Vivian Wilson Fernandes (born 2 October 1990), known professionally as Divine (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

), is an Indian rapper and songwriter. He is credited as one of the pioneers of the Indian hip-hop scene and for bringing it to mainstream attention. His lyrics often reflect his experiences growing up in the

chawl A chawl ( Marathi: चाळ) is a type of residential building found in western India, similar to a tenement. Typically low quality housing, chawls are generally associated with poverty. The first chawls were constructed in the early 1700s, as ...

s of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, focusing on themes such as street life, struggles, and aspirations. Divine started gaining popularity after the release of his single "Yeh Mera Bombay" in 2013. He broke through with the release of "Mere Gully Mein" in 2015, which featured fellow Mumbai-based rapper Naezy. On 12 December 2020, Divine became the first Indian rapper to be featured on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

billboard in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for his album ''Punya Paap'' (2020), which had claimed the top spot on Apple Music India. He made his debut at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

in 2022 becoming the first Indian hip-hop star to attend the Grammys. His third studio album, ''Gunehgar'' was released in 2022, which was preceded by the hit single "Baazigar" featuring American rapper Armani White. Further, Divine went on to release his 4th multi track project in the form of a collaborative album with Punjabi singer

Karan Aujla Jaskaran Singh Aujla (born 18 January 1997) is an Indian rapper, singer and songwriter based in Canada who is primarily associated with Punjabi music. He is known for his numerous tracks which have charted on the UK Asian chart published by th ...

Early life

Vivian Wilson Fernandes was born on 2 October 1990 in

Andheri Andheri (Help:IPA/Marathi, �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a suburb situated in Western Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Government and politics For administrative purposes, Andheri is bifurcated into Andheri (west) and Andheri (east). Andheri (west) comes ...

, India, to a

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

mother based in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. He hails from a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family.

Career

Early years and influences

Divine started his career as an underground rapper in 2011 after discovering hip-hop through a T-shirt of

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

's first album ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Eminem's Shady Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After si ...

'', that a friend of his wore at school. The same friend gave him his first MP3 CD with hip-hop music on it which inspired him to start rapping in English. He soon became a part of the hip hop crew Mumbai's Finest. He often raps about his own life experiences, such as the life of the poor people in Mumbai and his upbringing with a single mother. He cites American rappers such as

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

Big L Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974February 15, 1999), known professionally as Big L, was an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Emerging from Harlem in New York City in 1992, Big L became known among underground hip-hop fans for his f ...

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

, 50 Cent, and

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

as his influences.

2014-2016: Rise to success

Following the release of his song "Yeh Mera Bombay", Divine grabbed the attention of

Sony Music India Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian music record label operated by Sony and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company began operations in 1997 and was the first record company in India to be fully foreign-owned, with ...

while performing at the Blue Frog Festival 2014 in Mumbai, and shortly after, signed a contract with them. The song later won the Best Video of the Year award at Rolling Stone India Awards the same year. The following year, he released his breakout single "Mere Gully Mein" featuring Naezy in April. The song went viral and many

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

celebrities shared it on social media. He collaborated with Indian DJ Nucleya on the track "Jungle Raja" from Nucleya's album ''Bass Rani'', which released in the same year, further helping him gain more popularity. The song won Best EDM Track of the Year at the GiMA Awards in 2016. On 24 March 2016, his debut solo single "Jungli Sher" was released. He performed the song on the ''Breakfast Show'' on 29 April 2016 and subsequently, appeared on the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

on the Charlie Sloth Show, becoming the first Hindi-speaking rapper to freestyle on the show and also the first to rap in Hindi with the name-giving host in attendance. He was also featured on Brapp TV.'

