COVER STORY: Srushti Tawade Is Leading Indian Hip-Hop’s Second Wave 

From a lonely but determined crow to an unintentionally comedic gangster, Srushti Tawade has a personality that morphs into all kinds of stories in her rap songs. The hip-hop artist from Mumbai started out on music reality show MTV Hustle 2.0 earlier this year, often being relied on for comedic relief.  

Rap star and judge Badshah would ask Tawade about getting praise from actor Nargis Fakhri, while ribbing about if he could get her number, complete with the flimsy sound effects that would make anyone roll their eyes. But that’s reality T.V. and it’s undoubtedly the vehicle that Tawade rode on, reaching households across India and the world as a finalist on MTV Hustle 2.0. While her closest friend on the show – rapper MC Square aka Abhishek Bensla – was judged the winner, Tawade had, like other rappers on the show, captured the attention of young hip-hop fans in the country and they now count among her horde of followers. She says over the phone from her home in Mumbai, “I think the title of ‘winner’ doesn’t necessarily determine anything as such, because outside of the show, whatever work we’re doing is the real win.”  

The rapper’s biggest draw is arguably a storyteller’s ability with both pen and vocal methods. As someone who began listening to hip-hop in 2021, Tawade wrote about the indefatigable value of Mumbai city (“Dummies Guide to Mumbai”), self-awareness and self-belief on a level that’s aspirational (the autobiographical hit “Main Nahi Toh Kaun”) and navigating the dating circuit (“Chill Kinda Guy”). Her turn to a somber, darker childhood chapter on “Bachpan” set the tone for a versatile artist who wasn’t just handing out punchlines. Instead, Tawade invited listeners into a deeply personal space, where she spoke about physical abuse, mental trauma and emerging out of that place with a lost sense of childhood. Ever the conscious writer, she even flips the question to audiences, ready for the judgment she expects for sharing her story. 

It’s no surprise to hear that the first Hindi rap songs she’d heard were by Kaam Bhaari, a formidable wordsmith whose tracks “Mohabbat” and “White Collar” instantly had Tawade hooked. “‘Mohabbat’ is still a song that’s on my playlist. That’s what makes it so different from a popular type of rap,” she says. The often confessional and theatrical narrative approach to each song is Tawade’s strength, just as it is Kaam Bhaari’s, and she takes it a step further by being multi-lingual, rapping in Hindi, English, Haryanvi, Marathi and Bengali. There’s a healthy level of perspective from Tawade, though it’s about being new to it all. “Even though I started rapping and being a part of the community, even now I don’t know if I’m doing hip-hop or not. I’m just doing what I want to do,” she says cheerfully. There are more goals set as well, beyond hip-hop, with Tawade keen on continuing her craft as a poet and screenplay writer.  

She is headed to Bengaluru for a show a day after our interview, but it takes her a few moments to realize how busy the week is for her. “It’s actually my last day in Bombay today. Tomorrow, I have to be in Bangalore and then somewhere else and somewhere else. I don’t remember,” she says with a laugh. Eager to chat about everything from how she conquered hearts and minds on MTV Hustle 2.0 to the road ahead, Tawade is among the most successful stories to come out of Indian hip-hop this year, leading a second wave of artists in the culture who might be new to it all but are ready to dive right in and make the most of things. Excerpts:  

All within a year, there’s been this journey of you being completely new to rap to becoming a nationwide music star. How do you look back on it?  

The journey has been very over the top. It’s not gone as slow as it goes for most people. It’s going very fast. Achanak likhne lagi, achanak show pe bhi aa gayi and achanak all this is happening [Suddenly I started writing rap, suddenly I got on the show also]. I’m overwhelmed, honestly, from all the work I’m getting and by the people talking about me right now.  

I wasn’t even thinking about this in 2021. When I started rapping, I hadn’t decided that this was what I wanted to do. I was also writing poems, writing a screenplay and writing rap too. It was just one more thing I was writing. There was no such plan. Right now, I’m known for being a rapper and that’s very unexpected. I never imagined that – I never dreamt of it.  

