Meet Hanumankind, the Kanye West Of Kerala minus the meltdowns who owned Coachella?

Malayali rapper didn’t just perform at Coachella — he owned it, all South Indian swagger.

Last updated:
Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Entertainment, Lifestyle and Sport Editor
2 MIN READ
Hanumankind and Maxo Kream perform at the Mojave Tent during the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2025 in Indio, California.
Hanumankind and Maxo Kream perform at the Mojave Tent during the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2025 in Indio, California.
AFP-ARTURO HOLMES

Dubai: Step aside, Kanye. There’s a new name storming Coachella — and he’s not selling shoes, feuding with Pete Davidson, or hijacking award shows from Taylor Swift. He’s Hanumankind, India’s freshest hip-hop cultural export, and what he brought to Coachella 2025 wasn’t ego — it was energy, elegance, and ethnic firepower.

But who's Hanumankind and why should you know him?

Born Sooraj Cherukat in Kozhikode, South Indian state Kerala, Hanumankind didn’t just show up at the Mojave tent — he owned it, with the swagger of a homegrown hero and the soul of a Theyyam (Kerala folk tradition) dancer mid-trance.

His set opened with chenda melam (traditional Indian temple percussion ensemble) that echoed across the California desert, making it very clear: this wasn’t just a performance — it was a Malayali mic drop.

With drummer Sange Wangchuk and guitarist Krishna M. Sujith by his side, he flowed through his hits such as Run It Up and Big Dawgs, making the crowd bounce to rhythms that felt both ancient and next-gen.

A surprise collab with Houston rapper Maxo Kream sealed the deal — Hanumankind didn’t just represent India, he redefined it.

But if you thought he was just bars and beats, think again. He's also an actor.

In 2024, Hanumankind made his acting debut in the Malayalam gangster-western Rifle Club, directed by Jithin Lal. He played a brooding drifter caught between vengeance and redemption — all while sharing screen space with Anurag Kashyap, who played a gun-toting villain in red-white-blue undies (yes, really). Let’s just say his on-screen presence is as commanding as his stage one.

So, yes — call him the Kanye from Kerala. But unlike the original, this one’s got discipline, depth, and chenda-backed bars.

And if Coachella was the launchpad, the world better buckle up — because Hanumankind is going stratospheric, one verse at a time.

Forget Katy Perry’s space mission and the performative feminist-woke fluff orbiting pop culture — this boy’s the real rocket fuel.

Sign up for the Daily Briefing

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox

Up Next