Chartbreaker: Hanumankind's Breakthrough Went Global — Now Running With the “Big Dawgs”

When “Big Dawgs,” the tumultuous song by Indian rapper Hanumankind and producer Kalmi, began streaming around the world in July, its creators couldn't fully appreciate its impact. Despite sites like YouTube and Reddit signaling the song's crossover appeal, Hanumankind and his team have been largely in the dark about its impact on TikTok — including the more than 1 million posts using the track until today – since India banned the platform in 2020.

“We hear this is going crazy, but we can't wrap our heads around it [it]” says Hanumankind Bulletin board. “We're sitting at home like, 'I guess this is it. Let's tie.' ”

Born Sooraj Cherukat in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Hanumankind was a self-described “child of chaos.” His family bounced around the world with his father working in the oil industry, making stops in Nigeria, Qatar, Dubai and Egypt before moving to Houston in the early 2000s during his prime.

“Houston has a way of shaping a man,” he says, wearing a No. 34 Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets jersey. “Whether you're talking about UGK or DJ Screw, you hear it in everything. It was important to be there and absorb so much of it.”

Speaking of Zoom, the 32-year-old has pictures of 2Pac, MF DOOM and The Notorious BIG in his living room — but even with his vast knowledge of hip-hop, he says his parents hoped he'd pursue “a real job and building a career.” He returned to India for college in 2012, and after graduation, worked at Goldman Sachs and various marketing agencies while living like an “af-king idiot.” (Once he turned 30, he temporarily stopped drinking altogether Today, he says, he drinks in moderation.)

However, rap remained largely a party trick he pulled at gatherings. But things changed in late 2019 after a performance at the NH7 Weekender festival in India, drawing inspiration for his stage name from religion. (Hanuman is the half-monkey, half-man Hindu God of wisdom, strength, and courage.)

“There was a crowd of people running from different areas, like, 'Who's this guy?'” he recalled. “[After] this set, I was like, “It feels like something I can do. I just want to do something that gives me purpose. Am I decent at this? Can I make money from this? Cool.' That was all I needed.”

A year later, Hanumankind signed a management deal with Imaginary Frnds founder Rohan Venkatesh, with the company's Abhimanyu Prakash assisting as part of the management team. “I was charmed by the pants when I met him,” says Prakash. Adds Venkatesh, who first met the rapper backstage in 2018: “I knew this could go global. I believed in art from day one.”

Hanumankind spent the next few years as an independent artist, releasing a pair of EPs and a handful of singles before his team decided to explore the major label route, eventually signing with Def Jam India in early 2023. “They were so ready to give us help from day one,” says Prakash. “We lived in the moment and they were pillars for us in figuring out how to develop it.”

That January, Hanumankind released the insane 'Go to Sleep' — but nothing else for the year. As the time draws closer to his next move, he hopped on a Zoom in early 2024 with frequent collaborator Kalmi while living in Bengaluru. They started with a creative exercise they'd done before: Kalmi would queue up a beat for Hanumankind to rap over, and they'd make a concept out of it. “We didn't want there to be limits on us, not even a minute one [I heard the] beat, I was like, “Oh s–t.”

After loving the revving production and hairy synths, the hook came, followed by the first verse. Within 30 minutes, the basic structure for “Big Dawgs” was set. “In the moment, that flow came in,” Hanumankind says, though he admits he began to overanalyze it. “I didn't think it was a single at all – that song just happened as a byproduct of being weird, experimental folk.”

But Kalmi and Venkates changed their minds. “We knew this was the one right away, there was a shock value,” says Venkatesh. “[Kalmi and I] went for a drive and played it four or five times. The next morning, we called Hanumankind and persuaded him to come down.'

Kalmi beefed up the production, adding the cut and screw element to the song's outro, and Hanumankind did a second verse. On July 9, “Big Dawgs” hit streaming services.

Instead of a traditional marketing budget, Hanumankind's team put much of their financial resources into the music video, which arrived the next day and opened the world's eyes to a popular Indian spectacle known as the 'Well of Death'. Two-stroke motorcycles and vintage cars circle the walls of a vertical pit, testing the limits of gravity — and in the video, Hanumankind even hangs out the window of one of the cars. “It was more of a culture shock for people, which was a unique selling point for us,” says Venkatesh. To date, the video has more than 116 million views on YouTube.