Divine: Delhi is one of my favourite cities to perform live!

Mumbai based rapper Divine talks about his last album, Gunehgar, addressing social issues like hunger and poverty through his music, the positive impact his music has had on fans and how the upcoming concert in Delhi will be full of surprises for Divine’s devoted fanbase

Divine is looking forward to getting his fans in the Capital grooving, as he readies to take the stage at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on February 11. HT City are print partners for the concert. The rapper admits that he cannot wait to take the stage: “Delhi has been one of my favourite cities to perform live. I get so much love there.” He promises that his “fans can definitely expect some new surprises during the show”.

Divine will perform in the Capital on Feb 11

The 32-year-old’s latest album, Gunehgar, like most of his other releases, addresses social issues like hunger and poverty. With lyrics that often focus on pressing social issues, the rapper’s music has had a profound impact on the youth.

“Something that’s really important for me is hunger, especially for kids and people who come from underprivileged backgrounds and don’t have families to take care of them, their food, education. That’s something that’s been close to me,” he says.

“I never expected my music to inspire so many people. There have been many instances where people have told me that my music helped them get through difficult times. A subject that’s important to me is hunger, which is prevalent among kids and people from underprivileged backgrounds,” he adds.

Despite the awareness to create socially relevant lyrics, his creative process when writing and recording new music, Divine says, can vary.

“Sometimes the sample inspires me, sometimes the beat, sometimes the situation leads me to write something. I wouldn’t say that there is one particular process, it’s usually a mix and match. But something I definitely lead with is my instinct and gut feeling about things in music,” he says.

There was a long gap between Gunehgar and his albums before that. Divine explains, “I took some time with this one because of the pandemic. Also, it took a while to hone the album creatively.”

Besides love and applause, artistes are also subjected to negative feedback and criticism when they release projects. Ask how he handles that, and the rapper says, “Criticism and praise should be taken with a pinch of salt. You can’t get swayed in either direction. It’s part and parcel of when you’re putting out something to the world. Some accept it, some love it, some hate it, some are indifferent, so that’s part of the game.”

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