MUMBAI: In order to escalate hip-hop genre in India, a partnership was witnessed between popular music label, Sony Music India and digital media company, Desi Hip Hop Inc.

“One will witness hoards of hip hop music from around the world in many Indian languages,” commented Sony Music India International Repertoire and Special Projects head Arjun Sankalia on the outcome of this partnership.

Sankalia has several plans onboard on how they would market this genre.

 “The overall commitment is to quintessentially put out great music but more importantly to discover and develop a handful of artists, who will become career artists of our label. Right now, we will market ourselves on digital and will soon be making our presence felt on-ground in terms of ‘events’. We will also be contemplating our presence on radio,” he revealed about their marketing strategy.

On the other hand, Desi Hip Hop CEO Hardik Dave mentioned that growth in numbers and networks will be the main target of this partnership.  

He explained, “We are looking forward to increasing the amount of content, audience consumption, and on-ground partnerships. The most difficult would be to pick artists and check if they are ready. In partnership with Sony Music India, we will also be launching lifestyle space, merchandising, technology and much more.”

The current hip hop scene has taken a rooftop in the music industry bringing in new talents.

 “There is immense world-class talent at an international level. Moreover, in India, the scene is not restricted to just Mumbai, one can witness the rise in this genre in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Shillong. Also, Tamil and Bengali rap is buzzing,” shared Sankalia.

Further, when quizzed Dave on this growing genre, the CEO emphasized, “Hip-hop is growing rapidly. In terms of acceptance-level, parents are ready to understand about what their child is doing even if they choose a career path in it. I think overtime artists will evolve.”

He felt educating masses about this genre is 'need of the hour'.

“Hip-hop is a journey of self-discovery. I would like to see people grasping immense knowledge about elements of this genre," concluded Dave.