2017-2019: Film contributions'','' departure from Sony Music India and debut album

Divine collaborated with Nucleya on another hit track, "Scene Kya Hai" off Nucleya's album ''Raja Baja''. He was featured on "Daru Daru" with Deep Jandu and Gangis Khan, his first commercially oriented song, which came out on 10 January 2017. His next solo single, "Farak", was released on 16 February 2017 and topped the

Indipop Indian pop music, also known as I-pop or Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywood, Tollywood, Pollywood, Kollywood and the Asian U ...

charts on iTunes India. He appeared as a feature on the record ''City Slums'' by Indian-American rapper/singer/songwriter

Raja Kumari Svetha Yallapragada Rao (born January 11, 1986), professionally known as Raja Kumari, is an American rapper, songwriter and singer from Claremont, California. Kumari is best known for her collaboration with notable artists including Gwen Stefani ...

in May 2017. City Slums was further certified

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

In India by IMI. Divine made his

debut in the film '' Mukkabaaz'' with the song "Paintra". The track was another collaboration with Nucleya and was released on 1 December 2017. In 2018, Divine terminated his contract with Sony Music India. He released a remix to

Lil Pump Gazzy Fabio Garcia (born August 17, 2000), known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as part of the SoundCloud rap scene in the late 2010s, gaining distinction for his minimalist music and rambunctious pu ...

's " Gucci Gang" called "Gully Gang" independently on 18 January 2018. The song was perceived well by both critics and fans and helped him garner more attention. He collaborated with famous Indian music director and singer

Amit Trivedi Amit Trivedi (born 8 April 1979) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, musician who works primarily for Indian cinema. After working as a theatre and jingle composer and composing for non-film albums, he debuted as ...

for the

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

-starring film ''

Blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

'' on the song "Badla", which was released on 16 March 2018 via T-Series. Divine also contributed to the soundtrack for '' Sacred Games'', an Indian

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original series. It features his song "Jungli Sher" as well as "Kaam 25" produced by Indo-Canadian producer Phenom, which was made specifically for the series. Its music video was released on 14 June 2018 on both Divine's and Netflix's YouTube channels, with the version on Netflix featuring English subtitles. On 5 April 2018, he followed up with "One Side" produced by Byg Byrd. The video was produced by

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

Media House and released on the rapper's own YouTube channel. His next single, "Teesri Manzil", earned him a copyright strike from

Zee Music Company Zee Music Co. (ZMC) is an Indian music company, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It carries its business activities mainly from New Delhi. The company has captured a major chunk of market share in Music of Bollywood, Bollywood m ...

, a few hours after its release and was deleted from his channel. It was eventually re-released on 14 December 2018 with some changes in the lyrics. He released "Junoon", the intro to his debut album, on 10 November 2018. The album's name, ''Kohinoor'', was announced on 13 February 2019 on Apple Music's ''Beats 1'' radio show hosted by

Ebro Darden Ibrahim Jamil "Ebro" Darden (born March 17, 1975) is an American radio personality, broadcaster, and DJ. Until 2014, he was Vice President of Programming for Emmis Communications' New York contemporary urban station WQHT (Hot 97). He is currentl ...

. In July 2019, Divine released a documentary film about his career entitled ''Gully Life - The Story of Divine''. It aired on TV channels such as the Discovery Channel and was released on Divine's YouTube channel a week later. In 2019,

Zoya Akhtar Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi films and series. Born to Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, she completed a diploma in filmmaking from New York University, NYU and assisted dire ...

co-opted the story of two Mumbai based MCs, Naezy and

DIVINE Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

, into a coming-of-age film, titled ''Gully Boy'', portraying a struggle of an aspiring rapper and his surroundings that influence his journey, with actor

Ranveer Singh Ranveer Singh Bhavnani (; born 6 July 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Ranveer Singh, several awards, including five Filmfare Awards. He is among the highest- ...

