INDIAN HIP-HOP FINDS ITS FLOW

Indian hip-hop is thriving. Rappers across the country are experimenting with a wide variety of dialects, sounds and ideas. Now an established part of the mainstream in India, desi rap seems poised for a global breakout

- Bhanuj Kappal

In late 2024, Mumbai/Pune rapper Shreyas Sagvekar received a call from a French friend who was visiting Dubai. The friend had gone out clubbing the night before and heard a track playing over the PA with rap verses that sounded suspiciously like Marathi. Intrigued, the friend phoned Sagvekar. Since he was a veteran of the Maharashtra rap scene, maybe he knew what the song was?

The track in question turned out to be Taambdi Chaamdi ("brown skin" in Marathi), Sagvekar's collaboration with producer and Marathi-house pioneer Kratex. Released in May 2024, the song’s unique blend of Marathi rap verses, Indian folk samples and rib-tickling bass made it an unlikely global club hit.

DJs in Europe, the US and West Asia added it to their sets, the song’s iconic “lakalakalakalaka” hook ringing out at clubs in Berlin and Amsterdam. Dutch dance music label Spinnin' Records picked it up, releasing a music video starring, among others, Marathi influencer Manish Shetye grooving to the tune in an iridescent polychromatic suit (YouTube view count: 53 million). Indian-American producer KSHMR remixed the track, and even played it during his set in 2025 at Miami's Ultra Music Festival, one of the world’s largest dance music events.

“We knew the song would do well because we'd been performing it at our shows and we could see that people were really into it,” says Sagvekar. “But we had no idea how far it would travel. It was played in Berlin, London, Australia. Pretty much everywhere.”