Doing Local Aspiring Global: A Story of Anti-Caste Hip-Hop in India

Using the story of hip-hop at its core, this paper looks at the evolution of the anti-caste in India movement in the age of digital technology, social media, popular culture, and new socio-cultural trends. I incorporate the stories of rappers from the dalit (formerly untouchable) community who are embodying a blend of new technology and production processes in their attempt to present a fine blend of their historical identity and politics with modern artistry. In this paper, I contest the practices of the marginalised caste musicians who have brought their sense of belongingness via music into habitation. Gradually looking at the role of lower caste musicians, performers, and singers in subverting the established hegemony of music practitioners. In that vein, hip-hop allows for a discursive space to dwell in the making and un-makings of Dalit ghettos, since the origins of hip-hop lie on the margins of society. I argue that beyond the confines of societal exclusion, these spaces morph into communal canvases. The margins like slums, ghettos, and bastis provide a space for community and individuals to engage in cultural and communal practices in a way that becomes “pleasurable” and "desirable." Thus, a space becomes a manifestation of not only mundane and tangible practices but also encourages the creation and making of a performance of everyday life. I look at the empowering role of hip-hop when telling a tale and the reality of oppression and resistance. Immersing into the complex interplay of subaltern aesthetics, this paper examines marginalised voices, their expression, and their negotiation with identities within the underpinned structures of hegemony and resistance.