RAFTAAR COMES CLEAN: RAP BEEFS, CREATIVITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Indian hip-hop's seasoned, snarling hero can bring the heat, but says he isn't easily provoked any longer

- ANURAG TAGAT

HELICAT SHIRT; TRIGGER T-SHIRT AND CAYDEN JEANS, ALL BY PEPE JEANS LONDON

PHOTOGRAPHER: KUNAL GUPTA | ART DIRECTOR: TANVI SHAH FASHION EDITOR: NEELANGANA VASUDEVA HAIR BY SONU BHATIA | MAKEUP BY SWAPNIL HALDANKAR WARDROBE COURTESY: PEPE JEANS LONDON

ON HIS RIDE OUT AFTER OUR PHOTOSHOOT, Raftaar is talking about his most recent battle scar his leg got twisted while he was performing a stunt in a video shoot. He says it's a constant reminder to pick out the right shoe, but also brushes it off with perspective. “It's victory scars, bro. Every time it pains, I remember what the sacrifice was worth," the artist says.

Through the course of a half-hour chat, it feels like India's most ferocious rapper is in Zen mode. “I don't get angry anymore," he says at one point. This is 33-yearold Dilin Nair, the same rough and tough, Thiruvananthapuram-born, Delhi-bred launda who worked his way up through the Hindi, Punjabi and Haryanvi music world, worked with Yo Yo Honey Singh in the Mafia Mundeer Crew and RDB's Manj Musik, released songs like “Swag Mera Desi” and hopped into Bollywood with tracks like “Dhaakad”[from Dangal] and a remake of “Haseeno Ka Deewana" [for Kaabil]. Much later, he even got locked in a vicious [and audience-earning] beef and created "Sheikh Chilli” for rapper Emiway Bantai.