Divine (rapper)
DIVINE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Vivian Fernandes |
| Born | Andheri, Maharashtra, India |
| Origin | Mumbai, India |
| Genres | Hip hop, rap |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, lyricist, actor |
| Years active | 2010-present |
| Labels | Universal Music India, Mass Appeal Records India, , Sony Music India |
| Associated acts | Sidhu Moose Wala, Naezy, Nucleya, Deep Jandu, Raja Kumari, Krsna, Jass Manak, Nas, Onefour, Dutchavelli, Pusha T, Raftaar, |
Vivian Fernandes, better known by his stage name Divine, is an Indian rapper from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He started to gain popularity after the release of his song "Yeh Mera Bombay" (2013). He broke through with the release of his song "Mere Gully Mein" featuring fellow Mumbai rapper Naezy. On 12 December 2020, Divine became the first Indian rapper to be featured on Spotify Times Square billboard in New York City for his album Punya Paap, which had claimed the top spot on Apple Music India.[1]
Career[]
Early years[]
Divine started his career as an underground rapper in 2011 after discovering hip hop on a T-shirt. A friend of his wore a T-shirt of 50 Cent's first album Get Rich or Die Tryin' at school. The same friend would give him his first MP3 CD with hip hop music on it which inspired him to start rapping in English.[2] He was part of the hip hop crew Mumbai's Finest. He often raps about his own life experiences, such as the life of the poor people in Mumbai and his upbringing with a single mother. He cites American rappers such as Nas, Eminem, Big L, Tupac, 50 Cent and Rakim as his influences.[2]
Rise to success[]
Following the release of his song "Yeh Mera Bombay", Divine obtained the attention of Sony Music India[3] while performing at the Blue Frog Festival 2014 in Mumbai, and shortly after signed a contract with them. The song later won the Best Video of the Year award by Rolling Stone India that same year. He released his breakout single "Mere Gully Main" featuring Naezy on 16 April 2015. The song went viral and many Bollywood celebrities shared it on social media.[4] He collaborated with Indian DJ Nucleya on Nucleya's album Bass Rani, which helped him gain even more popularity. The song won Best EDM track of the Year at the GIMA Awards in 2015.
On 24 March 2016, his debut solo single "Jungli Sher" was released and it ruled the charts because of its raw depiction of the life of the poor in Mumbai. He took the song to the Breakfast Show ahead of BBC Asian Network Live on 29 April 2016. He appeared on the BBC Asian Network on the Charlie Sloth Show; he was the first Hindi-speaking rapper to freestyle on the show and also the first to rap in Hindi with the name-giving host in attendance. He was also featured on Brapp TV.[5]
Divine also collaborated with Nucleya on another hit track, "Scene Kya Hai" off Nucleya's album Raja Baja. He was featured on "Daru Daru" with Deep Jandu and Gangis Khan, his first commercially oriented song, which came out on 10 January 2017. His next solo single, "Farak", was released on 16 February 2017 and topped the Indipop charts on iTunes India.[6]
He appeared as a feature on the record City Slums by Indian-American rapper/singer/songwriter Raja Kumari in May 2017. The song received 2 million views on YouTube within 24 hours of its release.[7]
In 2018, Divine terminated his contract with Sony Music India. He released a remix to Lil Pump's "Gucci Gang" called "Gully Gang" independently on 18 January 2018. The song was perceived well by both critics and fans and helped him garner more attention. On 5 April 2018, he followed up with "One Side" produced by Byg Byrd. The video was produced by Red Bull Media House and came out on the rapper's own YouTube channel.
His next single, "Teesri Manzil", earned him a copyright strike from Zee Music Company a few hours after its release and was deleted from his channel. It was eventually re-released on 14 December 2018 with some changes in the lyrics. He released "Junoon", the intro to his upcoming first full-length album, on 10 November 2018. The album's name, Kohinoor, was announced on 13 February 2019 on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio show hosted by Ebro Darden. The album release was announced to be sometime in April 2019 but was finally released later. In July 2019, Divine released a documentary film about his career so far entitled Gully Life - The story of Divine. It first aired on TV on channels such as the Discovery Channel and was released on Divine's YouTube channel a week later.[8]
On 20 August 2019, Nas' Mass Appeal Records and Universal Music India launched Mass Appeal India and signed Divine. Universal Music Group and Mass Appeal jointly took the step to take him to India and globalize the Indian hip-hop scene.[9] On 20 August 2019, in an interview with Nas published on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel,[10] and Universal Music India's Facebook Page,[11] Nas revealed that Divine's debut album Kohinoor was set to release soon. It was released on 9 October 2019 and features all-new tracks recorded specifically for the album.
