Drop a beat

A bi-weekly property launches this Thursday in Andheri, hoping to make the genre more accessible with workshops and open mic

You walk into a pub and see two guys engaging in a rap battle. In Marathi or Hindi. No, it isn’t a scene from Gully Boy. We are building up imagery of what will go down this Thursday, when the one-of-its-kind regular homegrown hip-hop night launches in Andheri.

Held every alternate week, it will feature with voices from the streets, making the genre accessible to all and showcase the city’s best-hidden talent with a dedicated open mic session, bar brawls and workshops.

Maharya

“There is a massive hip-hop community in Mumbai but many of them don’t have access to the scene. There’s no regular hip hop property, not Indian anyway — one of 50 songs might be an Indian song. The community will only grow with more people listening to the music if it plays at venues. So, this will work as a platform for budding artistes as well as help build the community,” says MO Joshi, organiser from Azadi Records.

With a '100 cover charge, the stage is open to all languages, with the only restriction of being homegrown. Anyone can sign up for the open mic, where the DJ will drop a random beat and you’ll get 60 seconds to showcase your skill. There’s some monetary incentive too as the winner of the evening gets '1,000.

Poetik Justis

The plan is to host different workshops every week, besides having a resident DJ. The debut edition will see a performance by Sai and Maharya (Swadesi), with BLUnt as well as a battle rap workshop by Poetik Justis. “He will explain the ins and outs of battle rap and how you can build structures and verses around reactions as well,” says Joshi, adding that they are planning DJ and B-Boying workshops in the near future.

On November 28, 8 pm
At Fun Republic Social, Fun Republic Mall, Andheri West.
Log on to bit.ly/HHSOpenMic
cost Rs 100

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