, in the titular role. American rapper

served as an executive producer for the film. Divine and Naezy both helped as consultants to get an authentic representation of

hip hop culture Hip-hop culture is an art movement that emerged in New York City, in the borough of The Bronx; Primarily within the black community. Hip Hop as an art form and culture has been heavily influenced by both male and female artists. It is charac ...

for the film. Their song "Mere Gully Mein" was remade with Ranveer Singh rapping Naezy's lyrics as part of the film. Divine provided additional rap lyrics for Ranveer Singh's character and composed some of the songs for the original soundtrack. The soundtrack for the film featured contributions from various hip-hop artists such as

, Naezy, Sez on the Beat,

Rishi Rich Rishpal Singh Rekhi ( Punjabi: ਰਿਸ਼ਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੈਖੀ, born 30 June 1976), better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground sce ...

, Dub Sharma, MC Altaf, MC TodFod, 100RBH, Maharya, Noxious D, Viveick Rajagopalan, and others. A promotional single for the film, "NY Se Mumbai", was released on 9 February 2019 and performed by DIVINE, Naezy and

, along with American rapper

. The track was produced by XD Pro Music, a

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

based producer duo, and Ill Wayno. On 20 August 2019, Nas'

Mass Appeal Records Mass Appeal Records is an American independent record label founded in 2014. The label is the music division of the Mass Appeal Media Group. In May 2014, it was announced that American rapper Nas was launching an indie label with Mass Appeal wi ...

and Universal Music India launched Mass Appeal India and signed Divine. Universal Music Group and Mass Appeal jointly took the step to take him to India and globalize the Indian hip-hop scene. On 20 August 2019, an interview with Nas was published on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel, and Universal Music India's Facebook Page, where Nas revealed that Divine's debut album ''Kohinoor'' was set to release soon. It was released on 9 October 2019 and featured all-new tracks recorded specifically for the album.

2020-2021'': Punya Paap'', international collaborations and further successes

On 20 September 2020, Divine appeared on the international remix of "Bando Diaries" by UK rapper

Dutchavelli Stephan Allen (born 11 November 1993), better known by his stage name Dutchavelli, is a British rapper. His name comes in part from the fact that he and his family (including his sister, Stefflon Don, a rapper) spent their formative years in Rot ...

alongside

OneFour Onefour (stylised in all caps) are an Australian drill and rap group originating from the Western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt. They are regarded by many as the pioneers of drill music in Australia, following a run of viral singles in 2019. ...

from Australia,

Noizy Rigels Rajku (; born 27 September 1986) known professionally as Noizy, is an Albanian singer, rapper and music producer. He is one of the most famous and successful artists in the Albanian music industry and has gained a large following due to h ...

from Albania and Kekra from France. On 23 September 2020, he released his new song and video, "Punya Paap", on Mass Appeal India's YouTube channel. It was announced to be the first single off his second album, also entitled ''Punya Paap''. On 16 October 2020, he released "Mirchi", the second single from the album. The song with its prominent

baile funk Funk carioca (), also known as baile funk and Brazilian funk, or even simply funk, is a Brazilian hip hop-influenced music genre from Rio de Janeiro, taking influences from musical styles such as Miami bass and freestyle. In Brazil, "baile fu ...

sound was well received. Another track from the album, "Mera Bhai", had its music video launched on 6 November 2020. The animated video portrays a story where one of Divine's childhood friends betrays him out of jealousy and ends with his message to the listeners to trust no one but themselves in today's world. His sophomore album, ''Punya Paap'', was released on 3 December 2020, under the label Mass Appeal India. It consists of 11 tracks, with features from Nas, Cocoa Sarai, Dutchavelli,

Stylo G Jason McDermott (born 16 July 1985 in Spanish Town, Jamaica), better known by his stage name Stylo G, is a British-Jamaican rapper, record producer, songwriter and singer known for his three hit singles "My Yout", "Call Mi a Leader" and " Soundb ...