Where does the creative streak to write come from – poetry, scripts and now rap songs?  

My mummy, apart from being a full-time nurse, is also a professional kirtankar. She’s done post-graduation in kirtan. That’s something we – my dad and I – had no idea about, that such a degree even existed. We were like, ‘Kirtan mein kaun graduation karta hai?’ [Who graduates in devotional songs?] She did her graduation and post-graduation last year. She writes a lot of devotional songs. She literally has four diaries full of songs just about Krishna. So that’s where the writing comes from. And then I started writing in 2020, which is when Spoken Fest happened, in January. I got a lot of inspiration just from the vibe while sitting in the audience at [spoken word and music event] Spoken Fest. Then I decided to write every day.  

Are the other sides of writing – like screenplays and poems – still something you want to pursue?  

Absolutely. So, as I said, it was always like, whatever I can write, like, whatever can be written, I want to write, whether it’s raps, screenplays, songs – anything that can be written! I want to do that for life. Apart from rap, of course, I am planning to be a screenwriter and lyricist as well. Basically, everything. Mere ko kuch bhi nahi chhodna hai [I don’t want to leave anything].  

What was it like having a support system during MTV Hustle 2.0 and now?  

My family has been A+, sab support mein 100 marks hai [they score 100 for support]. They supported me in every possible way. Their entire offices were distributing pamphlets to vote for me when it was voting time – both my dad’s office and mom’s office. My father had written long messages for people to be able to understand what the procedure is to vote. He wrote it in four languages and sent it out to over 5,000 people. That was all they were doing in their offices for three months! They stopped working to support me [laughs].  

What was it like living in that reality show bubble of things being recorded, decisions being made but which would go public much later, so you had to keep things under wraps?  

I don’t know how to put this in words. No one’s asked me to think about this even. My family used to know kya hua hai [what took place] because after the show, I used to update them about everything – whether I was saved or eliminated and everything. I read somewhere that apparently in reality shows, if you give out spoilers, it’s more fun because you’re waiting to watch what you already know. So, my parents enjoyed the spoilers a lot [laughs].  

The rest of the world, well… I wasn’t talking to anyone and I don’t know how they were experiencing what happened on the show. I just used to tell my mom and dad and my one best friend about what is about to go down.  

Hustle is the kind of show that makes stars out of people even if they don’t win. What do you think about this?  

I think that in terms of winning the show, that’s a very limited, small and subjective thing. It doesn’t depend on our songs, it depends on people’s perceptions. So, that is clearly not the right parameter to judge ourselves in terms of how successful are whether we win or don’t win.  

This season though, MC Square deserved to win fully. From the show, he’s my closest friend. I have constantly been able to learn a lot from him. But at the same time, agar woh winner na hota [if he wasn’t the winner], I would have been able to learn from him just as much. I think the ‘winner’ title doesn’t necessarily determine anything as such, because outside of the show, whatever work we’re doing is the real win. We have this work, and people who gave us this work know that we’re capable of doing it. That’s already a win. We literally get to do what we want to do for life. That’s the biggest win.  

Are you still in touch with the judges from the show?  

I’m still in touch with Dino bhaiya, King bhaiya and Badshah bhaiya. We don’t talk that often because unka bhi kaam-dhanda hota hai [they have a lot of work to get to]. I get a lot of motivation from them because they are rooting for me right now. Even after the show, they’ve not forgotten about the contestants.  

People are actually rooting for me and for my next projects, and waiting and asking questions about the projects and showing that excitement, which is super motivating. Whenever I have to discuss something or I am just reminded of something that we’ve gone through on the show, or anything about my writing and rapping journey, I feel super free to just text them. This obviously wasn’t possible before. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that. I can talk to them freely, which is a big change.  

