Hanumankind Brings Indian Identity to the Forefront of Hip-Hop in the Bay Area

As someone who grew up searching for crumbs of representation in Western music, this wasn’t the night I was expecting to finally find it. When Sanskar Savvy invited me to cover Hanumankind’s Bay Area show, I was excited. I went with my younger brother and a friend, and in the days leading up to the concert, we kept circling the same question: what would it be like to see a rapper from India command a U.S. stage? I knew I would see the representation, but I didn’t expect to feel it in the way I’d been hoping for my whole life. Growing up, we never imagined a moment like this. We went in as fans expecting a memorable show, but it left an impact far beyond what we anticipated, lingering long after the night ended.

Sold Out Stage in the Bay Area

The venue was sold out, which already felt surreal. Growing up, we didn’t see Indian artists headline rooms like that in global hip-hop spaces. And it wasn’t just our community in the crowd; it was everyone. Different backgrounds, different cultures, all there for the man with a unique story, representing India in a way we hadn’t seen before.

The energy in the room was tangible. We were all on the same high, jumping, waving, and hyping each other up. The bass was hard enough to feel in your chest, the lights and fog perfectly added to the moment, and even in an intimate venue with no over-the-top visuals, Hanumankind held the entire room in his grasp. With just his presence and talent, he captivated the audience, making every person feel like part of the performance.

The Malayalam Moment

He performed every song we had hoped for, including his biggest tracks “Genghis,” “Go To Sleep,” “Run It Up,” and of course, “Big Dawgs.” Every song was a hit, and the energy never dropped, but the “Ayyayyo” performance was one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of the night. It’s a Malayalam track by a Malayalam artist that he’s featured on alongside other Malayalam artists, and none of us expected to hear it in the Bay. Hearing that song live, with the crowd screaming with excitement and shouting the lyrics back word for word, felt surreal. 

For the first time in my life, in a crowd filled with people from completely different backgrounds, I felt like the artist on stage was speaking directly to me. I felt like I was part of who the music was made for.

Representation and Responsibility

Hanumankind fills so many of us with pride. Not just because he’s seeing massive success, but because of how he’s doing it. He doesn’t separate his Indian identity from the rest of who he is, but chooses it as his anchor as he grows as an artist and a person. He raps in Malayalam, talks about Kerala with pride, and shows up exactly as himself. His first show ever in the US was Coachella, an incredible achievement in itself, but I remember how proud we were when he used that opportunity to bring out Chenda drummers from Kerala and use that stage to show the world our culture. And every time, instead of alienating the room, it pulls everyone in.

At one point during the show, he paused and said something along the lines of, “We’re just some idiots who made music, and somehow we’ve been given the crown of representation. We could choose not to wear it, but we choose to take on that responsibility.” I’ve replayed that line in my head more than any song from the set. I’ve grown up watching artists, even South Asian artists, have the opportunity to represent and default to saying, “We’re all one,” or “Music crosses borders.” And while that’s true, it felt like a way to avoid taking on that responsibility. If you’ve been given the chance to represent your people and your culture, why wouldn’t you? Hearing him acknowledge that responsibility rather than sidestep it meant more to us than we had expected. And he manages to do it in a way that doesn’t erase differences but unifies and celebrates them.

Small Moments That Matter

There were small moments during that that were just as impactful as the big ones. Before performing, he touched the stage out of respect. He thanked the audience with a namaskaram. None of it felt staged or unnatural. It was just who he was, the same as so many members of the audience who were so proud to see it.

He was recovering from last year’s surgery after tearing his ACL, but you wouldn’t have known it from the energy he had the entire night. And when the show ended, even though he was clearly exhausted and injured, he stayed to sign posters, take photos, and talk to as many fans as he could.

Hanumankind’s Impact

That night we left his show, repeating the same thing over and over. He represents us so well. Growing up, we hadn’t seen representation like this: not in spaces like that, and not from someone who names it so directly. Watching Hanumankind stand on that stage, fully himself and fully aware of what it means, was healing in a way. This is especially true for my brother, a teenage boy growing up between an Indian family and an American upbringing, who could finally see himself reflected in a genre where Indian artists have rarely been at the forefront in Western spaces.

It was an incredible performance, but the impact he had was much greater. That night, I walked away a lifelong fan. His success is personal, but it also signals a larger shift for South Asian and Indian hip-hop, showing that artists from our community can headline, lead, and unify audiences on a global stage. In so many ways, he is the epitome of what we strive for at Sanskar Savvy: to Celebrate, Explore, Connect! through experiences, culture, and artists, bringing people together across all differences. And if this tour is any indication, Hanumankind is only just getting started. He’s definitely OTW to something much bigger.

To see clips from the concert, visit our Instagram!

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