Meet Kaur Ratan, Ish Kaur and MC Manmeet — three Punjabi feminist rappers

Amarjot Kaur

As an expression of identity and existential crisis of New York City’s African-Americans, rap music started as an underground subculture in 1970s much before it caught up with Punjabis in mid-90s. Dominated mostly by men, the desi hip hop and Bhangra rap came from the desi community based in UK, Canada, and United States, from the likes of DDP (Dum Dum Project), Punjabi MC, Snap! vs Motivo, and RDB. It was later popularised as the mainstream, commercial music with Bohemia, Yo Yo Honey Singh, and now Badshah. Not to miss the only two women among these rappers—Hard Kaur and Nindy Kaur. 

In a day and age where feminism in India is branded, advertised, and consumed by millions, rap music (which has often come under criticism for its misogynistic content) is not far behind. MC Manmeet, Kaur Ratan, and Ish Kaur are among the Punjabi female rappers in the independent rap music scene comprising others like Sofia Ashraf, Deane Sequeira, and Deepa Unnikrishnan from Mumbai and Chennai. Unlike the male bastion, which objectifies women, and promotes gangster culture in their songs, these three Punjabi women are joining the verses of neo-feminism.

The hip hop bahu

Brought up in Chandigarh, 25-year-old MC Manmeet Kaur raps in English and is one of the known faces in the underground hip hop scene. In 2014, she released an 11-track album called The Hip Hop Bahu and performed in six cities in Europe recently. Rapping since she was 13, Manmeet moved to Mumbai in 2011. The Hip Hop Bahu was, interestingly, a poetic account of her marital journey. “I was all of 22 when I got married. My raps came straight out of the kitchen as I rolled out round paranthas. What I rap about is an honest expression what I have been through, like the track Post Wedding Blues. I was divorced soon after The Hip Hop Bahu came out,” she says. 

With 2,192 likes on her Facebook page, Kaur yearns to help the youth acknowledge the core of hip hop music. “I don’t think we require angry and furious feminist voices. We need to be the pacifiers. In 1970s too, the first hip hop block party was organised by the sister of a DJ and it was attended by women from all age groups. There, they rapped about problems in the society,” she says. 

See you on TV 

With 25,014 likes on her Facebook page, Delhi-based Ishita a.k.a Ish Kaur, 21, is one of the youngest rappers in the country. Presently studying English Honours at Delhi University, Kaur was called upon to perform in an episode of Sony TV’s Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. “I started rapping in school at the age of 14 and my parents didn’t take very kindly to it; ‘Who will marry you, now?’ was one of their biggest concerns!” she laughs. The men in the industry weren’t very supportive either. “It’s a challenge to be taken seriously, if you are a minority. I don’t think women get called at rap battles, at least I don’t! I am not looking for a ‘one-up game’ with men; I’m looking for equality,” she says. 

Ish says that out of seven rap songs she composed in seven years, only Perfect Munda went commercial. “People in the music business will tell a woman what to do, what to wear, and what to write, so that people will like your songs. They say music imitates popular culture, I say it’s otherwise. I have come up with a new independent track called Pehla Vaar, and it’s a feminist rap song!” she says.

Bold and beautiful

A marketing professional based in Gurugram, 29-year-old Kaur Ratan’s rap song has already been featured in Bohemia’s Kali Dunali Mixtape. Besides, she has also performed a self-composed rap song called Note, with Bohemia in 2016. Kaur, who raps in Punjabi, has 9,335 likes on her Facebook page.

“I started writing two or three years ago. It was on a tweet (asking for female Punjabi rappers) posted by Haji Springer where people posted my name. That’s when I got to know that people like my rap and I landed a show with Bohemia,” says Kaur. 

However, for Kaur, music is gender-neutral and so is hip hop. “I am here to make my place as an artiste. Music has no gender. For me, it’s not a man verses woman game, but if someone disses me, then I’ll answer back,” she signs off.  Watch out for her upcoming single, Kaurageous.

amarjot@tribunemail.com