It speaks of the sense of community within hip-hop in India. As a new entrant of sorts, do you see this? There are beefs and all those things, but it feels like everyone supports each other at the end of the day.  

As far as the show is concerned, there was a lot of brotherhood, to an almost filmy level. No one had a problem with anyone. Everybody was doing perfect. Everybody was comfortable and secure in their space. There was no scope for any beef. It made the show more enjoyable for a wider audience. 

If a beef had started, I think it would only end up appealing to a limited audience who know what beefs are about and that’s all they’re interested in. From the first episode to the last, it was all about entertainment, which is why the whole country got interested. It only goes to show, if it works, then people should take a few tips from here [laughs].  

You end up on a show where perhaps you may not agree with some of the styles. How do you deal with that?  

Luckily, I am exploring the kinds of art that I actually will like. I’m coming across only the kind of people and the kind of artists whose work I’m sure I’ll like. I will not find misogyny in it. I will not find anything problematic in it, mostly. I’ve been coming across these kinds of artists lately. So that way, the thought never crossed my mind that, ‘Arrey log aisa kyu kar rahe hain? Aisa kyu likh rahe hain?’ [Why are people doing this and writing like this?] I haven’t heard artists like that in a long time and probably won’t ever end up hearing them either.  

What does rap in Mumbai still need, which you want to add?  

I think what is needed is thoda sa thought, which a lot of people don’t put in [laughs]. It’s something I’ve noticed for a while. When songs are being made, a lot of people have a deadline that, ‘Iss tariq ko mera video nikalna chahiye [I need to have a video out on this particular date].’ They write whatever they can before that deadline and it does not matter how much thought they put into it or if they’ve conceptualized an idea. The only thing that matters is that the song has to come out on that particular date. That is a problem, I think. This shouldn’t be the thought process.  

You know how we always say, ‘Puraane zamaane ke gaane alag hi thhe. Udhaar toh kya hi kaam ho raha tha, amazing kaam. Abhi koi kuch nahi likhta [The songs from the olden days were really different. Some amazing work went on back then. Now no one writes like that].’ I think I agree with that. The need to write with thought is very necessary, and to be original as well. Just because somebody else’s beef worked doesn’t mean that’s all you’ll do now. You have to have something that you want to say. Originality is needed.  

What kind of stuff are you writing that’s coming out next?  

Theme-wise, I can never decide where I really stand, because if you’ve seen, I switched from “Ek Tha Kauvva” to “Chhota Don” in the same week. All my ideas are just that diverse right now. I have a couple of ideas and they don’t fit in the same genre at all. Sab alag alag, idhar-udhar hai [Everything is different, and here and there].   

Some of the ideas are not even related to rap at all, but I’m going to fit them in somehow. That’s going to be my original structure of work. I’m trying to come up with that and set that for myself. There are a lot of ideas right now, some funny, some serious, some thought-provoking and mind-bending. Bohot kuch chal raha hai [A lot is happening]. I’m hoping by December-end or January, most of it will come out. I’m very eager to just put it out. 

How are you taking on other projects that come your way, outside of writing and releasing your music?  

My mindset – because all of this is very new to me – is that I need work and play. My work is already play for me. I have fun in my work. Even if I call it work – say, I spend a whole day writing a song and then recording it – then I’ll need some play, side mein. Something that’s not work. That is the perspective I’m taking when it comes to any brand gigs and any other projects that are not originally mine. I think of it as my playtime and I have to enjoy whatever brand deal it is, because this is the only time I’m going to enjoy. 

It so happens that I’m enjoying, so I’m giving it my best and it’s for my wellbeing, and then I get back to work and I enjoy that as well. So, all is good!  

Photographer: Rohit Gupta

Art Director: Tanvi Shah

Art Assistant: Siddhi Chavan

Styled by Robertson Lyngdoh

Wardrobe courtesy: Moonray

Hair and Make-up by Hardeep Arora | Assisted by Dimple Shah