Bombay Lokal: These real-life gully boys help performers find their voice

Bombay Lokal emcees recently collaborated with artists in London as they have a sizeable audience there

In a middle-income neighbourhood in Mumbai, a group of youngsters stands in a circle. Two begin to beatbox and the others take turns to rap, freestyle. About being poor. Being Muslim. And about living in a disenfranchised Mumbai suburb.

Meet Bombay Lokal, the hip hop collective from Mumbai’s Nalasopara. The original Gully Boys now made famous by the eponymous 2019 Bollywood film, this bunch of desi rappers doesn’t just perform to entertain. They want to raise social and political awareness among the youth and provide recognition to the street culture of Mumbai.

Founded in 2017 by Aamir Shaikh, known in