In 2021, GQ's global editions nominated a local artist across a world of genres and Divine was among the 21 most exciting young musicians.[12] Divine appeared on a cover of the Metallica song "The Unforgiven" with Vishal Dadlani and Shor Police, for the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021.
In 2021, Divine won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Indian Act.
Film contributions[]
Divine made his Bollywood debut for the film Mukkabaaz with the song "Paintra". The track was another collaboration with Nucleya and was released on 1 December 2017. He collaborated with famous Indian music director and singer Amit Trivedi for the Irrfan Khan-starring film Blackmail on the song "Badla", which was released on 16 March 2018 via T-Series. Divine also contributed to the soundtrack for Sacred Games,[13][14] an Indian Netflix original series. It features his song "Jungli Sher" as well as "Kaam 25" produced by Indo-Canadian producer Phenom, which was made specifically for the series. Its music video was released on 14 June 2018 on both Divine's and Netflix's YouTube channels, with the version on Netflix featuring English subtitles.
Divine most notably contributed to the soundtrack of Gully Boy by Zoya Akhtar, a 2019 film inspired by the lives of Naezy and himself, with Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles. Divine and Naezy both helped as consultants to get an authentic representation of hip hop culture for the film. Their song "Mere Gully Mein" was remade with Ranveer Singh rapping Naezy's lyrics as part of the film. Divine provided additional rap lyrics for Ranveer Singh's character and composed some of the songs for the original soundtrack. A promotional single featuring American artist Nas as well as Naezy, Divine and Ranveer Singh was released on JioSaavn shortly prior to the film's release.
Punya Paap[]
On 20 September 2020 Divine appeared on the international remix of "Bando Diaries" by UK rapper Dutchavelli alongside OneFour from Australia, Noizy from Albania and Kekra from France. On 23 September 2020 he released his new song and video, "Punya Paap", on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel. It was announced to be the first single off his second album, also entitled Punya Paap.
On 16 October 2020 he released "Mirchi", the second single from the album. The song with its prominent baile funk sound was well received with over 8 million views on YouTube in five days
Another track from the album, "Mera Bhai", had its music video launched on 6 November 2020. The animated video portrays a story where one of Divine's childhood friends betrays him out of jealousy, and end with Divine's message to the listeners to trust no one but themselves in today's world.
His second album, Punya Paap, was released on 3 December 2020, under the label Mass Appeal India. It consists of 11 tracks, with features from Nas, Cocoa Sarai, Dutchavelli, Stylo G, D' Evil, MC Altaf, Lisa Mishra and Phenom. The album has a blend of old school 808 patterns and new heavy, trap-hop beats with a lot of sampled loops, produced by some of the finest producers from the Indian rap scene, including Stunnah Beats, Ill Wayno, and Karan Kanchan. The album has an overall ominous theme, and chronicles Divine's struggles and rise to the top in the Indian hip hop scene.
Divine took to Instagram Live to host a listening party of the album's tracks over Spotify, which was attended in large numbers. He also released more music videos that dropped in the subsequent days.
Gully Gang Entertainment[]
In February 2019 Divine announced the founding of a new company, , a record label to recruit and produce hip hop talent in the Mumbai area.[15] The song "Gully Gang Cypher"[16] released on 22 May 2019 as the first collaboration of the label's artists such as the emerging rap quartet Aavrutti, solo hip-hop artists D’Evil, MC Altaf and Shah RuLe as well as music producer Karan Kanchan.[17][18]
Discography[]
Albums[]
- Kohinoor (2019)
| Song | Performed by | Written by | Produced by |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Kohinoor" | Divine | Divine, Benny Solomon | iLL Wayno |
| "Wallah" | Divine, Shah Rule | Divine, Phenom, Xplicit | Xplicit, Phenom |
| "Gandhi Money" | Divine | Divine, Phenom | Phenom |
| "Nas Interlude (Skit)" | Divine, Nas | Divine, Nas, Phenom | Phenom |
