MUMBAI: Courageous and cognizant, the rise of India’s underground hip-hop scene has given birth to a fierce movement of expression. Regional rap artists now use their art to raise their voices, reflecting on social constructs and socio-political discord.
Honouring this multi-dimensional perspective, DIVINE’s Gully Gang Entertainment has freshly signed sought-after rapper from the regional hip-hop scene 100RBH aka Saurabh Abhyankar whose pedigree is socially-conscious rap music. On the heels of this exciting association, the 23-year-old announces his brand-new Marathi single ‘Zanjeer’ which releases on Gully Gang Records on 21st January 2022.
Featuring the hard-hitting voice of the Amravati bred rapper, the single produced by Karan Kanchan, showcases the artist’s penchant for razor-sharp lyrics, socio-political critique and witty humor. Releasing across all major streaming platforms, the single with its’ hyper-intensive bass-heavy rhythms and poetic speech laser focusses on societal discrimination and government apathy. The music video directed by Joel D’Souza was shot in the busy streets of Amravati as a mark of respect to the artist’s cultural roots.
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Talking about the single 100RBH states, “Society at large is taking giant leaps when it comes better forms of food, housing technology, education but we continue to undermine that progress by our discriminatory practises on the basis of race, gender and caste. I hope that Zanjeer serves as a catalyst as we usher in a new year after a long haul with a pandemic and helps listeners to break free from socio-psychological conditioning while we make tangible progress in other materialistic areas of life. This single is inspired and dedicated to the progressive movement spearheaded by my role model, Babasaheb Ambedkar. 100RBH.”
Reinforcing his commitment to making music that is a torchbearer of change he adds, “I write revolutionary songs to spotlight attention on critical issues that have social relevance. My art is a representation of social inequalities and the brushed-under-the-carpet truths. The themes and languages that I explore are what the common man can relate to as I’m desirous of spearheading a nationwide movement. Rap has grown in India since the 2000s, embracing activism in the recent past, just as it was in t
NOTES TO THE EDITORhe 1980’s in the United States where it became a central form of representation for the black revolution. I’m proud to be representing the streets I grew up in because I make music for the masses.”
About 100RBH
The 23-year-old rapper and dancer hails from the Bicchu Tekadi area of Amravati, a city from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Repping his district and roots is the core essence of his artistry, and this is heralded by the fact that he grew up consuming the revolutionary songs of the great polymath Babasaheb Ambedkar and the peace-promoting songs of Buddha. Having minimal mainstream Bollywood music exposure during his initial years, he was drawn towards the spiritually infused soundscape of Qawwali.
100RBH is an artist who strongly takes a stand for his beliefs, one of which is, he believes that the actual content of his music is much more important than the language he raps in. He released a number of tracks as part of the multilingual hip-hop collective Swadesi – a group of socially conscious rappers, writers, music producers and performers, whose art aimed to wake up society from its slumber and Amravati-based rap group RapHopper.
Marathi is the language he raps in, and he further explains, he does this because his own people can relate more to his music, and rightfully garner more attention to his tracks. His passion and strong set of beliefs are the foundation for his musical vision, and have become his personal driving force.
