New Delhi: Hanumankind has announced his next collaboration with American rapper A$AP Rocky. The Indian rapper, whose song Big Dawgs and its video got global attention earlier this year, took to Instagram to make the announcement. He shared a picture with A$AP Rocky, lounging against a sofa. The Bangalore-based artist also shared a pre-save and pre-add link for the upcoming song on his story.
The song is being produced with one of Hanumankind’s frequent collaborators, Nikhil Kalimireddy, known professionally as Kalmi.
Sooraj Cherukat, professionally known as Hanumankind, entered the top 10 tracks on the Billboard Global 200 Singles with Big Dawgs, released in July. It secured the ninth spot and surpassed Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us. The list also had other global hits like Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish and Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter.
Hanumankind’s latest post has already garnered more than 98 thousand likes, with Kalmi commenting, “Yeessss! Lets goo brothers.”
A$AP Rocky made a comeback in 2024 with his single Highjack, after a 6-year–long hiatus.
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Hanuman, Houston, hip-hop
Hanumankind had a near-meteoric rise after Big Dawgs, with numerous celebrities commenting on the song. The reel has over 21.4 million views.
The song has more than 319 million streams on Spotify and 173 million views on YouTube.
The video for Big Dawgs had Hanumankind performing inside a Wall of Death, a popular stunt in many fairs in India. Indian content creator and YouTuber Purav Jha recreated the entire sequence on video, which received over 63.1 million views on Instagram.
Born in Kerala, Hanumankind first gained prominence with his debut single Daily Dose in 2019.
The artist spent his childhood and teenage years in Houston, Texas, where hip-hop legends such as DJ Screw, UGK, Big Bunny, and Project Pat became a big influence on his music.
Hanumankind was part of the ‘Modi and US’ event in Long Island, New York, held in September. The event, held at the Nassau Coliseum, was part of PM Modi’s three-day visit to the US. Following his set, PM Modi greeted Hanumankind chanting “Jai Hanuman”, and even hugged him.
The rapper is set to make his acting debut in Malayalam cinema with director Aashiq Abu’s Rifle Club.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)