Hear Mumbai’s Teenager MC Nikhil Swerve Through Trap and Mumble Rap on Debut Album ‘Mukaam’

At 16, rapper Nikhil Himmat Singh Parcha aka MC Nikhil brings exactly the kind of carefree, dirt-off-your-shoulder vibe you’d expect from his debut album Mukaam. There’s not a lot of depth but there’s a confidence across the 15 tracks that’s well matched with his Auto-Tuned verses and trap beats, procured from several beatsmiths from around the world.

Influenced by the likes of Polo G, Lil Mosey and Lil Baby, MC Nikhil talks about growing up in Mumbai, but also projects a braggart side of himself and dares anyone to cross him. Growing up in Bandra, and occasionally part of cyphers in his area, the rapper spends most of Mukaam confronting his competition and telling the world how he’s not like the others, in songs like “Gully Grind,” “Manifest” and “Walk of Fame.”

While Mukaam comes on the back of a handful of singles released through 2021—tracks like “Foreign Drip” featuring Cincinnati rapper Meechie Stacks were added to the album—it wasn’t all smooth. Nikhil says he started work on the album in April last year, but a few songs were completely erased and untraceable due to “data loss.” He states, “For this reason, I started with the recording of those vanished songs and when it’s the correct time to post an update about my album work getting restarted, I did so in July 2021.”

Upon revisiting some of the songs, Nikhil says he got to finesse the rest of Mukaam as well. “That worked as a cherry on the cake,” he adds. In addition to American rapper Meechie Stacks, Nikhil also roped in Floridian hip-hop artist Fame Faiella (on “Louis Vitton”), fellow Florida native Famous Kid Brick on “Goat Talk” and New York-based Kam Nasty on “Come Over.” 

The American verses bring in a hefty amount of diversity. Nikhil says it was not difficult to approach the likes of Kam Nasty and Fame Faiella because he could speak to them directly and not necessarily via management, agency or third party reps. “They were really comfortable to collaborate with a foreign artist, so I clearly approached them with an Instagram DM and they were happy to work with me,” the rapper says.

Up next, Nikhil is plotting more international collaborations and a possible sophomore record. “In 2022, I’m coming up with more energy, more songs and maybe I’ll come up with my second album this year,” he adds.

Listen to ‘Mukaam’ below: