DIVINE (Rapper)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vivian Fernandes

• Does Vivian Fernandes smoke?: Yes

  

• Does Vivian Fernandes drink alcohol?: Yes

  

• Divine hails from a lower-middle-class orthodox Christian family and was brought up in the chawls of J. B Nagar in Andheri in Mumbai.

• He was raised in a broken family; as his abusive father left the family, after which his mother moved to Qatar for her family’s livelihood, leaving him and his elder brother at their grandmother’s house.

• From 14 onwards, he started leading a lonely life; as his elder brother also moved to Qatar to support his mother.

• His life took a new turn when he saw a guy wearing a t-shirt with an image of ’50 Cent’ imprinted on it, which caught Divine’s attention. Moreover, his friend also gave him a CD of songs by Eminem and 50 Cent. Thereafter, he regularly used hear the tracks after coming back from his school; which ignited his interest in rap music.

• When he was in 11th standard, he started writing rap songs. In those days, he used to write for more than 5 hours to make a perfect verse.

• In his school days, he used to accompany his mother to a church in Marol, where he used to practice rap music in divinity and peace. From then onwards, he started calling himself “Divine.”

• Initially, he used to do rapping in English, but sooner he realised, he should embrace Hindi, the language that comes so naturally to him.

• In his college, he joined a hip-hop group named ‘Mumbai’s Finest,’ where he learned the rapping skills from a rapper named, Ace.

• When he passed out from college, his mother gifted him a computer and a microphone.

• He filmed his first song “Coming For You” with a Nokia N8 phone.

• He released his debut track “Yeh Mera Bombay” in 2013, which was an instant hit among the Mumbaikars.

• In 2013, he released the track “Jungli Sher,” which is an autobiographical rap. Moreover, the song was filed in over 40 locations across Mumbai through his iPhone.

• His much-needed breakthrough came nearly 2 years later, in 2015, when he collaborated with a fellow rapper, Naved Shaikh, better known by his stage name “Naezy.” The two gully boys from different slum areas of Mumbai made their first collaboration as Divine and Naezy’ and released the song “Mere Gully Mein” (In My Streets), which was such a big hit that it was termed as the “Mumbai rap anthem.”

• When he earned a contract with Sony Music India, he became the first Indian artist to have a single released by Apple Music worldwide.

• He is also the first Indian rapper to rap in Hindi for BBC 1 radio show, ‘Fire in the Booth’ series.

• He is the founder of the Mumbai-based crew, Gully Gang, and also runs a music label with the same name.

  

• He is an avid dog lover and has a pit bull named, Grumpee.

• On 8 October 2018, the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, personally gifted him a ‘Mahindra Thar CRDe.’

• Zoya Akhtar once saw his concert at the Blue Frog Club in Mumbai, and after hearing his story, she decided to make a film based on the lives of Mumbai’s street rappers. In 2019, she made a biographical musical film ‘Gully Boy,’ which was inspired by rappers, including Divine and Naezy.

  

• His least favourite genre of music is Beatboxing.