’re absolutely right that his accent/cadence was a big part of his international crossover success. He employs a raspy rap style, strongly-accented, that felt like he had specifically manufactured an animated voice for the song.
“Big Dawgs” is also, probably, the best Indian hip hop video ever made. The Sai Baba ‘Great Indian Maruty [sic] Circus’ is a wonderful callout to small town Indian culture. But the music doesn’t really match the flavour of the visuals for me; it’s like a packet of instant Masala Tea where you just add some boiling water to a premix powder to get a strange, Indian-adjacent taste. The video might as well be the equivalent of that Coldplay ‘Holi colours of the world’ song (or whatever it was called) which they filmed in India.
What is “Big Dawgs” actually about? When he says he’s “pushing culture”, what culture is he pushing? What is this music culturally specific to? It is instead borrowing from different cultures presented in a shiny, marketable box?
Forgive me for over-thinking, but I feel that Hanumankind’s natural talent and instincts deserve a closer scrutiny. I wouldn’t be closely analyzing his work if I didn't feel like he didn’t have the potential of being better… I’m not here over-studying Baba Sehgal’s “Aaja Meri Gaari Mein Baith Ja” (shoutout to the GOAT though).
“What is ‘Big Dawgs’ actually about? When he says he’s ‘pushing culture’, what culture is he pushing? What is this music culturally specific to? It is instead borrowing from different cultures presented in a shiny, marketable box?”
Nakul: Shoutout to the GOAT, for sure. But coming back to Hanumankind’s own potential to be the flagbearer of Indian hip hop—I feel the potential for that actualization is not absurd to imagine. And there are two reasons for that for me: the marketing push that the label can provide, and his rapping style. While there is no guarantee, the odds are certainly favourable when your background lends itself to being more palatable for an international audience.
That is not to minimize his innate talent, either. Thankfully, he isn’t one of those artists who thinks a rap is simply rhyming the end of one sentence with another. His ability to write bars is legit. At the moment, however, I think his writing is focused on a set of cliches that sound cool to his audience. And like you, the substance is a miss for me too. Maybe, as he said in the interview I stated previously, the idea was to just vibe go with the energy at that moment in the studio.
Like most well managed artists, I do believe his team must have explored his goals, and laid out a roadmap with plans for the short and long term. But if that comes at the cost of being repetitive, no artistic growth and trying to ride this ephemeral wave of popularity to its trough, I'm afraid this may be his peak.
We know little of him and his actual world from his music. The most successful artists find success because their truth and lived experiences resonate with fans who form connections with the music. So far, the signs of that being the intention from Hanumankind are faint. Maybe he is seeking to ride in the lane of party anthems, and that’s okay, too. I just worry about the viability of that path and the long-term global appeal of sounding like a ‘middle of the pack’ American rapper.
Maybe, the intent is to just be a ‘big dawg’ in the smaller Indian market.
Karan: Hey, at least “Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Ja” was about something: riding in cars, listening to music, having fun.
That was a party anthem of its time, too, as was “Mundian Tu Bach Ke” (not exactly Indian rap, but adjacent to it) and so is “Big Dawgs”. So, yeah, nothing wrong with riding the party anthem wave; but, like you, I hope for more from Hanumankind. The song has delivered the world a true smash hit from an Indian rap artist, which is incredible to think about, and should open doors for a slew of other desi artists. However, little about this song beyond the video felt Indian to me. It didn’t quite stir the same sense of excitement that I felt, for example, when I saw “Meri Gully Mein” video, which introduced DIVINE and Naezy to the wider world almost a decade ago, featuring desi rap that sounded authentic to its roots.
“Meri Gully Mein” showed to me that real talent exists in India. Gully Boy made some of that music mainstream in India itself. And “Big Dawgs” has taken it worldwide. Thanks to Hanumankind, listeners are gonna begin to find ‘Suggested Artists’ on their Spotify and YouTube playlists.
For those who are new to the scene, what other music would you recommend as a beginner’s primer into contemporary Indian rap?
Nakul: My first instinct was to compare the song to “Meri Gully Mein” too. But like you said, the reason for that song becoming a hit was vastly different from “Big Dawgs”. In a sense, it’s a gradual progression, and we should celebrate the global breakthrough. It makes other artists believe. The hope is that upcoming artists take the right lessons from its success. It is so cool to see some of the newer artists being savvy enough to not only select good beats, but also focus on the storytelling aspect via their songwriting.
