DIVINE

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  • March 2, 2019
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  •  2/12/19: DIVINE

About DIVINE

DIVINE is an Indian rapper whose rough upbringing inspired a personal, street-centric style of hip-hop. The Oscar-nominated 2019 film Gully Boy is partially based on DIVINE’s journey to fame. • DIVINE grew up in Sahar within India’s second-largest city, Mumbai. He and his brother raised themselves in the gully—another word for ghetto. • After a friend made him a CD of American rap music, an adolescent DIVINE grew fascinated with the art form. He was influenced by 50 Cent, JAY-Z, Nas, and Big L. • After high school, DIVINE’s mother gave him a microphone, and he started recording on his computer. He began building his audience with 2013’s “Yeh Mera Bombay,” his first song rapped entirely in Hindi. • DIVINE’s music and videos achieved grassroots success. Sony Music picked up the Naezy-assisted “Mere Gully Mein” before signing DIVINE to an album deal in 2015. • While many successful Indian MCs had rapped in English and focused on material wealth, DIVINE found success rapping in Hindi and chronicling the struggles he and others witnessed. • DIVINE’s music appears on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film Gully Boy. The movie’s protagonist, played by Ranveer Singh, is partially based on DIVINE. • In 2019, DIVINE partnered his Gully Boy label with Nas’ Mass Appeal and Universal. DIVINE and Naezy teamed up with Nas for the 2019 single “NY Se Mumbai.”

HOMETOWN
India
BORN
October 2, 1990
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap

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