, D'Evil, MC Altaf, Lisa Mishra and Phenom. The album has a blend of old-school 808 patterns and new heavy beats with a lot of sampled loops, produced by some of the finest producers from the Indian hip-hop scene, including Stunnah Beatz, iLL Wayno, and Karan Kanchan. The album has an overall ominous theme, and chronicles Divine's struggles and rise to the top in the Indian hip-hop scene. In 2021, '' GQ''s global editions nominated a local artist across a world of genres and Divine was among the 21 most exciting young musicians. He appeared on a cover of the Metallica song " The Unforgiven" with

Vishal Dadlani Vishal Dadlani (born 28 June 1973) is an Indian singer, songwriter, music composer and occasional actor. He is one half of the duo Vishal–Shekhar, and frontman and vocalist of one of India's leading rock bands Pentagram. As a great singer, ...

and Shor Police, for the charity tribute album ''

The Metallica Blacklist ''The Metallica Blacklist'' is a various artists Cover version, tribute album featuring covers of every track from Metallica's Metallica (album), 1991 self-titled album (commonly known as ''The Black Album''). The collection was assembled in con ...

'', released in September 2021. He won the award for Best Indian Act at the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

in November 2022.

2022–present: ''Gunehgar,'' collaboration with Karan Aujla

In November 2022, he released his third album, ''Gunehgar''. The album prominently features international artists and producers. The album launch show for Gunehgar, held at NSCI SVP Stadium in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

with 8000+ attendees was widely regarded as amongst the most iconic musical concerts to be held in the country till date. In 2023, he performed at the mid-innings show of 2023 IPL finals. He further went on to headline Lollapalooza India, VH1 Supersonic amongst other live festivals and self produced tours. He was also invited to Spotify Camp Nou by FC Barcelona and Spotify and was present for a Barcelona game as Camp Nou played his hit track ‘Baazigar’. In 2024, DIVINE released his collaborative album with

, ''Street Dreams'', preceded by the lead single, "100 Million". This went down in history as a first of its kind cross-region and multi-language collaborative album within the Indian Hip-Hop and independent music scene. In November 2024, DIVINE, along with his company Gully Gang Entertainment went on to announce the Gully Fest 2024. Bringing in American rapper

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

, along with talented acts like Sambata, Prabh Deep, it was headlined by DIVINE himself. In April 2025, Nas visited India again to perform at the Mass Appeal Presents: The World Reunion—A Charity Concert, hosted by Mass Appeal India, at The Nesco Center, in Mumbai. He was accompanied by various Indian-origin rappers, such as, Divine,

Raftaar Dilin Nair (born 16 November 1988), better known by his stage name Raftaar, is an Indian rapper, lyricist, music producer, composer, dancer, actor and TV personality associated with Hindi, Punjabi and Haryanvi music. He is among the first rap ...

, Ikka, KR$NA,

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, and

Steel Banglez Pahuldip Singh Sandhu (born 5 February 1987), known by his stage name Steel Banglez, is a British record producer and musician of Indian Punjabi descent. He is currently signed to Warner Bros. Records. Best known for his production work with art ...

Gully Gang Entertainment

In February 2019, Divine announced the founding of a new company, Gully Gang Entertainment, a venture that includes a record label "Gully Gang Records", to recruit and produce hip-hop talent in the Mumbai area. The song "Gully Gang Cypher" released on 22 May 2019 as the first collaboration of the label's artists such as the emerging rap quartet Aavrutti, solo hip-hop artists D’Evil, MC Altaf and Shah Rule with music producer Karan Kanchan. Artists from outside of Mumbai too have been signed, for instance, 100RBH from

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

and

Tsumyoki Nathan Joseph Mendes (born 2 June 2001), known professionally as Tsumyoki (or simply Yoki), is an Indian rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He gained popularity from his single track release, "White Tee" (2019), ''Daboij'' album (2 ...

from

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Singles discography

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional tracks

Film soundtracks

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Documentaries

* ''Gully Life - The Story of Divine.'' 2019 documentary,

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

, 50 minutes.

References

Footnotes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Divine Indian rappers Rappers from Mumbai Musicians from Mumbai Living people Filmfare Awards winners MTV Europe Music Award winners 1990 births Goan people Konkani people Indian hip-hop musicians