Divine & Naezy Narrates The Story Of Their Hard-Won Success

The poster boys of desi hip-hop narrate the story of their hard-won success in their most honest interview yet.

- Nirmika Singh

In August 2016 Vivian Fernandes aka Divine and Naved Shaikh aka Naezy made it to the cover of Rolling Stone India among three other peers. At that time, the story we were reporting was of a rising trend, a infant scene waiting to explode. Barely two-and-half years since that Internet-breaking cover, almost everything has changed for Divine and Naezy. As the faces of Indian hip-hop, the two artists have gone on to release a series of songs, headline festivals and embark on tours. But the biggest testimony to their skyrocketing stardom came last year when director Zoya Akhtar announced her new film, Gully Boy, based generally on the scene and particularly on the lives of the two rappers. The whole of last year also witnessed the film’s lead actor Ranveer Singh turning into a bantai himself—Instagram posts of him hanging with local rappers, spitting verses in his car or in the recording studio were consumed and shared delightfully.

What does all this mean to Divine and Naezy? As we sat down for a chat post this month’s cover shoot—co-incidentally in the same Kalina studio the August 2016 cover was shot in—we got hit by a burst of nostalgia and elation, the kind that screams, ‘look how far we’ve come.’ Here are the excerpts:

When we speak of desi hip-hop, your names are the first that come to mind. Things seem to be moving at such a rapid pace for you both. How has life changed?