The paradox of Malayali rapper Hanumankind’s anthems of resistance
Coachella had never seen anything like it before.
As the Malayali hip hop artist known as Hanumankind launched into a version of his hit track Run It Up at the popular music festival in California in April, he summoned an unlikely set of accompanists to the stage – a troupe of white-shirted musicians playing traditional chenda drums.
The fans were ecstatic. “That’s called pure talent maahnn!!!” gushed one commentator on YouTube. “What a proud moment for us Indians, Keralites especially!!!!” said another.
That performance was yet another step in the Malayali musician’s journey to global recognition. But to those who had been following his trajectory, Hanumankind’s deployment of the chenda drummers was not unusual: like his other work, it projected his belief in Kerala’s dynamic and pluralist society through the lens of a member of the Malayali diaspora.
The universalism of Hanumankind’s Malayali-rooted hip hop has helped Run It Up notch up 40 million views on YouTube since it was released on March 7.
Among the fans is African American hip hop creator Scru Face Jean, who shot a video expressing admiration for the track’s insurgent energy.
“This is a marching song, this is a rebel song,” he says. “This is a protest song… this is a ‘pick up arms and doing something about it’ song… I don’t even know what...
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