http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/16/poverty-corruption-and-how-indias-gully-rap-tells-story-of-real-life
…..Rappers set up a microphone and speakers on the street to reach an audience that cannot afford the ticket prices of Mumbai’s music venues. Such is the case for Vivian Fernandez, 25, who raps as MC Divine. He grew up in the slums behind Mumbai airport, living alone as his father, an alcoholic, had left and his mother worked abroad. It was thanks to a friend with a CD player that he first heard American hip-hop and one day in 2013, sitting out on the steps of his neighbourhood, Fernandez performed a rap he had written in Hindi street slang. Inspired, his friends clubbed together to raise money so Fernandez could record the song, Yeh Mera Bombay, in a local studio. And he filmed his first music video using a mobile phone in the streets outside his house. Once uploaded on to YouTube, the song went viral. Yeh mera Bombay -Divine (Hindi rap) Official Music video - YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1mvcr7YyEE “I wanted to show what real life was like for people like me; no guns, no cars, just a simple struggle every day. We all want to speak, up but we never get the chance – everyone starts working so young and we have no money so no voice.” In the past, Divine’s songs have addressed corruption and even the brutal gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012. “Because it’s in Hindi slang everyone understands my lyrics – when I go into the barber shop, they are all singing my songs,” the rapper added. Fernandez, who has been named by BBC Asian network as one of the top artists to watch in 2016, said this new hip-hop movement was taking off across India, with rappers writing in regional languages such as Gujarati, Murathi and Bengali.