In a short time, Indian rapper Hanumankind has rapidly risen as a standout in the country’s burgeoning hip-hop scene. His track Big Dawgs not only topped global charts but also briefly outpaced Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us. The BBC explores the rapper’s meteoric rise to fame.
In the video for Big Dawgs, 31-year-old Sooraj Cherukat, also known as Hanumankind, exudes boundless energy.
Shot inside a maut ka kuan (well of death) – a jaw-dropping show where drivers perform gravity-defying stunts inside a giant wooden barrel-like structure – he stomps around the pit as a group of motorists zip past him.
The song, a collaboration with producer Kalmi Reddy and director Bijoy Shetty, has earned over 132 million streams on Spotify and 83 million views on YouTube since its July release, catapulting Cherukat to global fame.
On the outside, Cherukat’s music follows the hip-hop template of delivering hard-edged stories of street life through explicit lyrics and raw prose.
But a closer inspection reveals a rapper, who uses his music to straddle his distinct identities.
Born in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Cherukat spent his childhood crisscrossing the world – mostly because of his father who works with a leading oil company – and has lived in France, Nigeria, Egypt and Dubai.
But he spent his formative years in Houston, Texas – and it was here that his musical career took shape.
