Prabh Deep

2008: Career beginnings

Around the summer of 2008, Prabh Deep and his childhood friend Happu witnessed a dance crew performing stunts in a park. Impressed by the urban dance form, he and Happu joined a hip-hop dance group in the neighbouring area of Vikaspuri and spent the next few years practising b-boying.^[3][4] While continuing his jobs as a call centre executive and salesman, Prabh Deep maintained close contact with the Delhi hip-hop circuit while undergoing a slow transition from a dancer to an emcee.^[5]

2015-2019: Debut album, Azadi Records and Bollywood

Through rapper Zan Twoshadez and hip-hop culture researcher Jaspal Singh, Prabh Deep was introduced to the open mic nights and similar events in Delhi that laid the foundation of his rapping career. In 2015, Prabh Deep connected with indie music producer Sez on the Beat on Facebook and began co-producing music. Sez signed him to the indie record Azadi Records.^[5] The entirety of Class-Sikh was produced in Sez's home studio.^[4] According to NPR Music, Class-Sikh focused on various themes, including an honest portrayal from a Sikh's perspective of the 1984 riots that followed then- president Indira Gandhi's death.^[6] Released on October 16, 2017, it was one of the first Indian hip-hop albums to debut at number 2 on iTunes India albums chart and quickly ranked up to number 1 by the end of the year.^[2]

Prabh Deep marked his entry in Bollywood with his song "Sherni" for Anurag Kashyap's 2018 drama Manmarziyaan.^[7] The following year, Prabh Deep released his self-produced debut EP, K I N G.^[8]

2020-present: Tabia, departure from Azadi Records and further successes

He also wrote and performed the song "Toofan Main" for the original soundtrack of the Amazon Prime crime series Paatal Lok.^[9]

The year 2021 marked the release of his sophomore album, Tabia. Prabh Deep had been working on the album since 2019, even visiting Karma Studios in Thailand to work on the album. Akshay Kapoor of The Indian Music Diaries describes the album as Prabh's "Bildungsroman" while Sean D of LiFTED Asia described it as a "concept driven album that explores themes of multiplicities within oneself".^[10][11] It also became the first Indian hip-hop album to be reviewed by Pitchfork.^[12][13]

In 2022, he released his third album, Bhram.^[14] In 2023, he released his surprise collaborative EP with Raftaar, PRAA,^[15] as well as the deluxe version of his third studio album, Bhram, featuring guest appearances from fellow Azadi Records signees Seedhe Maut and Ahmer, and Raftaar, Ikka, and GD-47.^[16] This also marked his last release with the label, and soon after, he departed from the label.^[17] He also appeared on the 2023 season of Coke Studio Bharat, performing the song "Taqdeer" alongside Rashmeet Kaur, Donn Bhat & Sakur Khan Sufi.^[18] In November 2023, he was chosen as a supporting act for American rapper 50 Cent's show in Mumbai, as part of The Final Lap Tour, alongside rappers Divine, Yung Raja and SVDP, however, Divine's performance was canceled at the last minute due to technical difficulties.^[19][20]

In 2024, he released the sequel to his debut EP, KING Returns, and also collaborated with John Jacobs for his new eyewear line, The Turban Edit Collection.^[21] In the same year, he released his debut mixtape, DSP, featuring Faris Shafi, Dhanji, GD-47 and Sickflip, among others. He made his screen debut with JioCinema's Khalbali Records, alongside fellow rappers like Ahmer, Agsy, EPR Iyer and Yungsta and also contributed to the soundtrack of the series.^[22]

In 2025, he contributed to the soundtrack of the web-series, Do You Wanna Partner, on the track, "Hum Dum".^[23][24]

Influences

Prabh Deep cites Eminem and Dr. Dre as his idols.^[5]

Themes and genres

Prabh Deep is described as an innovative lyricist whose music has socially conscious origins. Throughout his album Class-Sikh, his music revolved around the hidden, grimy underbelly scenery of suburbs of Delhi.^[4] For his album Class-Sikh, he picked up various bits and pieces from his personal experiences including the story of his childhood friend Abu's fall into drug addiction, crime and eventually murder. His music is described as slang-inflected with bits of Punjabi, Hindi and English.^[25] His song Suno narrates the complex and unfortunate education system of India that leads to suicides and drug overdoses by the youth in India. He also discussed issues like 2019–2021 Jammu and Kashmir lockdown in Elaan, violence-instigating politics by the governments of global superpowers including the US and India in King and the violence and brutalities of the hidden underbelly of Delhi in Toofan Main.^[26] Amar is an introspective track, with him talking about preparing for death and his soul's immortality through his art.^[8] His critically-acclaimed track Chitta, revolves around a character representing Prabh Deep himself, and his interactions in a world ruled by the corrupt, the wealthy and the powerful; as well as the deep-rooted problems in India's neighbourhoods.^[27][28] His album Tabia explores the themes of self discovery, spiritual awakening, pride and humility.^[29]

Film music

Albums and EPs

Singles and collaborations