The Bengaluru rapper aims to represent Kannada rap in India's flourishing hip-hop space
Gubbi's brand of Kannada rap centres around growing up in Bengaluru, his neighborhood and the process of evolving as a hip-hop artist in India. Photo: Bine Nagel
Bengaluru-based rapper Karthik Sundar Gubbi–better known as just Gubbi–is one of the most promising rising acts in Indian hip-hop. His honest brand of Kannada rap centres around growing up in Bengaluru, his neighborhood SG Palya and the process of evolving as a hip-hop artist in India.
Gubbi gained an interest in rap while he was in high school, citing Eminem as his main inspiration. He began writing his own tracks by the time he was in college, often taking part on (now defunct) social media platform Orkut’s infamous text rap battles. Although he started out rapping in both English and Kannada, he made the decision to focus mainly on the latter in 2011, finally taking on the stage name ‘Gubbi’ in 2014 to represent his last name and the district he’s from.
The rapper aims to represent Kannada rap in India’s flourishing hip-hop space, dropping his debut album Who Are You? Nannu Gubbi! in April this year. Tightly produced by Bengaluru rapper Big Deal, the album’s lead single “Yelli Maga Gubbi?” wowed listeners in particular with its theme of a back-and-forth between Gubbi and an obsessive fan.
Gubbi will be performing live at Haq Se Hindustan, a concert presented by digital media firm Qyuki and Rolling Stone India on November 14th at Famous Studios in Mumbai. Get tickets here.
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