Vivian Wilson Fernandes (born 2 October 1990), known professionally as Divine (stylized in all caps), is an Indian rapper and songwriter. He is credited as one of the pioneers of the Indian hip-hop scene and for bringing it to mainstream attention.[1][2][3] His lyrics often reflect his experiences growing up in the chawls of Mumbai, focusing on themes such as street life, struggles, and aspirations.[4]
Divine started gaining popularity after the release of his single "Yeh Mera Bombay" in 2013. He broke through with the release of "Mere Gully Mein" in 2015, which featured fellow Mumbai-based rapper Naezy.[5]
His third studio album, Gunehgar was released in 2022, which was preceded by the hit single "Baazigar" featuring American rapper Armani White. Further, Divine went on to release his 4th multi track project in the form of a collaborative album with Punjabi singer Karan Aujla.
Divine started his career as an underground rapper in 2011 after discovering hip-hop through a T-shirt of 50 Cent's first album Get Rich or Die Tryin', that a friend of his wore at school. The same friend gave him his first MP3 CD with hip-hop music on it which inspired him to start rapping in English.[14] He soon became a part of the hip hop crew Mumbai's Finest. He often raps about his own life experiences, such as the life of the poor people in Mumbai and his upbringing with a single mother. He cites American rappers such as Nas, Eminem, Big L, Tupac, 50 Cent, and Rakim as his influences.[14][15]
2014-2016: Rise to success
Following the release of his song "Yeh Mera Bombay", Divine grabbed the attention of Sony Music India[16] while performing at the Blue Frog Festival 2014 in Mumbai, and shortly after, signed a contract with them. The song later won the Best Video of the Year award at Rolling Stone India Awards the same year. The following year, he released his breakout single "Mere Gully Mein" featuring Naezy in April. The song went viral and many Bollywood celebrities shared it on social media.[17] He collaborated with Indian DJ Nucleya on the track "Jungle Raja" from Nucleya's album Bass Rani, which released in the same year, further helping him gain more popularity. The song won Best EDM Track of the Year at the GiMA Awards in 2016.[18]
On 24 March 2016, his debut solo single "Jungli Sher" was released.[19] He performed the song on the Breakfast Show on 29 April 2016 and subsequently, appeared on the BBC Asian Network on the Charlie Sloth Show, becoming the first Hindi-speaking rapper to freestyle on the show and also the first to rap in Hindi with the name-giving host in attendance. He was also featured on Brapp TV.[20]
2017-2019: Film contributions, departure from Sony Music India and debut album
Divine collaborated with Nucleya on another hit track, "Scene Kya Hai" off Nucleya's album Raja Baja. He was featured on "Daru Daru" with Deep Jandu and Gangis Khan, his first commercially oriented song, which came out on 10 January 2017. His next solo single, "Farak", was released on 16 February 2017 and topped the Indipop charts on iTunes India.[21] He appeared as a feature on the record City Slums by Indian-American rapper/singer/songwriter Raja Kumari in May 2017.[22] City Slums was further certified triple platinum In India by IMI.[23] Divine made his Bollywood debut in the film Mukkabaaz with the song "Paintra".[24] The track was another collaboration with Nucleya and was released on 1 December 2017.[25]
In 2018, Divine terminated his contract with Sony Music India.[26] He released a remix to Lil Pump's "Gucci Gang" called "Gully Gang" independently on 18 January 2018. The song was perceived well by both critics and fans and helped him garner more attention.[27] He collaborated with famous Indian music director and singer Amit Trivedi for the Irrfan Khan-starring film Blackmail on the song "Badla", which was released on 16 March 2018 via T-Series. Divine also contributed to the soundtrack for Sacred Games, an Indian Netflix original series.[28][29] It features his song "Jungli Sher" as well as "Kaam 25" produced by Indo-Canadian producer Phenom, which was made specifically for the series. Its music video was released on 14 June 2018 on both Divine's and Netflix's YouTube channels, with the version on Netflix featuring English subtitles.[30][31] On 5 April 2018, he followed up with "One Side" produced by Byg Byrd. The video was produced by Red Bull Media House and released on the rapper's own YouTube channel.[32]
His next single, "Teesri Manzil", earned him a copyright strike from Zee Music Company, a few hours after its release and was deleted from his channel. It was eventually re-released on 14 December 2018 with some changes in the lyrics. He released "Junoon", the intro to his debut album, on 10 November 2018. The album's name, Kohinoor, was announced on 13 February 2019 on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio show hosted by Ebro Darden. In July 2019, Divine released a documentary film about his career entitled Gully Life - The Story of Divine. It aired on TV channels such as the Discovery Channel and was released on Divine's YouTube channel a week later.[33]
