Breaking Down the Rolling Loud India Lineup

Rolling Loud is finally coming to India. For years, fans here have lived on scraps—watching Miami sets on dodgy livestreams, seeing Thailand get its own edition before us, and wondering if hip hop’s biggest traveling circus even saw this country as part of the map. Now, the wait is over. Loud Park in Navi Mumbai will host the debut edition of Rolling Loud India in November, and the lineup has hip-hop fans excited.

It’s an impressive poster. Wiz Khalifa headlines with his catalog of stoner anthems that defined a whole era, Central Cee brings UK drill swagger to the subcontinent, and Don Toliver adds glossy crossover appeal. DaBaby, Denzel Curry, Swae Lee, Sheck Wes, Ski Mask the Slump God, Westside Gunn—names that give the bill depth and credibility. For a debut edition, this is no half-hearted experiment; it looks like a serious entry into the global calendar. That said, the lineup announcement does feel very late—dropping just over two months before the festival—especially for an event of this scale where fans often expect a longer runway to plan travel, tickets, and hype.

But what makes this lineup historic is the way it puts Indian names on equal footing. Karan Aujla isn’t opening a side stage; he’s a top-line headliner. That single detail flips a long history of international festivals parachuting into India, giving token slots to local artists, and calling it representation. Divine is right up there, too, with his special performance, still carrying the weight of the gully rap revolution he helped start. And then comes a more eclectic layer: Arivu from Tamil Nadu, Sambata from Maharashtra, Meba Ofilia from the Northeast, Wild Wild Women bringing collective fire, and Shreyas and Zefaan representing the next wave.

Hanumankind’s name on the bill is another shift. A couple of years ago, he was building word-of-mouth buzz in Bengaluru clubs; now he’s fresh off a breakout mixtape, a Coachella slot, and a viral hit whose remix brought in A$AP Rocky. Seeing him on a Rolling Loud poster—the second after he played Thailand last year—is a big moment.

The desi diaspora hip-hop movement comes back home in a sense with debut solo performances by Gurinder Gill and AR Paisley. NAV’s quick return to India within a year of performing at the Zomato Feeding India Concert in Mumbai in November 2024 makes him a bankable name.

Still, if this is a landmark, it isn’t the whole story. Locally, fans will notice the absence of Delhi’s Seedhe Maut or KR$NA, who’ve built some of the most rabid hip-hop audiences in the country. For a festival that calls itself the home of hip-hop, the omissions matter. The lineup is strong, but it’s not definitive. It’s a statement of intent rather than a full snapshot of where the culture really is in 2025.

Maybe that’s fine. First editions aren’t supposed to be perfect; they’re supposed to prove the model works—to show that tens of thousands will travel to Navi Mumbai, that a purpose-built venue like Loud Park can actually handle the chaos, and that sponsors and promoters can make the economics add up. Rolling Loud India’s poster is a milestone, yes, but it’s also a reminder: if the festival wants to be more than a touring brand planting a flag, it has to keep building. Hip-hop fans in India are savvy, and they know who’s missing. They know what a “safe” lineup looks like versus a lineup that really dares to reflect the heartbeat of the genre.

For now, though, it’s hard not to feel the weight of the moment. The world’s biggest hip-hop festival is finally here, and Indian artists are standing shoulder to shoulder with global names. That alone changes the story. The real question is whether future editions can go louder—not just in decibels, but in the truth of who really defines hip-hop, both here and everywhere else.