Across Maharashtra, the rise of hip hop has drawn attention to urban neighbourhoods and forgotten settlements, giving young performers a way to narrate what official records often overlook. In Vidarbha, a region better known for agriculture and industrial contrasts, a quieter yet firm current of rap is taking shape.

The voices here do not echo the cityscapes of Mumbai or Delhi but the lanes of Amravati, Chandrapur and Nagpur, where lyrics carry traces of local life, hardship and self-definition.

These artists are developing a body of work that blends the rhythms of the global genre with the speech and sentiment of their home ground. The scene remains small, but its presence is increasingly clear.

1. 100RBH: Amravati’s Assertive Voice

Saurabh Abhyankar, known by his stage name 100RBH, was raised in Amravati and began recording rap tracks in his late teens. His songs in Hindi and Marathi combine district slang with social subjects and urban commentary. Before reaching a national audience, he had already been performing in small venues and uploading independent tracks online. His later participation in televised competitions gave him wider exposure.

In early 2022, his work was noticed by a Mumbai-based hip hop label, which signed him for multiple releases. His videos began appearing on streaming platforms and youth-focused music channels. Many of his tracks carry a mixture of personal narrative and references to community challenges. Some verses describe neighbourhood experiences, while others highlight unemployment and limited access to creative infrastructure in towns away from metropolitan centres.

The artist uses choreography alongside rap, a combination that makes his live sets more performative than most independent acts. His approach remains consistent across platforms, whether it is an online release or a collaborative appearance. Interviews have noted that he aims to retain Amravati’s name in his music because it grounds his artistic identity. His social media pages identify his origin and link it to the term Vidarbha, making regional affiliation part of his signature.

The use of bilingual lyrics expands his listener base. Lines in Marathi carry local resonance while Hindi verses ensure accessibility across states. The structure of his music videos reflects a practical understanding of production limits common in small-city creative work. Simple camera setups, single-location shoots and self-edited visuals defined his early years, before professional studios began handling distribution.

In his own statements, he has said that rap allows him to speak in a direct tone that reflects daily frustration rather than abstract politics. This factual approach aligns with his audience, most of whom come from working-class backgrounds. The influence of American hip hop remains visible, but the subjects remain local. By the middle of 2023, his tracks had crossed a million combined views online, indicating an expanding reach beyond regional circles.

2. Raptoli: Collective Expression from Amravati

While 100RBH represents individual ambition, the group Raptoli demonstrates collective organisation within the same region. The group was founded by rapper Vipin Tatad along with members Mangesh Ingole, Gaurav Ingole and Tausif Khan. The name Raptoli refers to a colony in Amravati known for dense, low-income housing. The artists describe their neighbourhood as the basis of their lyrical work.

Raptoli’s music often documents lived conditions in marginal areas, particularly issues of caste discrimination, housing shortage and gendered labour. Their earliest releases were filmed in the streets where they grew up, featuring local residents as part of the visual narrative. The group gained attention through performances at university events and public discussions around culture and inequality.

The track “Meri Gali Ki Samasya” became a reference point for independent hip hop listeners in 2018. The lyrics described civic neglect and frustration over sanitation, employment and safety. Later songs maintained the same tone but expanded subjects to include migration and substance abuse. The writing follows a documentary style rather than metaphor or stylisation, which gives the content journalistic weight.

Members of the group have stated in recorded interviews that they write what they see, not what they imagine. This principle keeps their songs grounded in evidence rather than perception. Raptoli’s performances are often accompanied by visual installations created with minimal resources, such as handheld cameras and mobile lighting. Their decision to retain local language varieties in lyrics instead of adopting neutral Hindi gives the group a specific identity within the wider scene.

The group’s digital presence has grown slowly but consistently. Their social pages highlight workshops, collaborations with cultural collectives and appearances in social justice events. While they have not yet entered mainstream radio circulation, their reach has expanded through online channels and campus circuits. Several cultural commentators have cited Raptoli as an example of hip hop’s social potential beyond entertainment.

The regional context of Vidarbha shapes their tone. Economic disparity, agricultural stress and limited state support form recurring backdrops to their storytelling. Their insistence on using the word Vidarbha in songs connects them with a larger sense of belonging that extends beyond city boundaries.

3. Swaggy Ash: A Voice from Chandrapur

In Chandrapur, a city associated with coal production and environmental strain, another rap voice has emerged in the form of Swaggy Ash. His material differs in tone from the politically charged Amravati groups, focusing instead on identity and representation. His digital tracks such as “Vidarbhache Potte” and “Chandrapur Anthem” speak about pride in regional culture, industrial landscapes and small-town youth life.

Swaggy Ash began releasing singles independently before they appeared on digital music stores. His initial uploads gained traction through short video platforms where snippets of his songs circulated widely among Marathi-speaking audiences. The use of simple beats and repetition made his verses easy to recall, helping them spread without formal marketing.

His online presence reflects an understanding of digital branding. Visuals feature local landmarks, railway stations and coalfields, reinforcing the sense of place. The consistent appearance of Vidarbha in titles and lyrics marks his attempt to claim representation for his part of Maharashtra within Indian hip hop. The framing is self-conscious but not decorative. It positions his locality as a space of creative legitimacy rather than obscurity.

The production quality of his work improved after 2023 as local sound engineers and videographers collaborated with him. Each release retains the linguistic texture of Marathi speech patterns while maintaining accessible rhythm patterns that align with popular rap structures. His stage performances include school and college festivals across Chandrapur district.

In 2025, his single “Chandrapur” was released on streaming services, giving him international listing access for the first time. The themes of the song revolve around aspiration and the routine of industrial workers. Although limited in scale, his career reflects a model of independent growth driven by consistent self-promotion and community identification.

For many listeners in the region, his songs act as recognition of everyday life rarely represented in mainstream entertainment. This makes Swaggy Ash an important link between local youth culture and the national rap ecosystem.

Artists from Vidarbha face structural challenges that differ from those encountered in larger metros. The absence of dedicated studios, limited access to event sponsorship and lack of press coverage restrict visibility.

Travel to major cities for collaborations adds cost that few independent musicians can afford. Despite these obstacles, the persistence of rappers from smaller towns continues to sustain the growth of the regional hip hop network.

The gradual presence of localised rap aligns with broader cultural changes in India. Digital distribution allows musicians to bypass physical labels, reaching listeners directly through streaming platforms. Affordable recording technology and mobile internet have transformed production and promotion, reducing dependence on traditional intermediaries.

Yet, the challenge of recognition remains. National awards and mainstream playlists still focus largely on artists based in Mumbai or Delhi. For rappers from Vidarbha, the route to acknowledgement relies on sustained consistency, online visibility and audience loyalty rather than large-scale media backing.

The three acts highlighted here share a commitment to authenticity within their limited infrastructure. Their content documents social reality, identity and aspiration without adopting metropolitan vocabulary. Each has created an imprint that positions Vidarbha within the growing cartography of Indian hip hop.

The rap movement in Vidarbha demonstrates how artistic forms migrate and adapt across geography. 100RBH from Amravati shows the potential of individual drive meeting opportunity. Raptoli represents collaborative social awareness built on community roots. Swaggy Ash in Chandrapur reflects small-town ambition shaped by local imagery.

Together, they indicate that cultural production in the region no longer depends solely on external validation. Their output affirms that rap can exist as record, assertion and creative expression grounded in specific realities. The space they occupy may be modest, but it signals a growing participation of Vidarbha in the contemporary soundscape of Indian music.