The Underground ANTRIKSH
The Underground Antriksh: A Space of undergorund stars, Powered by Thums Up - An epic Rap show happened in Lucknow where Undergroud Rappers performed in Rap Cyphers, Thunder Freestyle Challenge, Showcases and Exclusive Lineup, which ended with Surprise performance of MTV Hustle Winner M Zee Bella. It was a true e space of Underground Stars, in which 250+ people joined and vibed on hip-hop music together.
MARS Events & Artist Management presented an iconic rap event, "The Underground ANTRIKSH," powered by THUMS UP, which happened in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on the 2nd last Sunday of 2024 and created a historic day for the desi hip-hop scene. ANTRIKSH was the first-ever lineup show of locally known underground artists in Uttar Pradesh, which went nonstop for 8 Hours as a marathon rap event. ANTRIKSH Event was a full entertainment package for Hip-Hop audience and artists, which included Rap Cypher Sessions, a Thunder freestyle challenge, beatboxing, Rap Showcases, exclusive artist lineups, a hip-hop DJ set, and a crazy surprise performance of MTV Hustle Season 01 Winner M-ZEE BELLA.
VISION Behind ANTRIKSH:
It's tough to plan and think of these kinds of lineup shows of Underground artists in a region like Lucknow. But we believe that people are now just starting to open their pockets to spend money on entertainment and shows, so it's a great opportunity for us to introduce the taste of hip-hop, feel the energy and authenticity, and experience madness.
As We are trying to build a cult hip-hop culture, we are starting this with local artists at first. I believe this strong foundation of the local music scene is going to attract bigger opportunities for established artists in the future. In the long term, it can open doors to increase the artist's economy and boost the whole industry positively.
Also, there's a very solid reason behind this line-up act: we believe artists need to make a real connection with their listeners, even if the number is less. Live conversion helps in the long run. It's challenging, but we take it as our responsibility to grow the scene, artists, and audience experience simultaneously.
BELLA Performing HUMBLE Poet Live
BYG Smyle heating up the stage
MC Deep spitting heat on Mic
REACH & IMPACT:
The visionary organizer had thought this would make it a true space of Underground Stars, and it proved the same. Joined by 250+ people, this mega rap event, ANTRIKSH in Lucknow. As MARS Management manages the biggest Hip-Hop Artists' community of UP, it showed up in the best way Artists joined the event covering the whole of Northern India—like from 14 different cities in Uttar Pradesh like Varanasi, Prayagraj, Sonbhadra, Gorakhpur, Barabanki, Rudhauli, Basti, Deoria, Kanpur, Mahoba, Badohi, Sultanpur, and so did cities like Jaipur, Gurugram, including six artists participation from the country capital Delhi.
Even the line-up artists were from various regions of Northern India, like Dehradoon, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Kashi, Bareily, Sonbhadra, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Sitapur, and the Capital UP 32—Lucknow. Our mission of penetrating rap and hip-hop in remote areas of UP has been successful now; we can definitely say this after seeing so much influence and active participation of regional rap artists in our back-to-back events.
Artists Line-up:
The UNDERGROUND Antiksh was the first-ever underground line-up show in Uttar Pradesh. The curated lineup for ANTRIKSH was the full combination of versatile artists and some of the best underground artists in the North Region.
BYG SMYLE: Byg Smyle is one of the finest and most versatile artists in the Indian rap scene, bringing soulful melodies and hardcore bars to his songs simultaneously. He has been serving the listeners with his well-cooked music for a long time and brings in an amazing flavor of lyricism from Devbhoomi, Uttarakhand. Byg Smyle was present as a guest performer in Rap Show MTV Hustle Season 1 as a guest performer, where his long-time Homie Bella won the show. Some of the million-hit tracks by Byg Smyle are Bloom, Breakup Call, High Rehta Hoon Reality is Overrated, and so on. In The Underground, Antriksh BYG SMYLE performed his songs like a star, and the audience went on crazy to songs like Humalien, Reality is Overrated, and so on.
MC DEEP: MC DEEP, Hailing from Chhattisgarh, brings a unique blend of commercial and hip-hop music. With millions of streams and performances on renowned stages, Deep has proved his skills with time to his audiences. MC Deep already has multiple hits in his catalog, including KATRINA, Daaru Nahi Deti, and Malaika. He has major potential for drastic hits with his commercial music supremacy and currently he is on the track of giving viral hit super soon. In the Underground Antriksh, MC Deep has made the audience dance to his song like Katrina, performing live.
SHANT: Shant is a veteran hip-hop artist representing the culture of Kashi, the oldest city. His lyrics are well-versed in his culturally rich city's vocabulary. Shant also Raps in Bhojpuri, which is their mother tongue being from Banaras. Shant adds hardcore bars in his song with a unique authenticity of the villager and makes it pretty related to being from Uttar Pradesh, With it He has also been pouring hearts into his sad hits. Shant has multiple superhit projects in his catalogue, which include Street Talk, Suhani Yaadein, Unbounded, and so more. He has collaborated with multiple artists across the country and also worked as a songwriter for some of the majorly known artists. SHANT performed some of his lyrical hits like Street Talk and Vision 2024 which were loved by listeners.
