Indian rap becomes powerful tool of activism for artists hit by deadly Covid pandemic

Indian rap artists, hit hard during a difficult year of the coronavirus pandemic, are using hip-hop to create activism and awareness around the crisis and give voice to their angst.

With live performances cancelled, the mental health toll is at an all-time high and the entire industry is enduring the full impact of the global health, social, and economic crisis, artists say.

Indian rapper, Naveen Koomar told The Independent he was motivated to write a rap describing his family’s experience during the pandemic.

The 32-year-old “Safar” singer’s family was the first one to test positive for coronavirus in their community in New Delhi in May 2020. “At that point in time, the disease was comparatively new and there was a taboo around it,” said Koomar, whose neighbours consistently called his parents asking them to shift to a hospital while they were quarantined at home as per the government guidelines.

“They used to call the police and put pressure on my family through Resident Welfare Association (RWA), making false complaints that we are roaming outside while being sick,” Koomar says.

“We were under pressure, physically sick, and mentally strained,” he says. “It was as if we had done something wrong, while we were the ones who were literally fighting a very tough battle.”

Koomar’s rap helped spread awareness about a disease that had just hit India. “I managed to form a fraction of hope for someone who might be struggling the same way I did,” he said.

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Another artist who has used his music as a medium of activism during the Covid crisis is rapper Hanumankind. He is the voice behind the song “Second Wave” which describes “what we’ve been seeing, feeling, and sharing all around” during the Covid situation in India.

“Major cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai were extremely affected by the second wave. There is nothing anyone could do except stay indoors and avoid going out and just pray that your loved ones aren’t getting sick,” the Bengaluru-based rapper says.

“All of a sudden everyone started hearing news about people in their direct circle saying that ‘our parents are getting affected’, ‘parents are dying’, ‘people are dying’, and ‘close friends are passing away’ having no chance of getting a hospital bed or basic resources that we all thought we would be able to get,” he says.

“That being all around, I combined my thoughts and developed a beat and put out a chain of thought about this crisis,” says the artist.

“This one’s for all of the folk who need to be provoked in order to question the order,” is how his rap begins.

Through his rap, Hanumankind calls out authorities for not doing a good enough job of protecting citizens. “Everything (misery) was avoidable if a f**k was actually given, but the ones who should don’t ever listen,” he sings against the backdrop of an image of PM Narendra Modi.

He also highlights the huge gathering at Kumbh Mela, one of the world’s largest religious congregations, and political rallies right in the middle of a deadly second wave, despite deaths throughout the nation.

“It’s one thing to be able to go out there and help. It’s another to know that doing that very act can put more lives in danger,” the rapper wrote, describing the pressure faced by medical staff.

Indian rap was portrayed in Indian filmmaker Zoya Akhtar’s 2019 film Gully Boy - a story of a boy named Murad who struggles to convey his views on social issues and life in Mumbai city’s Dharavi slums through rapping. His life changes drastically when he meets a local rapper who inspires him to take his talent seriously.

The story of the film is loosely inspired by the lives of artists Divine and Naezy who initially started rapping about their views on politics and poverty. The film started a conversation on hip-hop as a medium of social activism.

“Whenever there has been a personal or societal issue in India, rap artists have always pulled up to take a stance, express their views and share awareness through their music,” says Koomar.

“The actual purpose of hip-hop music is to raise issues, or talk about the issues that belong to the people,” he says. “Indian artists have been diving deep into the world of activism and social issues to produce tracks that hit straight home.”