A slow trap beat, with big, grimy synths, topped off with charismatic, witty flows and bars. As if that isn’t enough to make a track a certified banger, pair it up with an equally insane and unbelievable music video of people going around in circles on bikes and cars, in the “Well of Death” we see in circuses. This is exactly what the people who clicked onto Hanumankind’s (a.k.a Sooraj Cherukat) latest drop ‘Big Dawgs’ were met with when they clicked onto it.
Fast forward to about a week later and the song is blowing up everywhere. People are posting it on their reels and stories, reactors from around the world are losing their mind listening to it, and it’s giving the Spotify global charting songs a run for their money. This is huge for Desi Hip-Hop (DHH) and the Indian Music scene as a whole, let’s see why.
DHH has quickly cemented itself as the top genre in India after only a few years of hitting the mainstream in India. However, a plethora of the fans weren’t too happy with the blow up of DHH only being limited to India. Listeners and artists of the genre will know that this music has the potential to go global and wreak havoc all over the world, but for the longest time, DHH never really left India, apart from maybe some smash hits like Dhundala and 11K getting a few eyeballs from reactors or music connoisseurs on the other side of the world.
That was, until now, when Hanumankind burst onto the global scene. He’s been on the rise in India for quite some time, and for good reason. His interpretation of hip hop is an amalgamation of his growing up years in Texas (with his Southern American accent), along with his Malyalam roots. He’s struck a perfect balance between taking inspiration while also staying true to his culture. His tracks like Genghis, Skyline as well as his features with big names like Yashraj, KSHMR, Seedhe Maut (on songs like THAT’S A FACT, Enemies etc.) have made him a part of the Mount Rushmore of Indian Hip-Hop.
Long time listeners would be familiar with his accent, flows and bars but for people listening for the first time, his American accent, along with the fact that he’s Indian hit them like a pile of bricks, with most of them being shell shocked and pleasantly surprised. 90% of all the reactors have said “There’s no way this guy is Indian!” in their videos.
The music video was the icing on the cake, it gave the global audience just the track they wanted, a glimpse of India and the hip-hop culture here, with the roots of hip hop and rap music also playing a major role in it, such as a classic half-time slow down at the end of the track and a drum less buildup after the first chorus. Shoutouts to the OGs like Project Pat further strengthened this. (so much so that he recently did an IG live with HNMK, also teasing a song with him).
The audiences outside India had a mixed range of emotions when reacting to it, as they were obviously listening to a song which was an absolute banger, but seeing cars and bikes go around in the “Well of Death” was a cultural shock for them, with most of them claiming it to be AI, but being proved wrong by yet another genius move by the MV team. The end of the music video featured a short BTS snippet which showed a Maruti 800 starting up and going onto the walls of the well, proving for certain that what they had just watched was not AI.
This song has broken all kinds of records, like out streaming the song of the summer: “Not Like Us” ,and is racing to the top of the global charts. Hanumankind has given Indian hip hop its big, international break, the blueprint is here, set in stone. What’s next? Time for brown excellence to take centre stage and go global.
