“As a kid, growing up I hardly had shoes on my feet, But I’ve seen bullet holes on church walls and a body in my street, Follow me on a journey down memory lane homie, I grew up around killers throwing parties with heist money.”

Offered as an autobiographical description on the song titled Anthem For The North East, it’s shaking listeners up. The song (video above) makes a fearless, unapologetic case for lifestyle ‘rebels’ from the North-East.

Over the last few years, disparate underground music movements across the country have used hip-hop to crystallise concerns about identity and belonging. Featuring crews and rap artists such as Khasi Bloodz, Symphonic Movement, Cryptographik Street Poets and B-boy Kim, this song talks about revolutions and growing up in a country that pays little attention to the issues of the place from where you come.

Along the way, it also signals a rivalry of sorts on India’s burgeoning rap scene: “I don’t give a shit you Honey, Brotha who? Big Deal or Krsna the rapper? Everybody knows Divine, still nobody know D-Mon.”