BRINGING KAP HOME AGAIN

It got everyone from Virat Kohli to Nargis Fakhri excited, but did MTV Hustle 2.0 create any real rap stars?

- Poulomi Das

When 23-year-old Srushti Tawade decided to participate in MTV Hustle 2.0, the second season of the country’s first hip-hop reality show, she hadn’t contended with the fact that the show would turn her into an overnight sensation. A completely self-taught rapper, Tawade caught everyone’s attention on the show with the now-viral ‘Chill Kinda Guy’, in which she rapped about religious fanaticism. There was also ‘Bachpan’, a biting track in which Tawade confronted her thorny childhood memory of domestic violence. The spunky lyrics belie the social commentary that Tawade, one of the three female contestants, brought to both these songs. And even though Tawade didn’t eventually end up lifting the trophy, her distinct voice left an indelible impression on hip-hop fans around the country.