R-MRIDUL: Representing Lucknow since 2016, R-Mridul is known for his Poetic way of writing songs, filled with vast Hindi vocabulary. His versatility in writing romantic and heart-touching lyrics also comes up in the Bollywood Rap Remixes project, which is officially being released by Oldest Music Label Saregama. R-Mridul has performed on 50+ major stages where he got appreciation from Anushka Sen, Prince Narula, Emiway Bantai, and a lot more. With this, he has been a very major promoter of hip-hop in the region by performing live in malls and parks, organizing Cyphers, and other places to spread awareness about hip-hop, and also a key instrumental in leading the local rap community in Uttar Pradesh. His major hit on YouTube was Jeevan Yatra: A Tribute to Legendary Sidhu Moosewala, which gained 7 lakh+ views on YouTube within a week. He also has multiple hit tracks like Mera Dil ye Pukare Aaja Rap Version, Safar, Deserve with Bella, etc. In the Underground Antriksh, He performed his Underground song LEHER dropped some hard bars, then he thrown his Crazy Unreleased bangers like Launde Baje Bhayankar & Royal Gaddi to audience and pulled up the whole crowd jumping on his music.
Brutal Baba: Brutal Baba Known as India’s first masked rapper, he belongs to Lucknow. Brutal Baba has made waves with his consistent output, releasing numerous albums and collaborating with major names in the industry. He has been one of the most consistent artists in a few years in the underground scene, with 8 albums, uncounted singles, and collaboration releases. He has been featured on multiple editorial playlists on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Brutal Baba performed On My Way, which rolled the whole audience. Brutal also brought up his homies Doctor Shoeb and Dynamic Music on stage, creating a whole DYN Gang.
ETHER: Ether is a 20-year-old hip-hop/R&B/pop artist hailing from Lucknow. He is known for his unique melodies and sharp lyricism in his songs, having and genre-blending art. Known for delivering industry-ready music, Ether has already gained over a million streams, and is expanding his following continiously. His notable songs like Roothe Se and Tum highlight his adaptability and capacity to engage listeners deeply. He solidified his status in 2023 by emerging victorious in the esteemed Sultan Nation-hosted online rap competition MERE16BARS5. Major names have acknowledged his growing art, including significant hip-hop news sites like Rapgod and numerous features by Afaik. In the Antriksh, ETHER has made a totally different ambiance totally in his set, and the crowd went mad, crying "ETHER, ETHER, ETHER" from the listeners section.
TFO: Thugs From Overseas, aka TFO is a Lucknow-based crew featuring three members, Sky, Volt, and Rhoat. TFO releases music with a unique sound blending influenced by international sounds; his R&B and Pop genres also make them unique. TFO has released multiple singles and collaborations with artists like Shikriwal and Panther in the past, and hits like “Rasta Naap” and "Roll" have propelled them into the mainstream in a very short time. Recently, A Member of TFO, Volt, also represented Lucknow on the Rap Reality show MTV Hustle 4. TFO Has performed multiple of their hits in set which was loved by the audience.
Prakhar Gupta: Representing Prayagraj and Pratapgarh, Prakhar has carved a niche for himself with anime-based songs that have earned millions of views and streams. His performances include prestigious platforms like TedX. His music has received multiple million hits, including viral hits like Chill Wali Pill, Endgame Hai, Zaat, and the EP Shinobi (produced by BAD Junkie), which has garnered millions of streams across platforms. Prakhar is a multiple-time TEDx performer and has live experiences of various events across India. Prakhar has collaborated with brands like GO21 and Zee Café also. In the Antriksh, Prakhar performed his hits like ZAAT and Lucknow see Prayaag in his set.
Extreme: Extreme, aka Raj Chaubey, a young artist from Sonebhadra, Uttar Pradesh, is known for his crazy bars and high-energy rage performances. Renowned for his record-breaking Alliteration Rap with over 1 million views on Instagram. Extreme has collaborated with prominent brands like ThumbsUp and Go21. His major releases, including Candid Verse, Kalla Bhaag, Haal Vichaar, Underground, and Dhoom3, showcase his dynamic style and lyrical prowess. Proudly representing Sonebhadra, Extreme blends regional influences with his unique artistry, making him stand out in the music scene. In the ANTRIKSH, Extreme bounced the whole crowd while performing the DHOOM 3 track featuring Doctor Shoeb.
ITZ AKRIT: Hailing from bareilly, AKRIT has pretty heart-touching melodies in his lyrics, which makes a fan's favourite. AKRIT currently has multiple hit songs; CHAHAT and Ulfat have been some of them which got amazing response from the audience. AKRIT got this lineup by winning the contest online with most comments with his name on our Instagram post, and we can say he truly deserved this line-up and stage. Representing UP 25, Akrit's performances were loved by listeners, which included songs like Chahat and so on.
UV Prateek : UV Prateek is an experienced music producer coming from Lucknow. He creates unique music and melodies in his songs and adds a great flavor of R&B sound to his songs. Utilizing his production skills, he has dropped a unique sound of music in songs like Mere Alfaaz, Awaara, etc. In the Antriksh, Prateek set the whole vibe on stage with his live performances.
Deepanshu Ruhela: A music Producer and DJ performer hailing from Moradabad, Deepanshu has made a name for himself with immense music production skills. From working with all the major music labels like Universal Music, Sony Music, and Saregama to getting multiple million+ streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms, Deepanshu has proved his music sense to his listeners again and again. In the Antriksh, he played a showstopper set on his DJ set and also co-managed the DECK with 10A during the whole event.
10A: 10A is a well-known hip-hop music producer hailing from Lucknow. 10A has a unique punch and sound in his beats which has given him a unique identity in the DHH Scene. His amazing production skills are also well-acknowledged. He has produced multiple hit songs with artists like Bella, MC Insane, Byg Smyle, and so more, with hits like Yamaha, Reality is Overrated EP, and The Heal Album.
In Antriksh, 10A managed the performing sound deck during the whole event, but His produced tracks made the Artist's performances crazier. He also acted as a great hypeman to his known artists.
