A wild, wild weekend: One of Indias first all-woman Hip-hop collectives, Wild Wild Woman, is set to perform in B'luru

Were gonna reach the top, so dont try to stop , Ready to flip the game, dont try to play with us , these lines, delivered with confidence while clad in a saree by all-woman Hip-hop collective Wild Wild Womens rapper JQueen (Jacquilin Lucas), have wormed their way into the ears of 15.5 million people on Instagram since 2024. Since then, for the group, which is set to perform at Maya Bazaar, Jayamahal Palace Grounds, this Sunday, the only way forward has been up. The team recently wrapped up its first tour abroad in Germany. We were going through a difficult phase and hadnt posted anything for three months. Initially, the song Game Flip didnt go viral, and one day, we woke up to many texting us for performances and interviews, recalls JQueen, while HashtagPreeti (Preeti N Sutar), who is from Karnataka, adds, We went from 6,000 to 60,000 followers in a week. It was a turning point for us. Much like the one that catapulted them to popularity, the group writes verses that are bold and true to their experience of navigating womanhood, from toppling the patriarchy to mental health. We take inspiration from everyday life and things that affect us as women. Its easier to discuss such issues in the form of songs and were trying to include the larger picture of women in the country, says Pratika (Pratika Prabhune). Despite the perception of them writing about feminist issues, Preeti resists the idea of being limited to one topic. We want to talk about everything from love, politics, the environment and the sisterhood that we have. We want to just go all out, she says. The members, all in their 20s and early 30s, faced hostility for being women in the Hip-hop world. Some didnt allow us to perform just because we were women. I was thrown out from my previous crew, where I was the only girl member, so Im grateful to have Wild Wild Women, confesses JQueen, noting that the scene isnt as much as of a boys club as it used to be. With the members also including Krantinaari (Ashwini Hiremath), MC Mahila (Shruti Raut), break-dancers FlowRaw (Deepa Singh) and MGK (Mugdha Mangaonkar), graffiti artist Gauri Dabholkar and skateboarder Shruti Bhosle hailing from different linguistic backgrounds, the Mumbai-based groups songs are an eclectic mix of languages. They rap in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi and English the key to cohesion being teamwork and feedback. Every language has its own way of expressing emotion. So writing in these languages is not the same as writing in English or Hindi each of our lines are not literally translated into every other language. Its just us bringing our own flavours to the table, we get a gist of what the person is trying to say and each one contributes to a larger picture. We do give each other feedback, because that helps us grow as individuals and brings together a more wholesome track overall, says Pratika. They have a unique look to complement this individual voice, trading in the typical western clothing of most Indian Hip-hop artistes for colour-coordinated sarees. Initially, we started out as a western-looking group, but Krantinaari suggested that we should be performing in sarees. We had our disagreements, but once we started wearing them, the response was crazy, explains Preeti, adding, We often end up picking sarees from our moms wardrobes. Its an emotional moment for me as it feels like breaking out of the barriers that my ancestors couldnt. Its safe to say that youll hear a lot more of their music in person than can be found online, with the band routinely performing unreleased songs and solo music alongside their released singles while touring and building a fanbase. For their hour-long performance in Bengaluru, they hint at a retro theme performance, as Pratika says with a smile, Youll just have to see for yourself.