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Being a wild woman in India is not easy – members of what is believed to be India’s first female rap group can attest.
The eight members of the Wild Wild Women Collective have had to deal with knockback from the men who control the music industry and press. They had to pamper and fight their parents to get permission to perform and travel to gigs after convincing them that hip-hop was suitable for women to perform. I have to balance my work and music.
On a Zoom call from their home in Mumbai, Wild Wild Women are smiling, chatty, exuberant, and full of hilarious determination. They want to prove that women can rap just as much as men can and speak out in their lyrics about the treatment of women in Indian society.
The group, who met two years ago at a hip-hop cypher (an impromptu rap session) held in a Mumbai park, knew that the path to their daughter’s happiness was education, a good job (preferably medicine or engineering), marriage, a home and children. Music is acceptable as a hobby, but it doesn’t pay the bills or provide a suitable husband.
“We wanted to have a voice as women in a country where women are oppressed and forced into silence,” said Pratika Prabhune, who had trouble convincing her father, who has a classical music background. increase. “At 12, I got a bass guitar and played in a heavy metal band. He didn’t approve of my rapping at first, but now he brags about my success to his friends.”
“Child-rearing, housework, caring for the elderly, household chores, it’s all up to women. ”
One of the songs she wrote with Prabune was called Raja Beta (King Son), a mockery of an Indian man who likes to be pampered and pampered by his mother. The ridicule is accompanied by uptempo choral chants of “Don’t give injustice a chance” and “Who will stop me?”
Although they have advanced their musical ambitions into a compelling family, the group’s main challenge now is finding space in the Indian hip-hop and rap scene, where there are only a few female rappers such as MC Lit, MC Disha. is to ensure , Reble, Rudy Mukta, Four.
When Wild Wild Women released their debut single I Do It For Hip Hop in March 2021, Hiremath was shocked to hear the reaction of music industry executives. She said, “Someone in the music industry apparently said, ‘It’s total nonsense to make something like Wild Wild Woman and women don’t have the consistency to be in the industry.'”
Without a record deal, the group pools money to record music. So far he has released 3 singles and has performed in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Bangalore.
“Our audience ranges from college students to clubs to all-ages Christmas parties, and it’s not just women,” says Prabune. “The audience has been incredible. They always say they love being on stage and seeing so many women on stage. It feels like a small win for all of us.” ”
But the band must tread the minefield where Indian society has been placed under a Hindu nationalist government. A slight imagination of Indian culture and traditions can be offensive.
“I spent two hours with a lawyer friend going over every word in the lyrics of my politically charged song to make sure it wasn’t offensive to anyone. And there’s little room for political rap,” says Hiremath.
She adds:Bakuto‘, which means some kind of believer, and in the same phrase means ‘gang’. I decided to change. These days, using the word bakuto can offend the right wing. Especially if you’re using gangs and clubs. ”
Wild Wild Women’s raps have a distinct Indian feel, not only because of the lyrics, but also because they sing in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada as well as English, switching languages with each song. Audiences love it, says Preeti Star. “They make you feel a part of the music. They also help you reach a wider listener base, contextualizing rap as an entry-level Indian genre,” she says.
The group plans to experiment with Indian instruments to give the music an even more distinctive sound.
However, the main goal of Wild Wild Women is to hear the voices of Indian women. “By putting our own voices out there, we are also representing a wider female audience,” she says.
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