Straight Outta Mumbai: Exploring Informality and Innovation in Dharavi’s Hip-Hop Industry

Abstract

Situated in the heart of Mumbai, Dharavi is one of the largest slums in the world and home to a burgeoning rap and hip-hop movement. Driven by dissatisfaction with living with poverty, crime and corruption, young rappers and producers have emerged out of Dharavi, employing multilingual vernacular to convey the many struggles of living in the slums. They personify the concept of innovation at the margins by improvising effective solutions using limited resources—the quintessentially Indian philosophy of jugaad. Based on fieldwork and semi-structured interviews conducted in Dharavi, this study explores the innovative entrepreneurial activities that have emerged due to a lack of institutional and infrastructural support. The study found, first, that the underground rap culture is increasingly being validated as a creative outlet in Indian society, with consumers across socio-economic classes. Second, user innovation through the employment of jugaad in production, cheap technology and intrinsic motivation are some of the key factors behind this flourishing culture. And finally, informal practices in the face of financial constraints have given way to innovative entrepreneurial activities, such as hip-hop schools, DIY record labels, studios, cyphers and tours aimed at creating a sustainable ecosystem of hip-hop culture in the streets of Dharavi.