Indian rapper tops global hip-hop chart

In a short space of time, Indian rapper Hanumankind has quickly emerged as a prominent figure in the country’s burgeoning hip-hop scene. His track Big Dawgs has not only topped the charts globally but has also briefly surpassed Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us. BBC explores the rapper’s meteoric rise to fame.

In the video for Big dogSooraj Cherukat, 31, also known as Hanumankind, radiates endless energy.

Filmed inside a maut ka kuan (well of death) – a jaw-dropping stunt show where drivers perform gravity-defying stunts inside a giant barrel-like structure – he stomps around the pit while a group of drivers zoom past.

The song, a collaboration between producer Kalmi Reddy and director Bijoy Shetty, has clocked over 132 million streams on Spotify and 83 million views on YouTube since its release in July, catapulting Cherukat to new heights and global fame.

On the surface, Cherukat’s music follows the hip-hop mold, conveying vivid stories of street life through explicit lyrics and raw prose.

But a closer look reveals that this is a rapper who uses music to conceal his own distinct identity.

Born in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Cherukat spent his childhood travelling the world – largely because his father worked for a leading oil company – and has lived in France, Nigeria, Egypt and Dubai.

But he spent his formative years in Houston, Texas – and it was here that his musical career took shape.

Unlike the fierce competition between East Coast and West Coast rap in the United States, Houston also has its own distinct hip-hop culture.

In Houston’s hip-hop scene, cough syrup is the drug of choice. Its dizzying effects have led to the creation of “broken” remixes, in which tracks are slowed down to reflect the effects of the syrup.

Cherukat often says his music is a nod to Texas hip-hop legends like DJ Screw, UGK, Big Bunny and Project Pat, whom he listened to as a child.

While their influence is evident in his rapping style, his style evolved further after he returned to India in 2021 after dropping out of college.

He earned a business degree and worked at companies like Goldman Sachs before realizing that this wasn’t for him. That’s when he decided to pursue rap full-time, a passion he had previously only pursued on the side.

Like his personal life, Cherukat’s music also reflects his efforts to escape his international identity and reconnect with his Indian roots.

His songs often boldly explore the hardships of South Indian street life, combining powerful vocals with catchy beats. Occasionally, tabla and synthesizer beats complement his verses.

“Our country has problems because many sides are at war,” he taunts in a song called Genghis, shot on the streets of Bengaluru, where he lives.

In Big Dawgs, Cherukat offers an alternative to the glitz and glamour often seen in mainstream rap by ditching flashy cars and choosing to focus on small-town stuntmen who come from poor families and are part of a slowly disappearing art form in India.

“These are people who are really willing to take risks… They are really the best,” he said Complex website.

But although the powerful energy in his music has attracted attention, he has also received criticism.

Some have argued that his songs have little impact on Indian listeners. Unlike many of his peers who rap in their native languages, Cherukat sings in English, which may limit his resonance with non-English speaking audiences.

Others criticized him for too closely imitating Western artists and taking a formalistic approach to his Indian identity.

“His songs consider Indians and South Asians as important figures in the Western rap scene, which is great,” said Abid Haque, a PhD student in New Jersey.

“But he sounds like an American rapper taken out of context and integrated into an Indian context. While the Big Dawgs music video draws on Indian aesthetics, the lyrics and music seem detached from Indian reality,” he added.

It can be said that this duality is also found in Cherukat’s understanding of his work.

On one hand, returning to India was how he shaped his sense of belonging: “I think it really shaped me as someone who never really had a place to call home… and that shaped the way I perceive music, people, and culture,” he shared with Complex.

But he also insists on seeing himself from a broader perspective: “I’m not an Indian rapper, but I’m a rapper from India,” he has said in previous interviews, explaining that he sets himself apart from the country’s burgeoning hip-hop scene.

The rapper has faced a barrage of racist comments online because of his unique style. Some international listeners struggle to accept that he is from India because he “doesn’t look or sound” like they expect him to. Meanwhile, his Indian audience mocks him for similar reasons, expecting him to conform more to their image of Indian identity.

But it is this uncertainty in his work that makes fans so fond of him.

To them, he was a street poet passionate about hip hop music, who combined the old hip hop traditions he grew up with and injected new social commentary into them.

“He doesn’t try to please the Indian audience, it shows in his music and he has no regrets about it,” said Arnab Ghosh, a Delhi-based psychiatrist who recently discovered Hanumankind through Big Dawgs.

“When I listen to his music, I can feel that his music comes from anywhere in the world. That universality appeals to me.”

Overcoming expectations of what a South Asian rapper can achieve and asserting himself on his own terms may be Cherukat’s greatest triumph — and challenge.

As he once said, “You keep some things as your roots, but you have to adapt to the environment and go with the flow, as long as you don’t compromise on integrity.”