I still remember my first show it was at h20 Bandra way back in 2006 along with my brother AP. We were performing our underground smash hit 'Shake it' which was in English. Today, after thousands of shows and a decade later, I'm blessed to be still rhyming and breathing Hip-Hop. I represent the same crew, the same team and the same dream and we and have survived and made it through.The difference now is that rapping in Hindi more with that local Mumbai touch is what makes me unique. People can relate to us better because of that. Indian Hip-Hop too, like me has come a long way. We have seen a lot of ups and downs. From being just a cult, we are a force, a movement now. The change in the exposure, the reach, the audience, the market, the fans, the game etc. has been phenomenal. A lot of credit is due to rappers like Divine, Mumbai39s Finest, Brodha V, Smokey, Ragged Skull, Desi Beam, Sikandar Kahlon, Street Academics, Thugs Unit, Pardhaan, Kru 172, Epr, Srik, Skizzophonic, Dnoax, Brassic, 2 Shades, Cash Kardz, Living in Sin, Bobkat etc.Most of us are first generation rappers like me, Divine, Different, Ninja, Kave, Poetik, Rob C etc. rap in our regional tongues now. We all started out with English but we do it in our local tongue now, not because it makes us more sellable, but to show that we are dope bilingually. The foundation and the roots are strong. The new breed of rappers like Naezy, Emiway etc. have started rhyming in Hindi and that39s their upper hand. They are amazing at what they do.Regional rap is the in thang now. Gone are the days when we used to be like our favorite rapper who raps in English, instead, we are the rappers that young Indian emcees aspire to be like as we made it big in the underground regional rap game. The Indian underground at its initial stages used to be more lyrical and mostly rappers used to rap in English. Back in the Orkut, Insignia days during 2008-2012, everyone wanted to be Ragged Skull or Brodha V or Smokey because they were so dope. 'Cry Now' by V is a song that I still have in my playlist. 'Bumbaclot', since I was born etc. are songs that have revolutionized the Indian rap scene. I still miss Asif Akber Ragged Skull and regret the fact that we could not collaborate. RIP to a brother. God took one of the best we had. Back then it was more about lyrics, we had text, audio, video battles and ratings and more, all in English. There were hardly any Hindi rappers besides Heam, Pardhaan etc. And hardly any rappers rapping in their mother tongue. Ironically, there were a lot of Punjabi rappers as Bohemia came and took over like a storm. After 'Pesa, Nasa, Pyaar', there was a huge emergence of Punjabi rappers in the game. Then came the era of Honey Singh and Mafia Mundeer. They had an amazing mix of Punjabi and Hindi in their songs which made them understandable to a common Mumbai boy like me. The rap, however was too commercial, it was more of pop labelled as rap and eventually that is how rap entered into Bollywood and people started being more aware about rap and a thing called as Hip-Hop. You got to give credit to desi rap superstars like Badshah, Raftaar, Honey Singh, Ikka etc. for getting rap to the mainstream. I have even been called Honey Singh several times because of my attire. It is because of their songs that people knew about Indian rap and something called as Hip-Hop exists. Although you may not be a fan of their music, but you got to respect them as they made it out of nowhere too.Owing to their popularity, there was a sudden rise in the emergence of rappers and now almost all the fans are rappers themselves. Hip-Hop is often confused as rap only. However, it is comprised by rap, beatbox boying, producing, DJing, graffiti and the last and the most important aspect that is iknowledge. Knowledge is what is missing still in the Hip-Hop scene. While it has become a huge, commercial space and a business where corporates, agencies and record labels control the craft, it is still getting exposed and now involves a lot more money.The Indian independent rap scene however is booming and now there are a lot more independent regional rappers like Swadesi, Dopeadelicz, and Hip-Hop Kannadiga, etc. killing it. Right now, there are hardly any Indian rappers who can rap decently in English besides a few but our real strength is rapping in our mother tongue. We are a force to be reckoned with and every region has its regional rap game on lock. There is a new breed of regional rap superstars like Raga, Gubbi, Mawali, Bijju, Tod Fod etc. who murder the mic.Right now, we can truly say that we have stopped imitating the west and understand the power of performance in our local language. We are on par with any Hip-Hop artist with the world and are unique in our own way. I started learning, writing, rhyming, battling and rapping in English. My favorite rappers, role models and idols rap in English. I love rapping in English as well but I equally enjoy rapping in Hindi. Indian Hip-Hop will be the best irrespective of the language, there is no such criteria that only regional rap is Indian rap. Currently, people connect with us and understand us better if we rap in our regional tongue. We did a 'Shudh Desi Cypher' that had Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Malayalam Rap. It was made without a budget and it won five awards in total including two Artist Aloud awards and three Radio City Freedom Awards, a record that no other indie act has achieved. It epitomizes the fact that the 'sounds of the soil' are loved by everyone. We wish to win more awards this year again. Love and respect to everyone doing it and more power to Indian Hip-Hop.Mumbai's Finest! You already know!Abhishek Dhusia, aka Ace of Mumbai39s Finest heads Mumbai39s biggest and finest Hip-Hop collective, Mumbai39s Finest.