In 2019, Zoya Akhtar co-opted the story of him and Naezy, into a coming-of-age film, titled Gully Boy, portraying a struggle of an aspiring rapper and his surroundings that influence his journey, with actor Ranveer Singh, in the titular role.[34] American rapper Nas served as an executive producer for the film. Divine and Naezy both helped as consultants to get an authentic representation of hip hop culture for the film. Their song "Mere Gully Mein" was remade with Ranveer Singh rapping Naezy's lyrics as part of the film.[35] Divine provided additional rap lyrics for Ranveer Singh's character and composed some of the songs for the original soundtrack. The soundtrack for the film featured contributions from various hip-hop artists such as Divine, Naezy, Sez on the Beat, Rishi Rich, Dub Sharma, MC Altaf, MC TodFod, 100RBH, Maharya, Noxious D, Viveick Rajagopalan, and others.[36] A promotional single for the film, "NY Se Mumbai", was released on 9 February 2019 and performed by Divine, Naezy and Ranveer Singh, along with American rapper Nas.[37][38] The track was produced by XD Pro Music, a Toronto based producer duo, and Ill Wayno. [39]
On 20 August 2019, Nas' Mass Appeal Records and Universal Music India launched Mass Appeal India and signed Divine. Universal Music Group and Mass Appeal jointly took the step to take him to India and globalize the Indian hip-hop scene.[40][41] On 20 August 2019, an interview with Nas was published on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel, and Universal Music India's Facebook Page, where Nas revealed that Divine's debut album Kohinoor was set to release soon. It was released on 9 October 2019 and featured all-new tracks recorded specifically for the album.[42]
2020-2021: Punya Paap, international collaborations and further successes
On 20 September 2020, Divine appeared on the international remix of "Bando Diaries" by UK rapper Dutchavelli alongside OneFour from Australia, Noizy from Albania and Kekra from France. On 23 September 2020, he released his new song and video, "Punya Paap", on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel. It was announced to be the first single off his second album, also entitled Punya Paap.
On 16 October 2020, he released "Mirchi", the second single from the album. The song with its prominent baile funk sound was well received. Another track from the album, "Mera Bhai", had its music video launched on 6 November 2020. The animated video portrays a story where one of Divine's childhood friends betrays him out of jealousy and ends with his message to the listeners to trust no one but themselves in today's world.
His sophomore album, Punya Paap, was released on 3 December 2020, under the label Mass Appeal India. It consists of 11 tracks, with features from Nas, Cocoa Sarai, Dutchavelli, Stylo G, D'Evil, MC Altaf, Lisa Mishra and Phenom. The album has a blend of old-school 808 patterns and new heavy beats with a lot of sampled loops, produced by some of the finest producers from the Indian hip-hop scene, including Stunnah Beatz, iLL Wayno, and Karan Kanchan. The album has an overall ominous theme, and chronicles Divine's struggles and rise to the top in the Indian hip-hop scene.[43]
In 2021, GQ's global editions nominated a local artist across a world of genres and Divine was among the 21 most exciting young musicians.[44] He appeared on a cover of the Metallica song "The Unforgiven" with Vishal Dadlani and Shor Police, for the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021.[45] He won the award for Best Indian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2022.[46]
2022–present: Gunehgar, collaboration with Karan Aujla
In November 2022, he released his third album, Gunehgar.[47] The album prominently features international artists and producers.[48] The album launch show for Gunehgar, held at NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai with 8000+ attendees was widely regarded as amongst the most iconic musical concerts to be held in the country till date.
In 2023, he performed at the mid-innings show of 2023 IPL finals.[49][50] He further went on to headline Lollapalooza India, VH1 Supersonic amongst other live festivals and self produced tours. He was also invited to Spotify Camp Nou by FC Barcelona and Spotify and was present for a Barcelona game as Camp Nou played his hit track ‘Baazigar’.
In 2024, Divine released his collaborative album with Karan Aujla, Street Dreams, preceded by the lead single, "100 Million". This went down in history as a first of its kind cross-region and multi-language collaborative album within the Indian Hip-Hop and independent music scene.[51][52][53]
In November 2024, Divine, along with his company Gully Gang Entertainment went on to announce the Gully Fest 2024. Bringing in American rapper Pusha T, along with talented acts like Sambata, Prabh Deep, it was headlined by Divine himself.[54][55]
In April 2025, Nas visited India again to perform at the Mass Appeal Presents: The World Reunion—A Charity Concert, hosted by Mass Appeal India, at The Nesco Center, in Mumbai. He was accompanied by various Indian-origin rappers, such as, Divine, Raftaar, Ikka, KR$NA, King, and Steel Banglez. [56]
Gully Gang Entertainment
In February 2019, Divine announced the founding of a new company, Gully Gang Entertainment, a venture that includes a record label "Gully Gang Records", to recruit and produce hip-hop talent in the Mumbai area.[57] The song "Gully Gang Cypher" released on 22 May 2019 as the first collaboration of the label's artists such as the emerging rap quartet Aavrutti, solo hip-hop artists D’Evil, MC Altaf and Shah Rule with music producer Karan Kanchan.[58] Artists from outside of Mumbai too have been signed, for instance, 100RBH from Amravati and Tsumyoki from Goa.[59]
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