The Grind ft. Bobkat & Yung Maddy at Khar Social

About Bobkat :

His multifaceted repertoire means many keep guessing until he drops the first tune at his gigs. Having graced almost all big stages in the indie scene in India in one of his many avatars, From the biggest music festivals to nightclubs, and being one of the first artists to take hip-hop to Bollywood, he is not a stranger to the music underground and mainstream, but before he was any of the above, Bobkat was a hip-hop DJ, one of the first to spin hip-hop in Mumbai, way back in the 90s when most club goers in the city preferred listening to Venga Boys. Born in Kenya, he grew up a thoroughbred on rap/R n B club classics (Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Fat Boyz, Whodini, Full Force, Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam) and later transitioned effortlessly into the hip-hop golden era (Snoop Dogg, Nas, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, DMX) then on to the contemporary sounds (J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q). His sound is heavily influenced by East Coast/West Coast hip-hop as well as a healthy dose of dancehall, reggae, and soca. Once in Mumbai, he started out as a resident DJ in Cloud 9 nightclub which was located at Kemps Corner, he moved on to play at numerous venues across the city including Razz Rhinoceros, Zenzi, Enigma, Escape, Ren, Red Light, Leos, Li Bai among others.

The city was soon too small for him so he ventured further to Pune, Hyderabad, Banglore and Delhi for private as well as club gigs in Euriska (Pune), The High Spirits (Pune) and Raasta (Delhi) just to name a few. Bobkat also took his stock of works to Goa earlier in the millennium, introducing hip-hop to a vacation Mecca which till then only offered techno, psychedelic, and reggae – or Bob Marley to be precise – to patrons. Bobkat started the phenomena of hip-hop till sunrise in the sleepy beach town at a shack called Simba’s, in contrast to psychedelic all-nighters, a fete that has since then never been replicated, in fact, some of the local DJs still borrow from the sets he first dropped in Goa over a decade ago.

Currently, he is a DJ instructor with over 100 spinners in the city trained under him and he’s also a leading blogger in the local hip-hop scene. He runs Bombayhiphop.com and also co-hosts The VOTP Show podcast, India’s first online hip-hop show. After 5 years performing with a very successful hip-hop/reggae/funk band Bombay Bassment – winner of the Indigo Music Award and The Converse Emerging Act Award 2011 among other accolades – Bobkat is an accomplished musician too, producing originals. In 2014, as the catchphrase “Hip hop is dead” became commonplace in the Indian metros nightlife, Bobkat restarted the hip-hop night phenomena at I Bar pub in Bandra. At the gig, he not only spins but also handles the microphone emceeing all night in a classic hip-hop style. After this effort, Mumbai has witnessed the return of hip-hop in the club scene, with other venues to starting similarly themed nights with DJs and emcees to boot.

About DJ Yung Maddy :

DJ Yung Maddy or simply known as Maddy in the local scene of Pune is a young and energetic performer. Starting at a young age of 14, Maddy has not only grown as a performer but also evolved in his style over the last decade. Maddy is the first person to promote Hip-Hop culture in Pune as his heart is naturally drawn towards it.

Date: Saturday, 1st September 2018
Time: 10 pm Onwards
Entry: Free
Contact: 075063 94243
Venue: Khar Social, Rohan Plaza, 5th Road, Ram Krishna Nagar, Ram Krishna Nagar, Khar West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400052

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