Seedhe Maut have been darlings of the Indian underground for a minute now. The two New Delhi-based rappers, Encore ABJ and Calm have re-defined Indian Hip Hop, which has been dominated by Mumbai Gully Rap ever since DIVINE blew the genre open in 2017. Their brand of Rap is witty, sharp, and often political. They don’t use traditional Hip Hop props and are the anti-bling underground poster boys. Except they are known to every serious rapper in India and have a large, fervent fan base that enables them to sell out shows across the country.

Seedhe Maut’s two studio albums, mostly produced by their long-time producer Sez on the Beat, have come to define the Indie Hip Hop genre. 2018’s Bayaan placed them firmly in the center of the conversation, and the just-released Nayaab is already being hailed as an instant classic. So, is 2022-2023 the year that Seedhe Maut blows it wide open and breaks out into the wider Asian market? We hope we can be a small part of that evolution and can’t wait to see what they do with their Jagermeister creative grant.

We’ve been a part of India’s hip-hop scene since its early days, we’ve been creating and experimenting relentlessly since then. It’s been a rollercoaster, and now we’re finally getting recognition for the music we create. We appreciate LiFTED and Jagermeister for selecting us as the ‘Next 5.’ It feels amazing to see our work get recognized, and get selected among a group of exceptional artists.

We’re going to use the grant to create more music, that’s what got us here and that’s what we want to continue doing. The Creative Grant will allow us to experiment and collaborate with more artists, without any limits. Making music has always felt fulfilling, and the best way to give back to our supportive community.

South Asia has a lot of unique voices. India itself has so many Hip Hop artists experimenting with vernacular songwriting, emerging from different parts of the country, owning their culture and their language. We’ve delved into Web3 recently with Nayaab.World. It’s allowed us to connect with our community more intimately, and give them a little extra. We plan on continuing the path we started on, with more music, and we’re really excited about our upcoming projects.

Our vision has always focused on making music that tells a story and captures experiences that have been essential to every brown kid. Whether we’re speaking of generational trauma, heartbreak, or feeling lost at a young age, we've tried to create art that stems from reality. We want to continue telling stories that have been so fundamental to us, as well as our fans. Our vision is to go bigger with the art that we put out, collab with more creators, and connect and uplift fellow artists in the Asian Hip Hop game.

We’re always working on creating new music. It’s a constant process. We have some exceptional collaborations lined up, one of them is with KSHMR. We are also focusing on expanding our Nayaab.World community by creating a platform that really helps us decentralize our community and find a way to connect to more of our fans.