Hanumankind is at the last show of his first-ever European tour and he’s whipping the London crowd into a frenzy. The numerous South Indians in attendance scream when the Kerala-born, Houston-raised rapper addresses them in his Malayalam mother tongue, and the Village Underground bar staff go from mild confusion to leaning over the countertop to film as he dives into his southern drawl-laden technical rap verses. “We’re all from the south side now”, Hanumankind tells the crowd, tying together both Keralan and Houston aspects of his upbringing. But I didn’t realise until later that this tagline contained a third layer of meaning that strikes to the heart of the global success that he’s been enjoying lately.
Hanumankind has today released his latest mixtape, Monsoon Season, and, like a monsoon, it marks a long reign ahead for the breakout star. Many readers will be familiar with the epic basslines and driving rap delivery of 2024 hit “Big Dawgs”, which saw Hanumankind break into charts around the globe and is already touching half a billion streams. This was soon followed by a remix featuring A$AP Rocky and, just last week, a guest appearance on what looks set to be the defining hip-hop track of 2025 summer – Skepta’s remix of Fred again and Plaqueboymax’s “Victory Lap”. Hanumankind may have been born in Kerala and currently reside in neighbouring Bangalore, but he’s always been poised for global rap stardom.
This cross-border appeal is unique among India’s rap stars, who are many but all-too-often confined to domestic success. Notably, Hanumankind raps in English, a hangover from a childhood spent moving around the world, and is stylistically rooted in the bass-pumping swagger of the Houston rap scene he spent his formative years in. “You got hip hop, then you got southern hip hop, and then you got Houston hip hop, which, in my opinion, is stylistically the best,” Hanumankind tells Dazed. “I really connected to the wordplay of Chamillionaire and UGK in general, but I also took the time and effort to stay in touch with my roots [in India]. What you hear now is a combination of that.”
But this international upbringing also gave him a grit that lingers on in his rap verses today. “Because I had to constantly uproot myself, I was always getting picked on and bullied, so I had to learn how to fight,” Hanumankind recalls. “You know what a rabbit puncher is? If I was getting crowded and I thought that it was gonna go down, I’d punch as hard and fast as I could, and then the impact would make motherfuckers go ‘Alright, bro, chill.’ I was just trying to get by and exist, man.”
This underdog mentality takes centre-stage on today’s Monsoon Season. “We went from nothing in the stomach to feeding the whole neighbourhood”, he raps explosively on “Run It Up”, balancing this with the subdued and introspective cuts “Cause” and “Someone Told Me”. Hanumankind’s music might be equally inspired by Kerala and Houston, but it’s this aspirational storytelling that has captivated listeners in between. “We’re all from the south side” indeed.
Below, breakout rapper Hanumankind speaks on securing the A$AP Rocky feature, the making of “Run It Up”, and his thoughts on the UK v US rap debate.
You’ve been releasing music for years, how did it feel when ‘Big Dawgs’ suddenly blew up?
Hanumankind: I’m blessed for how things turned out. In order for us to have executed [‘Big Dawgs’] the way that we did, you gotta have been working and moving at a certain caliber. You can’t control how the world’s going to react, so, fuck the world, we doing this for us. Me and my team. We just made art from that space. When people notice, that’s great, but it’s on the back of work.
How did the A$AP Rocky collab come about?
Hanumankind: Rocky is a fucking G. Him and his team reached out when we were on the lookout for the remix. With Rocky, it’s not just about the sonics, which we ended up doing, but, on a visual level too, that guy really does this shit, man. Historically, his videos have been insane. So, we sat in the studio for a couple of hours and made that piece. It felt good.
When you performed the sped-up section of ‘Run It Up’ at Village Underground last week, even the bar staff got up and started filming you. Can you walk us through where that came from?
Hanumankind: That was my idea, 100 per cent. We had the first half and it was amazing but [producer Kalmi] was like, ‘You need to write a second verse.’ I’m like, ‘Cool, I can, but it’s the same beat and I’m not really feeling it the same way.’ The initial energy that I had for it had fizzled out. So, then I was just like, ‘You know what you should do? You should slow this shit down and then… speed it up!’
Because, if you come to any of the chenda malams in Kerala, which are these traditional drums in Kerala, they start slow, and they progressively get faster and faster as well. We just tried to do the same thing. Instantly it was kind of wild. Because the tempo shifts entirely, when we perform it live, most of the drummers stop performing the second half because the tempo is so hard to match. But I feel like we’ll eventually find a way to do it [live].
You also unveiled the new ‘Victory Lap’ remix at the show. Where did that come from?
Hanumankind: Shout out to Fred, first and foremost. He’s a fucking G. He randomly fucking texted me being like, ‘Yo, what’s happening on your side of the world, bro?’ I was like, ‘Dude, what’s happening with me? What’s happening with you bro?!’ I’d heard the original [‘Victory Lap’] song that he did on the stream with Plaqueboymax and it was just so hard. So, when he reached out to be on the song, I was like, ‘We were just talking about it!’ I got to it just before Denzel came and bodied that hoe. These are all artists I admire deeply.
So, you’ve got a tune with Skepta, and a tune with A$AP Rocky, and one of those rappers is currently calling out the other. Where do you stand on this UK v US rap beef?
Hanumankind: I’ll tell you one thing, right? I’m just a fan of good music, and both of them clearly make fucking good music. I’m a hip-hop head, and I’m living in India. I’m blessed to be able to say I’m on tunes with both of them. For me, it’s about making good music, whatever comes on the back of [this beef], I’m just here to witness it.
Very diplomatic.
Hanumankind: You’ll see it when I pick my sides, brother.
You’ve clearly got some great features under your belt already. Who’s the dream collaboration?
Hanumankind: There’s so many, bro. When it comes to current times, just seeing what Pusha and Malice are doing with Clipse is fire. But I’m definitely also in the zone to try out some different energy. Throwing out different names out there, I really like Tame Impala. I think their energy, with what I can bring, would be beautiful. Then, obviously the Kendrick and J. Cole features are up there. But, in time, bro. Everything in time.
Monsoon Season is out now.