| "Vibe Hai" | Divine, Aavrutti, , Shah Rule | Divine, D'Evil, Frenzzy, NDS, Saifan, Sammohit, Shah Rule, Sledge | NDS |
| "Chal Bombay" | Divine | Divine, iLL Wayno, Phenom | Phenom, iLL Wayno |
| "Remand" | Divine, Dave East | Divine, Dave East, Phenom | Phenom |
| "Too Hype" | Divine, Sanjoy, Sid Sriram | Divine, Julian De Grosso, , Sanjoy, Sid Sriram, Zach Cirino | Sanjoy |
- Punya Paap (2020)
| Song | Performed by | Written by | Produced by |
|---|---|---|---|
| "3:59 AM" | Divine | Divine, Bruno Coulais, Christophe Barratier, Divine, Stunnah Beatz | Stunnah Beatz |
| "Mera Bhai" | Divine | Divine, Karan Kanchan | Karan Kanchan |
| "Walking Miracle" | Divine, Nas, Cocao Sarai | Divine, Nas, Cocoa Sarai, ill Wayno | Ill Wayno |
| "Satya" | Divine | Divine, Gulzar, Karan Kanchan, Vishal | Karan Kanchan |
| "Mirchi" | Divine, MC Altaf, Phenom, Stylo G | Divine, MC Altaf, Phenom, Stylo G | Phenom |
| "Disco Rap" | Divine, MC Altaf, D’Evil | Divine, MC Altaf, D’Evil, Karan Kanchan, NDS | Karan Kanchan, NDS |
| "Shehnai" | Divine | Divine, Stunnah Beatz, Byrd | Stunnah Beatz, Byrd |
| "Rider" | Divine, Lisa Mishra | Divine, Lisa Mishra, Shah Rule, Kanch, Stunnah Beatz, Kyle Sremberger | Kanch, Stunnah Beatz |
| "Top 5 D.O.A." | Divine | Divine, Stunnah Beatz | Stunnah Beatz |
| "Drill Karte" | Divine, Dutchavelli | Divine, Dutchvelli, Stunnah Beatz | Stunnah Beatz |
| "Punya Paap" | Divine | Divine, ill Wayno | Ill Wayno |
Singles[]
| Year | Track | Artist(s) | Producer | Additional note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Voice of the Streets" | Divine | ||
| "Yeh Mera Bombay" | Divine | Rjv Ernesto, Sez On The Beat | ||
| 2014 | "ABE" | Divine, Sikandar Kahlon, B Meeks | ||
| 2015 | "Mere Gully Mein" | Divine, Naezy | Sez On The Beat | |
| "Jungle Raja" | Divine, Nucleya | Nucleya | ||
| "Ryder Music" | Divine, Sikandar Kahlon | |||
| 2016 | "Jungli Sher" | Divine | Sez On The Beat | |
| "Mitra Da Swag" | Divine, Sikandar Kahlon, Gangis Khan, Deep Jandu | Deep Jandu | ||
| "Farak" | Divine | Brap TV | ||
| "Scene Kya Hai" | Divine, Nucleya | Nucleya | ||
| 2017 | "Daru Daru" | Divine, Deep Jandu, Gangis Khan | Deep Jandu | |
| "Farak" | Divine | Phenom | ||
| "City Slums" | Raja Kumari, Divine | Beat Busta, Jules Wolfson | ||
| 2018 | "Gully Gang (Gucci Gang Remix)" | Divine | Cyrill Gabriel (Madbus Audio) | |
| "One Side" | Divine | Byg Byrd | ||
| "Roots" | Divine, Raja Kumari | K-Major | ||
| "Teesri Manzil" | Divine | Phenom | ||
| "Junoon (Intro)" | Divine | Phenom | ||
| 2019 | "Age 19" | Jass Manak, Divine | Deep Jandu | From the album Age 19 by Jass Manak |
| "Bombay To Punjab" | Deep Jandu, Divine | Deep Jandu | From the album Bombay To Punjab by Deep Jandu | |
| 2020 | "Nahi Pata" | Frenzzy, Sammohit, Shah Rule, Divine | Xplicit | Gully Gang feature |
| "Chaabi Wala Bandar (Quality Control)" | Divine | Stunnah Beatz | ||
| "Sach Bol Patta" | Divine | Stunnah Beatz | ||
| "Bas Kya Ba" | 7Bantaiz, D’Evil, Divine | DRJ Sohail | Gully Gang feature | |
| "Bag" | Divine, KR$NA | NDS, Stunnah Beatz & Progression Music | ||
| "Bandana" Gang[19] | Divine, Sikander Kahlon | Xplicit, Stunnah Beatz | ||
| 2021 | "Don't Forgive Me" | Shah Rule, Divine | Stunnah Beatz | From Shah Rule's Hooked EP |
| "Moosedrilla" | Sidhu Moosewala, Divine | Sidhu Moosewala | From Moosetape | |
| "Spicy (Freeverse)" | Divine | Hit - Boy | ||
| "Bach Ke Rehna" | Divine, Badshah, Jonita Gandhi, Mikey McCleary | Mikey McCleary | For Movie Red Notice |
Promotional tracks[]
| Year | Song | Artist(s) | Producer(s) | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Shuffle" | Divine, Siri Narayan | Sid Vashi | Bacardi Breezer Vivid |
| "Suede Gully" | Mukti Mohan, Divine, Khasi Bloodz, Prabh Deep, Madurai Souljours | Sneha Khanwalkar | PUMA | |
| 2018 | "Kaam 25" | Divine | Adarsh shrivastav | Sacred Games TV series |
| 2019 | "NY Se Mumbai" | Nas, Divine, Naezy, Ranveer Singh | XD Pro, iLL Wayno | Gully Boy film |
| "Be a King" | Divine, Siri Narayan | Budweiser Experiences | ||
| "Chakravyuh mein #SockThem" | Divine | Karan Kanchan, Divine | PUMA | |
| "Legends" | Divine, Aditi Ramesh | Karan Kanchan | Red Bull BC One | |
| 2020 | "Salaam" | Divine, D’Evil | Karan Kanchan | A Gully Gang and Budweiser Oneteam initiative to support the frontline warriors fighting COVID-19 |
