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MTV Hustle – The Desi Rap Battle

MTV Hustle

MTV hustle is India’s first rap reality show which premiered on 10th August 2019 and broadcast on MTV India. It’s my favourite show right now. One, because it is such a fresh concept in the age of reality shows in our country. I had seriously stopped watching television for entertainment from some years as all season after seasons of dance, music, comedy and other reality shows had bored the hell out of me! Besides, I never had the tiniest of inclination towards the daily dharavahik (Soap Opera) serials.

Two, MTV Hustle is a brilliant platform for the budding rappers of our nation. That’s a remarkable job on the part of MTV and the creators for bringing something like this to our public.

The show is judged by three phenomenal and rightly chosen judges – Raftaar, Raja Kumari and Nucleya. Raftaar is becoming my latest fad after Vicky Kaushal. (Psst! He was my secret reason for watching the show 😉 ). ‘Bandook meri Laila’ from the Hindi film ‘A Gentleman’ was always my beloved song ever since it released, especially the part after ‘Mera bro Raftaar…’. And the rap which is not even a minute long stole my heart.

Thereafter, I got to know that he’s not only an extremely talented rapper and music composer but also an amazing dancer! His songs are my latest playlist and watching his videos is a delight. My fan quotient has been ever rising 😀

Another artist from the world of new hip-hop that has left me captivated is Raja Kumari, an Indian-origin American songwriter and singer. I got introduced to her from the show. I was instantly spell bound by her voice, elaborate outfit and her overall charisma. Her first song I checked out on YouTube was ‘Shook’ and I was glued to it.

Her gangster avatar and outlandish get up in the video look very interesting. Saree draped over combat, Indian traditional jhumkas with tracksuit, neon nails and eyes all are so creative and quirky, apt for a hip hop music video. ‘City slums’, ‘Meera’, ‘Roots’ are other songs that I liked. Her rap in ‘The Wakhra Song’ from the bollywood movie ‘Judgementall Hai Kya’ is absolutely fantastic.

What makes her music different is the brilliant infusion of Indian classical rhythms in hip hop. Futhermore, this immensely talented artist is trained in Indian classical dance forms and has been performing world over since the age of 10. She’s definitely a positive thing that has happened to India and a boost to our talented young women artists. Must say, she’s bringing a revolution!

Nucleya is a prominent Indian electronic music producer credited for bringing global bass in Indian music. His music is Indian in sound but international in flavor. Some of his popular work is ‘Let’s Nacho’ of Kapoor & sons, ‘Paintra’ of Mukkabaaz in Bollywood and music albums like Bass Rani, Raja Baja and the latest being Tota Myna.

The judges have picked top 15 contestants who are a truly deserving competent bunch. And it’s a matter of pride that among these there are 4 female artists which is not usual in a male-dominated industry. I’m sure watching these women perform on national television on a platform like MTV Hustle is going to inspire many more gifted women of our country to take hip hop rap music seriously and even as a career option.

The best thing about this show is that the songs and their lyrics are heart touching. Each contestant has his/her own unique skill. A young girl Raeza started rapping just 4 months ago getting inspired by the film ‘Gully Boy’ and today she’s already one of the coveted top 15 of MTV Hustle.

My personal favourites are RCR and Void. I kept singing RCR’s ‘ye dil chup chap hazaro ghum seh gaya, kuch toh tha dil mei Jo dil mei hi reh gaya’ for days. But his performance on ‘Ae Dil hai mushkil in the last episode is what took my breath away. Void’s ‘seedhe pahad se‘ and ‘Bekhayali‘ set the stage on fire. ‘Rape’ by MZee Bella and ‘Aaja Beta Aaja‘ by Zack got me goosebumpy and teary. This show is seriously going to bring some rap revolution!

Oh man I can just go on and on about these marvellous artists. But for now I shall leave you to go and watch MTV Hustle on Voot or on MTV India channel at 7pm Saturday and Sunday. Have a pumped up weekend!

*Author does not own the images.

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