TSUMYOKI IS GOA'S HIP-HOP TRAILBLAZER

Like his recent banger with MC Square suggests, the Goan rapper-producer really does want it all, and then some

- ANURAG TAGAT

When Goan hip-hop artist Tsumyoki dropped a snippet for an upcoming song, he put out an open call for a collaboration, asking which desi hip-hop artist would sound good on the track. Fans threw out names and Tsumyoki's peers also joined in on the action.

“I approached a lot of rappers before, and the song was just in the vault. About five rappers I approached, they rejected it,” he recalls. But then Haryanvi artist MC Square asked if he could jump on it. “He just gave me his verse and said, ‘Let's get it, bro.”

That song went on to become Tsumyoki's latest banger “Want It All,” out via Divine's Gully Gang label (who signed him in 2021). Although it might seem like Tsumyoki aka Nathan Mendes is an English rapper in a country that's completely taken over by rap in several other Indian languages, he's learned to find his place, even winning the Best Indian Local Act award at the 2023 MTV European Music Awards. From MC Square on “Want It All” to Rawal on “Ek Do Ek,” Seedhe Maut's Calm and Mumbai rapper Yashraj on “Breakshit!” to Gravity on “Money Dance!”—Tsumyoki's songs hold space for others.

FIRST LANGUAGE: Tsumyoki says it's still tough to be taken seriously as an English rapper in India, even when artists like Hanumankind have gone global. “It's an uphill battle to get streams, get any sort of play listing, any sort of bookings for shows... you'll get rejected just because your verse is in English.”