WHAT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY DOESN'T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH HIP-HOP'S VISUAL IDENTITY IN THE AGE OF BRANDS

AS BUDGETS RISE AND STAGES GROW, THE QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT VISION, ACCESS, AND WHO DECIDES THE PICTURE.

- By PEONY HIRWANI • Artwork by SHARANYAA NAIR

Hip-hop is as much about what you see as what you hear.

In India, the visuals of rap have undergone a dramatic shift — from gritty gullies captured on handheld cameras to glossy productions with LED screens, pyrotechnics, and brand-heavy stage designs.

As the culture grows, its visual identity is being reshaped by international influences and rising budgets, raising important questions about authenticity, access, and who gets to define what hip-hop looks like.

The earliest wave of independent Indian hip-hop was visually raw. Artists filmed in their own neighborhoods, often with little more than a phone camera or DSLR. The aesthetic matched the music's urgency- direct, unpolished, and rooted in the streets. It wasn't just a choice; it was a necessity. Long before that underground broke through, the 1990s had Baba Sehgal, whose campy, tongue-in-cheek videos—bright TV-studio sets, exaggerated choreography, pop-parody humor—put rap on Indian screens as a pop novelty rather than street reportage.

Those later indie videos built a sense of community and relatability, making the culture feel immediate and real. But as rap moved from underground to mainstream, the visuals began to change. Through the 2010s, more Bollywood-oriented players like Badshah and Yo Yo Honey Singh leaned on high-gloss, party-centric formulas-bottle service and luxury inserts-while the independent scene kept pointing cameras at their own blocks, crews, and daily grind.

Music videos today often lean into cinematic polish, featuring stylized lighting, choreographed performance shots, luxurious backdrops, and high-definition edits that mirror the global standard set by American and UK hip-hop. Even underground artists now face the pressure of keeping up, as slick production becomes the norm rather than the exception.