Hip-Hop as a culture is new to India with many thinking that it bloomed out of Bollywood. The fan base for Hip-Hop definitely expanded with the advent of Bollywood Rap, but don’t get it twisted, Bollywood Rap & Hip-Hop are two different cultures. Moreover, the audience for Hip-Hop in India consists of young digital consumers learning about it through Youtube or Facebook, so for a few misconceptions to arise is perfectly normal.

Nevertheless, we will continue to empower the rise of the South Asian Hip-Hop culture in any way we can, because South Asian’s are fucking awesome!

Here are some of the most common misconceptions about Hip-Hop in Desi countries we would like to clear –

1) Desi Hip-Hop is restricted to Hindi or Punjabi

Desi Hip-Hop literally translates to “Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi – I am proud of who I am, where I’m from and am dedicated towards the pursuit of higher knowledge”. It doesn’t matter if you’re brown, black, or white. Cuz we got all those colors running around India, Pakistan & Bangladesh! Our region of South Asia houses a lot of languages and our people have immigrated across the globe. To make Desi Hip-Hop just Hindi or Punjabi is not a cool move and simply quite ignorant. As a matter of fact, Brodha V has addressed this problem quite a lot and structured it properly for us to understand it. Click here to read Brodha V’s take on this issue.

2) Rap is all about spitting fast

Rap to me is a way of expressing yourself. It’s normal if people want to be creative with the speed, pitch or content. However, a lot of new comers just plain out think rap is just about speed. Rap is about you expressing yourself through words, remember that.

3) Bollywood Rap is Desi Hip-Hop

A lot of rappers think that the culture traces back to the film industry and that Bollywood is the culture. Bollywood is leveraging rap in their title tracks to promote their films, but they are damaging the Hip-Hop culture. Hip-Hop is the journey of self discovery and will forever remain an unfiltered form of art known for it’s rawness and telling things how it is, not sugarcoating with 4 bottles of Vodka.

4) DesiHipHop was founded by Bohemia

A lot of people after reading the title will head over to the comment section and make it a mess. Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper is a trailblazing pioneer who took the Desi Hip-Hop culture to another level. But to be quite honest, I don’t think anybody can put a finger on one singular person who created this entire movement. It dates back before many of us were even born.

Gonzo Journalism incorporated by Hunter S. Thompson  is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. Finally, get ready for #Gonzo which will be a series of raw and unfiltered articles!