With the sheer volume of new artists and releases every week, it’s impossible to be up to speed with everything. However, the lower barrier to entry for artists also means they are coming in with new ideas all the time. It’s an interesting time to be into Indian hip hop: after the commercial and mainstream explosion, things seem to have taken an experimental turn, especially with newer artists. I’ve really been liking the new Drum & Bass and Jungle production on some of the new hip hop tracks out there. So besides asking the readers to go check out KR$NA, I’m sharing a few suggestions that have been on repeat on my playlists:
Huliya – Bagi Munda, Pho: Moody production underscored by the lived experiences of two underground artists, facilitated by the excellent Converse India ‘Connect with the Unexpected’ initiative.
Kismat – DXVTA: Delhi-based DXVTA (a.k.a. Dev Kumar), a poet and rapper, is a prodigious talent, who stresses the importance of meaningful writing *wink wink*.
“Hip hop as a genre in India has definitely matured. There’s now space for unique and different voices and styles. It is recognized as a commercially viable route to connect with the masses beyond the ‘gully rap’ trend-hopping, which enthralled brands so much post Gully Boy.”
Karan: I, too, hope for the doors to Indian hip hop getting kicked wide open. But as usual, the moment something becomes mainstream, it automatically creates divisions between “core fans” and “new fans”. Many of these guys are starting to become household names for a certain generation of Indians: Hanumankind, DIVINE, KR$NA, Prabh Deep, Sidhu Moose Wala (RIP), the viral “kade pinde sutta appa kadi pinde rum” guy, etc. etc. etc... So, I guess any criticism that the big names in Indian hip hop is actually a sign that the genre is mature and diverse enough to have arguments within itself, instead of arguments about whether it exists at all.
To bring it back to “Big Dawgs”, though, I do hope that—whatever new direction Indian hip hop takes—it does so by staying authentic to its Indian-ness, or at least, evoke a sense of local sound and thematic elements. My favourite rappers from the U.S., U.K, etc. are usually those who offer a perspective or a story that is raw and honest to their environment and their lived experiences. I feel the same for my favourite artists of any genre—music, art, literature, etc. It’s an authenticity that can’t be duplicated.
And there is no shortage of authentic stories to emerge out of India, much in the same way that artists like DIVINE or Ahmer have already done for their respective cultural nuances / environments. I mean, it sounds awesome when Hanumankind says “I'm a big stepper, underground methods / Top-notch hoes get the most, not the lesser”, but why would I listen to this if hundreds of American rappers have already talked about this stuff? Gimme something real!
Before we close this out, Nakul—I wanna hear some predictions from you, too. Where do you think the future of Indian hip hop is heading? Where do you want it to head? And what's do you think is gonna be the long-term impact of “Big Dawgs”?
Nakul: One of your observations I agree with is that hip hop as a genre in India has definitely matured. There’s now space for unique and different voices and styles. It is recognized as a commercially viable route to connect with the masses beyond the ‘gully rap’ trend-hopping, which enthralled brands so much post Gully Boy. The growth and recognition is reflected on a regional level in different parts of the country. We’ve lived through multiple ‘rap beefs’ as well. And all of this has primarily been driven by most of the successful artists striving for years to help create an audience for the genre.
Like anything that attains mainstream success though, there are always copycats. This is where the waters get a little muddy. It’s harder to break through as an artist, especially starting out and playing the algorithm game on streaming platforms. The easy way is to simply copy a successful formula and attain moderate success. With so many artists putting out so many tracks on a daily basis, it’s trickier to discover true gems.
I do feel the hip hop scene today is far more diverse than back in the day when “Meri Gully Mein” became a hit. And I mean that in every sense, from the content of lyrics, the music, the flows, to the different styles of rapping. Which is why it is interesting that “Big Dawgs”—which is lyrically generic—has found so much success. If anything, it may be even more of a credit to the video and its impact. And like you said, it is the authenticity and very Indian nature of the video that has connected with the domestic listeners and wowed global ones.
As a fan of the genre, I am very optimistic. True, neither of us is particularly impressed by the content of “Big Dawgs”, but a rising tide lifts all boats. The song has shown other artists what is possible and the stage is no longer just national, it can potentially be global. International labels have signed both established and promising artists from India. There are more indie labels, and corporate sponsorship and events are also helping a steady growth (the beers in the video aren’t a coincidence!). I do hope that other artists take the right lessons from the track’s success.
***
Karan Madhok is a writer, journalist, and editor of The Chakkar, whose fiction, translation, and poetry have appeared in Gargoyle, The Literary Review, The Bombay Review, The Lantern Review, F(r)iction, and more. He is the founder of the Indian basketball blog Hoopistani and has contributed to NBA India, SLAM Magazine, FirstPost, and more. His debut novel is forthcoming on the Aleph Book Company. You can find him on Twitter: @karanmadhok1 and Instagram: @karanmadhok.
Nakul Yadav has contributed to nh7.in and NBA India. He is passionate about music, sports, and is here for all the Kobe smoke.
