“Rap used to naturally excite me!” Ranveer Singh on his chart-busting success as a hip-hop artist in Gully Boy “Rap used to naturally excite me!” Ranveer Singh on his chart-busting success as a hip-hop artist in Gully Boy Ranveer Singh has wowed us all with his incredibly versatile acting but little did we know that he would become a singing sensation overnight! Ranveer has become a rapper/hip-hop artist for Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy and has sung 4 songs in the album. Two of the tracks – ‘Asli Hip Hop’ and ‘Apna Time Aayega’ have broken the internet and has become chart-busters, making Ranveer the first actor ever to be accepted as a rapper in India. Talking about his new-found success as a hip-hop artist, Ranveer says, “Hip-hop is something that’s very alive inside me and always has been ever since I was a kid. I have a natural affinity and inclination towards it and I was thrilled to be in Zoya’s film because I had always wanted to do such a film.” Of course, Ranveer’s success as a singer was years in making. People close to Ranveer have always maintained that he was so passionate about hip-hop that he used to constantly practice and perfect his rapping skills since he was a teenager. Ranveer reveals he was hooked on to hip-hop ever since he was a child. “Rap used to naturally excite me. I think it was 3rd/4th standard when I first got into hip hop. I loved listening to Snoop Dog, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G growing up and I have been into that kind of music ever since. I used to watch a lot of MTV and that’s where I first experienced it. There is a cousin of mine who migrated to the US and whenever he used to come down for summer holidays used to bring this music and we used to sit and hear it all the time,” he says. He reveals rap legends Tupac and Eminem have inspired him and has shaped the hip-hop artist in him. “I think Tupac’s ‘All Eyez on Me’ was the first album that I had mugged up. And of course, when Eminem made this debut with ‘My name Is’ he completely blew my mind. I very closely followed his music and he became one of my most favourite artists of all time,” Ranveer says. Ranveer’s earlier fashion statements were also inspired by the rappers. He reveals, “I used to go through phases where I used to dress like rappers also – wear baggy jeans, oversized jerseys.” The love for Rap seeped into Ranveer’s DNA and he made the most out of it. “Even when I was a copy writer, everything that I used to write used to have a rhyme scheme to it. So, being a fan of the music, I developed an ability to write in a rhyme scheme! Some of the language and some of the themes in this kind of music was frowned upon by elders, by teachers, but it was that inherent voice of rebellion in N.W.A’s music, in Ice Cube’s music, Dr. Dre’s music that really used to get me excited!” he says. Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt and helmed by Zoya Akhtar, is slated to release on February 14, 2019. Also Read: After song release, Ranveer Singh breaks into ‘Mere Gully Mein’ with fellow rappers on the streets of Mumbai http://bit.ly/2CmumpQ