How MC Josh is trying to change the way people look at Dharavi in his new anthem

A new chant is echoing in the culturally rich and often-misunderstood neighbourhood in the heart of the city. The voice behind the words gives us a lowdown of the catchy anthem

When a 16-year-old Joshua Joseph navigated the narrow winding lanes of Dharavi in 2016, reciting impromptu rhymes for locals lounging on the sidewalks, he didn’t have many takers. They had more enticing distractions — marijuana, hashish and alcohol, to name a few.

Dharavi Anthem by music producer Shaurya Verma and Joseph, who now walks the streets as MC Josh, opens a window to the same bustling lanes, but almost decade after his teenage experience. “When I stroll the streets now, I see people in a huddle around a beatboxer, a rapper, or a B-boy. Art has taken over. Dharavi has changed.”

Joshua Joseph (centre) performs for the music video in Shahu Nagar 

The experience that sparked the fire in the 25-year-old’s heart to pen the anthem is one that is shared by the youth of Dharavi. “I was at a job interview with my friends from Dharavi last year. When the time came to state where we had come from, most of them claimed to be from Sion, Matunga or Mahim,” Joseph sighs. It’s not entirely their fault, he says. The outsider’s gaze is still coloured in pity, distrust and despise. Recorded in Joseph’s home studio, the anthem’s hook — ‘Mujhe garv hai main Dharavi se’ (I’m proud to be a Dharavi resident) — aims to break the stigma. 

While some choose to maintain their myopic view, Joseph and his contemporaries persist. At an event in the city earlier this year, singer Shankar Mahadevan joined Joseph and his crew in an impromptu cypher, later fondly labelling them ‘his Dharavi boys’ in approval. But Joseph is not just talking about performing artistes like him when he raps ‘Kala ki baat, kalakar yahan bhare pade’ (Talk about art, you’ll find an artist in every lane). “The irony here in Dharavi is that you’ll find someone who can dismantle a car and another who can build one from scratch, on the same lane,” he laughs. 

Joseph (in green) raps for Shankar Mahadevan (centre) in Mumbai

Joseph is now recording a music video for the track in the lanes of Shahu Nagar where children from the neighbourhood will don shirts sporting lines from the track and sing along to the anthem. “Even before the release of the music video, the feedback has been overwhelming. Across crews, my contemporaries have started writing in to appreciate the effort,” Joseph smiles.  

A densely populated section in Dharavi. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

The rapper, who most recently performed at the Ziro Literary Fest in Arunachal Pradesh in September, has a point to make through the anthem. Dharavi, he says, is no longer a place you’d pray to make it out of. “Why would you? Today, we have everything from safer streets to good schools and a buzzing economy that fuels the self-sufficient neighbourhood,” he reasons.

Scan to watch an unplugged performance of Dharavi Anthem

Joseph recalls Mumbai 

hip-hop pioneer Vivian Fernandes aka Divine’s concluding words at the recent Gully Fest event in Goregaon, “Divine bhai took a moment to announce, ‘To all my young fans, go to school, get educated, and chase your dreams. Not everyone needs to rap like Divine.’ I couldn’t agree more. We’ve rapped about dreaming in the slums for long enough, it’s time to make them come true.”

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In sync with Dharavi

Tune into these tracks that capture the essence of this buzzing locality

. Code Mumbai 17 
Rapper MC Altaf’s account of growing up in the gullies is an ode to the neighbourhood’s no-nonsense way of life.
LOG ON TO  YouTube

. Dharavi Cypher Vol 1 
This multi-artiste collaboration opens a window into the never-ending hustle to make it big from the slums.
LOG ON TO  Spotify 

. Nikkal Nikkal 
Dharavi rap duo Dopeadelicz talk about life and rebellion in this catchy tune that features in the 2018 Rajinikanth starrer Kaala set in Dharavi’s slums. 
LOG ON TO YouTube 

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