| 2021 | "Jungle Mantra" | Divine, Vince Staples, Pusha T | Karan Kanchan | The White Tiger Netflix film |
| "Kuch Karne Ka" | DIVINE | Karan Kanchan | HP |
Playback singer[]
| Year | Film | Song | Singer(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Rum | "Pori Pathi Vizhum" | Anirudh Ravichander, Diwakar, Divine | Vijaya Raghavendra |
| 2018 | Mukkabaaz | "Paintra" | Divine | Nucleya |
| Blackmail | "Badla" | Amit Trivedi, Divine | Kiran Das | |
| 2019 | Gully Boy | "Apna Time Aayega" (as lyricist) | Ranveer Singh | Dub Sharma, Divine |
| Azadi | Divine | Dub Sharma, Divine | ||
| Sher Aya Sher | Chandrashekar Kunder | |||
| Mere Gully Mein | Ranveer Singh, Divine, Naezy | Sez On The Beat | ||
| Doori (as lyricist) | Ranveer Singh | Rishi Rich |
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Song | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rolling Stone India | Best Video Award | "Yeh Mera Bombay" | Won | [20] |
| 2015 | GIMA Awards | Best EDM Track of the Year | "Jungle Raja (Bass Rani)" by Nucleya | Won | [21] |
| 2020 | 65th Filmfare Awards | Best Lyrics | "Apna Time Aayega" (Gully Boy) with Ankur Tiwari | Won | [22] |
Documentaries[]
- Gully Life: Story of Divine. 2019 documentary, Discovery Channel, 50 min.[23]
References[]
- ^ "Divine Becomes the First Indian Rapper to Feature on New York's Times Square Billboard". India West. IANS. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ a b "HT Brunch cover story: What makes 'gully boy' Divine the coolest voice of contemporary Indian hip-hop". Hindustan Times. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ Karkare, Aakash. "2017: The year when Indian hip-hop cemented its place on the music charts". Quartz India. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ "Will Mumbai rapper Divine become JB Nagar's Slumdog Millionaire?". Mid Day. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ "This hip-hop artist, who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, is going to London to perform on a BBC Radio show". DNA India. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Mumbai Rapper Divine's Biographical Song Jungli Sher's Video Shot Completely On iPhones Is Taking Over The Internet". IndiaTimes. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ City Slums - Raja Kumari ft. Divine | Official Video, retrieved 8 June 2020|date=November 2017}}
- ^ Gully Life – The Story of Divine (Full Movie), retrieved 16 November 2019
- ^ "Divine is taking Indian Hip-Hop Scene Global with Mass Appeal India". LyricsMINT. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "The Divine & Nas Interview".
- ^ "Universal Music India - Nas and Divine's interview".
- ^ "Mumbai's DIVINE is among the 21 most exciting young musicians on Planet Earth". GQ India. 10 August 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Saif Ali Khan to star in Netflix series Sacred Games". Hindustan Times. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Sacred Games First Look: An Intense Edge-Of-The-Seat Drama Awaits Viewers". BookMyShow. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "Rapper Divine Announces Gully Gang Entertainment to Record, Recruit and Produce Hip Hop Talent". News18. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Gully Gang Cypher –Aavrutti, D'Evil, Shah Rule, Karan Kanchan". YouTube. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ Tagat, Anurag (23 March 2019). "It's a wrap for BUDX". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ "Divine's Gully Gang Records Kicks Off With 'Gully Gang Cypher'". www.thewildcity.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ Bandana Gang, retrieved 22 October 2020
- ^ "Divine". Indiegaga. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "GIMA Awards 2016, 2016 Awards Function Gallery Images, GIMA Awards 2016".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Kesari lyricist Manoj Muntashir vows to boycott award shows as Filmfare Best Lyrics award goes to Gully Boy". PINKVILLA. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "Gully Life review: Discovery's documentary takes a shallow dive into Divine's life". Hindustan Times. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
External links[]
- Indian rappers
- Musicians from Mumbai
- Living people
- Filmfare Awards winners