Bangladeshi hip hop is a genre of music and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music developed in Bangladesh. It is heavily influenced by American hip hop, and started in the early 1990s. In recent years, artists have used lyrical expressions for cultural identity, with lyrics addressing Bangladesh's political and social problems, lifestyles, nature, cultures, and communities. Hip hop in today's era has earn great impact in Bangladesh.
History
Early Years (1993-2005)
As the pioneers of rap music in the Bengali-language music industry, Ashraf Babu and Charu released Tri-Rotner Khepa in early 1993, which was the first Bengali rap music album.[1] In the 2000s, many Bangladeshi youth showed their interest in hip hop and created such groups. In 2004, a group of eight Bangladeshis who shared a passion for rap music formed a hip-hop crew named Stoic Bliss. The group introduced Banglish, a rap fusion in Bangla rap. Stoic Bliss ventured into the music industry in Bangladesh with a goal of introducing a new genre of music. They released their first album in 2006 signing with G-Series. In 2005, an Individual rapper named Shaon Ahmed (known by Fokir Lal Miah) a Bangladeshi in USA released an album named "Quest for Glory". However the album was a flop, But Shaon Ahmed didn't gave up and released another album named “Ekla Eksho”. A week after the album was released, it recorded 30,000 units sold in less than a month period in the UK. In his hit single “Lal Ekla Eksho” he blasted a war criminal of 1971 who is also known as a prominent religious figure of Bangladesh and went under ruthless attacks and criticisms. His album changed the Bangla hip hop scene Shaon Ahmed later was recognized as "Fokir Lal" by peoples, This led a number of studios to feel interest of making hip hop albums.[2]
The Rising Era (2006-2018)
Stoic Bliss debut album named "Light Years Ahead" with G-Series sold over 250,000 copies within 10 months,[3]leaving a major impact on the rise of hip hop in Bangladesh. In 2006, Deshi MCs was formed. Who introduced the Banglish Gangsta hip hop. In that same year, they released their first named "Banned 1.0", which became a huge success, one of the album's songs named "Genjam" spread all around and quickly became one of the most replayed songs on the radio. At this point, hip hop was quickly rising in Bangladesh, especially among students. From 2007 to 2010, Many hip hop groups in Bangladesh were being formed. Bangla hip hop and rap was also gaining millions of views on YouTube and Internet. Uptown Lokolz was also a Bangladeshi hip hop group who gained an immense amount of frame. They released their first album name "Kahini Scene Paat [Explicit]". The most notable song from that album was "Ai Mama Ai" which was well received worldwide. Many Rappers popularity from different groups spread and started to attend live radio.[4] In 2009, Grand T became the first Bangladeshi rapper to do an international collaboration from Bangladesh. Many Bangla hip hop albums at that time was succeeding sales wise. In 2010, a Bangladeshi hip hop group called Theology of Rap (T.O.R.) released an album named "Hip Hop Jaati" which was a great success.[5] This band was formed in 2005, but started getting popularity when a Bangladeshi rapper The Grand T joined in 2008. In 2011, T.O.R. released "Hip Hop Jaati 2.0" which was a collaboration from different group artists like Uptown Lokolz, Thugz of Dhaka, Mc Shaq from Deshi MCs etc.[6]Hip hop was at that stage already became a noticeable genre in Bangla music. In 2014, MC Mugz from Deshi MCs and Shafayet from RHG joined the Jalali Set. In 2015 they released a song named "Sura Target" which eventually got viral on internet.[7] This let Jalali Set to acquire a lot of frame. Soon they released their first album named "Level 13" which end up being one of the most successful debut album for any Bangladeshi hip hop group.[8] One of the song named "Bonobasher Shadon" gone down as one of the most iconic Bangla rap song. In 2017, Both Stoic Bliss and Deshi MCs, who were not releasing an album for long made a comeback in mainstream with new songs.[9] Especially Deshi MCs who put a last diss track named " BODYBAGS" on their opponent rival Uptown Lokolz and Stoic Bliss who were having a beef with them since Skibkhan made a diss track on Kazi in 2010.[10] in 2018, Many rap songs on internet went viral which made Bangla hip hop gain a more widespread audience.
The Prime Era (2019-present)
In 2019, G-Series released a song named "Maaf Koira Den Bhai" which got to #1 in the Bangladesh YouTube trending tab.[11]G-Series, who were unaware of making new Bangla hip hop songs for years, saw the great response and thought about continuing to make new Bangla hip hop songs. In 2020, They came out with "Taka De" and "Kotha Kon Thik Na Bethik" which also went viral as it was targeting the corruption in Bangladesh.[12][13] In 2019, an artist named GxP aka Rakib made song named "Khagojer Note" which was also an anti-corruption song and that went viral on internet soon. The song reached 10 millions within 3 years which marked GxP to be the most successful Bangla rapper at debut of Bangla rapping. GxP also made more songs named Cinema, Papi, Bad Friend, Porikkha, No Gap, Ajob Duniya, Atonko, Golmaal, Chena Sohor. Which all combined reached 20 million views. However GxP aka Rakib thought of leaving hip hop and be religious to choose the faith path. As music is haram in Islam, he decided to erase all his songs in YouTube and posted a text in Facebook saying he will leave hip hop and follow the path of Islam.[14]Many people appreciated his decision as a Muslim. MC SHFN is another notable underground rapper to emerge in the 2020s, releasing two extended plays and a studio album between 2023 and 2024.[15]
In 2004, Queens based Bangladeshi hip hop group Stoic Bliss was formed.[16] They first introduced Banglish (Bangla-English), a rap fusion in Bangla rap. Stoic Bliss was the first to introduce hip-hop to Bangladesh through blogs before social media existed quickly gaining popularity in the underground music scene in Bangladesh. Their debut album Lights Years Ahead was released in Bangladesh under the G-Series banner in June 2006.[17] The single "Abar Jigay" from their first album gave the group its notability among the Bengali community. The Light Years Ahead album sold well over 250,000 copies within the first 10 months, making Stoic Bliss an emerging mainstream music group in Bangladesh.[3]
Deshi MCs
Dhaka based crew Deshi MCs was formed in 2006. MC Shaq, Xplosive, and Skibkhan were the founding members. Later, another member, Mc Mugz, joined the group. They first introduced gangsta rap to the Bangladeshi culture. In 2006, they released their first studio album named Banned.[9] They are known as the pioneers of Banglish Gangsta Rap.
Uptown Lokolz
Another crew from Dhaka City named Uptown Lokolz founded by Taurra Safa and Black Zang was formed in 2008. In the same year, they released their first album, "Kahini Scene Paat [Explicit]".The single "Ai Mama Ai" from their first album was well received nationwide.[18][19]
Jalali Set
Jalali Set is one of the finest Hip hop crew from the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The rappers involved are Mc Mugz, Double S, Shadhu and Jalali Shafayat. In 2015 Jalali set caught the attention of the Public by releasing their song Sura Target on YouTube.
Later in 2016 they released their album “Level 13” which got recognition for the local Sound and raw slangs of Dhaka[7]
Comilla Hip Hop Hood
Comilla Hip Hop Hood (CHH) is a hip-hop collective from Comilla. Comilla Hip Hop Hood is playing a vital role in Bangla hip hop industry since 2007. It's a collective group of Rappers, B boys, Graffiti Artist, Stunner,Beat Boxer, Composer, Vfx / Gfx Designers.[20]
