Dopeadelicz: Asia’s Biggest Slum Meets Hip Hop

Dopeadelicz is the brainchild of Tony Sebastian, aka Stony Psycho. It was as early as 2007 when he had heard international rap artists and was interested in trying out the art form. Once he heard that there were crews in India, and especially in Dharavi where we live, he knew that he wanted to be a rapper

India – 

Dharavi has borne all sorts of notorious titles since the heydays of Mumbai city, but never did one imagine that a “Hip-Hop” movement will take birth here. DopeadelicZ, a documentary on the rise of the rappers Tony ‘Psycho’ Sebastien, Rajesh ‘Rac’ Radhakrishnan and Avinash ‘BenZ’ Benson, takes a dive into the labyrinths of Dharavi and digs out a a cross-cultural movement that promises to shake things up. On one hand you will find the typical ‘bambaiya tapori’ attitude being spouted out by most folks, but on the other hand, you have these hip-dressing, swag-carrying, pot-smoking, old-school hip-hoppers, huddled up in shady corners, spitting venom and wisdom alike with their freestyle cyphers.

 
Dopea
 

Their presence is limited but their influence is growing day by day. Children are singing their tracks and hounding them fanatically, like one would expect with celebrities. Locals are singing their more popularly appeasing tracks like ‘Ganpati Bappa Moriyanu Sollu’ and ‘Aai Shapat Saaheb, Me Navhto’ which reflect the changing tastes and times of what was once the underbelly of the city. They may be shacked up in matchbox houses, but their intent and desire is so enormous that their music is now attracting listeners outside of Dharavi.

 
Dopea 2
 

“If Honey Singh can make a track on four bottles of Vodka, then why can;t we drop a track – Four Joints a Day?” quips Psycho Tony. The desire to legalize marijuana is on top of their list of ‘things to rap about’. They detest drugs and alcohol, having seen its ill-effects in the society around them while growing up. Their belief is that marijuana is peaceful in comparison to any other intoxicant and recommend its usage over others (if one needs to use anything at all). But more than anything, it is their style and energy that is bringing them out on the forefront of the real ‘Indie’ scene.

Related Posts

All India Bakchod revolutionises the last chance to ‘Save the Internet’ in India

India –  All India Bakchod (AIB), an Indian comedy collective, has been actively advocating for net neutrality laws online through ...

Melinda Gibson & Thomas Sauvin: Lunar Caustic

China –   When faced with an archive of over 500,000 images of partially destroyed negatives of Beijing based vernacularism ...

Andrew Peacock: Being Trapped in Antarctica

Australia –  For two weeks from 24th December 2013 the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy was trapped in thick ice in Commonwealth Bay, ...

Jean-Paul Bourdier: Leap Into The Blue

USA –  Jean-paul Bourdier, Professor of design, drawing, and photography in UC Berkeley’s architecture department, presents his book ‘Leap Into The ...

Barmer Boys: Nomad Merasi Minstrels

India –   Blending an emphatically distinguishable medley of traditional and contemporary sounds, the Barmer Boys underline eclecticism as they ...

Roy Nachum : The Doors of Perception

Israel – Roy Nachum is a contemporary Israeli artist, based in New York. He works in a variety of mediums namely ...

MarpLondon: “You don’t fight revolutions with silk gloves”

United Kingdom –  In her series “Icons of Modern Civilisation“,  British visual artist, Marianne deals with three themes.  Object of Desire – ...

Kílian Jornet Burgada: ‘Fear is good.’

Spain – Some people take weeks to scale mountains, stopping off along the way in arduous pursuit of the summit. ...

Ariana Page Russell: Beauty and Bruises

U.S.A- Our skin tells us stories about ourselves through each freckle, bruise and blush, which temporarily punctuates our flesh with ...