RAGA IS MOVING BEYOND THE RAGE

The Delhi-bred rapper isn't running from his demons, he's rapping with them

- SHAMANI JOSHI

Even if Raga could go back in time and meet his younger self today, he still wouldn't tell him to change a damn thing. The rapper, who hails from the streets of East Delhi, is sharp enough to know that every setback, every slip-up, and every bad decision armed him with the unrestrained honesty that defines his verses today. Known for his gravelly, raspy vocals, Raga-the moniker adopted by Ravi Mishra-spits immutable bars with a rare kind of conviction. His rhythm and rhymes are bursting at the seams with an almost primal intensity. And when they spill over, it's absolute carnage.

Through tracks like “Shehar”, “Kheench Maari” and “Galat Karam”—which reflect on everything from the ruthless abandon of street life, to the flashy ambitions of the urban restless, to the wars waged against his inner demons—Raga established himself as one of the most assertive and untamable voices in the Indian hip-hop scene. But his most recent collaborative releases, “Bawe Mein Chak” (with King) and “Dhak Dhak” (with Aanchal Tygai and Rusha & Blizza) have slightly softer, less volatile undercurrents that feel more like aftershocks of emotion than a full-blown eruption. As he leans back on the couch at the Rolling Stone India office, verses slip out of him mid-conversation, like muscle memory. He often drifts into his own zone, following almost every answer with a wry laugh.

As we talk about everything from rage and regret to restraint and reinvention, it becomes clear that the razor-tongued kid from Jamnaapar, who once used anger like armor, may finally be ready to embrace a self-reflective vulnerability we haven't seen from him before.