About Us
Stage performances
Vipin Tatad(VIP) is a rapper from Siddharth Nagar, Amravati, Maharashtra. Vipin makes songs on current socio-political issues with an Ambedkarite lens with his fellow rappers of the same vision under the name 'Rap Toli'.
Shaped by his lived experiences, his music explores casteism, education inequality, health, farmer issues, gender, Islamophobia and contemporary politics.
Rap Toli studio
VIP lives in Siddharth Nagar, a slum pocket in the middle of Amravati city, which is surrounded by the posh areas of Sindhi Mohalla and Gadage Nagar. He is studying for a master’s degree in mass communication. His father worked as a hawker outside the Daya Sagar Hospital before he decided to devote his time to running a non-profit magazine called Blue Morning. VIP also started his own Slum studio at Siddharth nagar, Amravati, Maharashtra, India. A small room in VIP's modest home serves as Raptoli’s studio. The group members speak over conference calls or meet at night, when his team have time, to discuss new tunes or ways to popularize their work.
Movie done
Rap Lyrics and Voice - Vipin Tatad (VIP)
Social Raps
The life of BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and towering Dalit rights crusader, inspires VIP. On April 10, the VIP released a new track, Jay Bhim Kadak2, which talks about Ambedkar’s legacy and how slum dwellers celebrate April 14, his birth anniversary.
VIP says, "We are still fighting against [caste], but I think we are able to fight against it because of Ambedkar, I believe that the spirit Ambedkar stands with us, leads us.”
Raptoli’s YouTube channel has more than 11,000 subscribers, and some songs have over one lakh views. While the internet has seemingly democratised music-making, it is hard to make a living from it. Only a well-edited video and song can draw the enormous numbers of online viewers that earn the creators revenue.