Def Jam India Launches with Dino James and Fotty Seven

Hip-hop in India has a new global brand throwing their hat in the ring. Def Jam India has begun operations in India by announcing the signing of two established rap names: Dino James and Fotty Seven aka Ankit Gudwani. 

Def Jam Recordings — which was founded in 1984 in New York — built up its reputation with artists like Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, DMX, LL Cool J and several others over the last three decades. Originally co-founded by super producer Rick Rubin, Def Jam sought out several different partnerships with major labels and distributors over the years. By the late Nineties, it found a home under an umbrella of labels owned and run by Universal Music Group. Among the most definitive albums on Def Jam include Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill in 1986, DMX’s knockout record It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot in 1998, Jay-Z’s seminal albums The Blueprint and The Black Album, Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad from 2007 and Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange in 2012. The label even worked with thrash legends Slayer on their formative records South of Heaven and Reign In Blood in the Eighties.

Along the way, Def Jam expanded continually into different regions of the world to pick up domestic hip-hop talent. As early as 2000, Def Jam Germany was created. More recently, Def Jam South East Asia was launched in September 2019 and Def Jam Vietnam was started in September 2020. Def Jam India’s launch also follows the entry of Mass Appeal India in 2019, another instance of a mainstay American hip-hop label that wants to represent rap in India. 

Def Jam Recordings chairman and CEO Tunji Balogun said in a statement, “We’re excited to welcome Def Jam India to the worldwide Def Jam family, following our recent launches in the U.K., Europe, Africa and Asia. Hip-hop reflects the pulse of global youth culture and chronicles new stories and voices in real time. Def Jam India will provide audiences worldwide the opportunity to discover and experience Indian hip-hop culture at its finest and introduce the next generation of cutting-edge artists emerging from the region.” 

For their part, Def Jam India is banking on fairly well-established artists to start with. Dino James, who has released Hindi music with major labels like Sony Music India in the past, is best known for his gritty flow on songs like “Loser” in 2016 to “Tandav” in 2019, which went out to his five million-plus subscribers on YouTube. New Delhi-bred Fotty Seven, meanwhile, notched up appearances on albums by pop heavyweights such as Badshah and Arjun Kanungo and released his debut EP Asli Independent in 2020. Known for emotive and fiery bilingual rap on songs like “Meri Bhi Sunn Lo,” “Galat Launda,” ‘Haath Toh Laga” and “Baap Se” featuring fellow rapper KR$NA. 

Universal Music India & South Asia’s managing director and CEO Devraj Sanyal said in his statement, “The launch of Def Jam India could not come at a better time for music in India. Our domestic hip-hop and rap artists are rapidly growing into some of the most exciting talents in the region, taking their rightful space alongside mainstream national & regional pop, and what better home for those artists than Def Jam, the pioneering global home of hip-hop. Def Jam India, will be infused and inspired by local street and rap culture, Indian sounds and unique multilingual flows, which will enable us to introduce new artists across the country and region, and beyond.”