Hanumankind

Hanumankind, the Indian American rapper and singer-songwriter born Sooraj Cherukat in 1992 in Kondotty (Malappuram district, Kerala), spent his childhood between Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, Qatar, Italy, and then Houston, where he discovered Southern hip-hop and artists such as Chamillionaire, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, and DJ Screw, as well as the metal of System of a Down. After studying in the United States and later in India, Hanumankind turned to rap, uploading the 959 Mixtape and the single "Super Mario" to SoundCloud in 2018, then making a name for himself on stage—most notably at the NH7 Weekender festival—before releasing the EP Kalari in 2019, driven by the track "Daily Dose." He followed in 2020 with the EP Surface Level, singles such as "DAMNSON," "Genghis," and "Go To Sleep," and collaborations including with Yashraj and on "Maadeva" with Charan Raj for the Kannada film Popcorn Monkey Tiger. His style, primarily in English, blends the legacy of Southern rap, flow switches inspired by Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, or Logic, and a tension at times close to rock—audible for instance in "The Last Dance," included on the soundtrack to the Malayalam film Aavesham. Hanumankind further broadened his reach in 2024 with the single "Big Dawgs," produced with Kalmi and followed by a remix featuring ASAP Rocky; its video, shot in a "wall of death" in Ponnani, nods to his roots in Kerala, while he also appeared as an actor in Aashiq Abu’s film Rifle Club. In 2025, Hanumankind released "Run It Up," marked by the use of chenda percussion and unveiled at Netflix’s Tudum event, performed "Holiday" on Colors Show, then supported the release of his debut mixtape Monsoon Season—issued in 2025 with international guests like Denzel Curry and ASAP Rocky and production notably by Parimal Shais and Kalmi—with an OTW tour and another appearance at Rolling Loud in India, all while collaborating with Shashwat Sachdev on the soundtrack of the Hindi film Dhurandhar and settling in Bengaluru, where Hanumankind asserts a non-religious stance.