“I still find it amazing how an ordinary boy in Batala received a phone call from one of the biggest hip-hop icons in the world, all because he posted his rap songs on YouTube,” says Randhir Singh Sandhu, the founder of Lehar.Sandhu, who goes by ‘Srganah’ in the world of street poetry, describes his brainchild ‘Lehar’ as a movement — a revolution to take hip-hop back to its source, the streets.This movement which started in 2017 with just three artistes led to the ‘Lehar Chandigarh Mixtape’, a 10-track album created by 19 rappers, with songs in Punjabi, Hindi, Haryanvi and English. It was released in 2025.The journey of the album began in 2025, when Srganah received a phone call from American hip-hop sensation and Mass Appeal founder Nas.The album, a product of Lehar’s path-breaking collaboration with Mass Appeal India, gained recognition for bridging the gap between mainstream music labels and underground hip-hop artistes.Hailing from Batala, Srganah started Lehar with a couple of his friends, Dinesh Kumar ‘Slim Nesh’ and Mandeep Singh ‘Dox’, in 2017. He was a student at DAV College, Chandigarh, then. Indian hip-hop was still in a nascent stage. It would still be a couple of years before Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Gully Boy’ would take the art form into the mainstream.Srganah and Slim Nesh used to make original rap songs and upload on YouTube. Dox, another student in Chandigarh, used to do the same. Although their viewership on the platform was modest, the videos helped them discover each other.The trio soon realised that there would be others artistes like them who wanted to sharpen their skills and master their craft. “We wanted to do something for hip-hop. For the culture, for the art and the artistes. That’s how Lehar happened,” said Srganah, recalling how the idea behind the project was not to attract an audience, but to build a community.At the heart of Lehar was the concept of a cypher, an informal gathering of hip-hop artistes. Rappers form a circle around a speaker that plays beats and take turns showcasing their rhymes and sense of rhythm.The first Lehar Jattvibeday cypher in Chandigarh’s Sector 17 had three attendees — the three founders. It did not deter them. They played some beats and performed for each other. As the months went by, the diameter of the Lehar cypher started increasing. “Every Jattvibeday, we would gather, fuelled only by the thought of having something to share,” said Dox, one of the founders of Lehar, describing how the movement nurtured the writer within him. He is now a full-time music producer and songwriter, with hits like ‘Deewana’ and ‘Superstar’.“We did not have a social media team. As the movement grew organically, those connected to it made accounts on their own and started posting about it. At a cypher in Delhi, we heard people in the audience chanting for Lehar. That’s when we knew we had created something bigger than ourselves,” adds Srganah.MC Amrit, a hip-hop artiste from Jamnapaar in Delhi, found out about Lehar on Facebook. “I saw a picture of the phrase ‘Lehar Zindabad’ on Facebook. It read ‘4 PM Cypher — The Chai Story, CP.’ I was intrigued so I went,” says Amrit. “Since then, every Jattvibeday was a cypher day. Even in the sweltering Delhi summers, we showed up, and cranked up the heat.”The cypher-hardened rapper recently released his track, ‘Custom Khoon’.From left: The founder of Lehar, Randhir Singh Sandhu ‘Srganah’; and hip-hop artistes MC Amrit; conVIth; and Rana Ji.The Covid-19 pandemic was a double-edged sword for Lehar. While it disrupted momentum on the ground, it infected large sections of society with Instagram addiction. The movement regained momentum after the pandemic, and a fresh wave of hip-hop swept through the music industry.Having quit his job as a software developer, Jagsifat ‘conVIth’ had decided to pursue music full-time in January 2024. “I found out about Lehar before it had blown up on Instagram. There was no precedent for such a thing in Chandigarh. Coincidentally, the first time I went for a cypher, a Lehar reel went viral. I went for the cypher every Jattvibeday for a year. A clip of my performance went viral too. I reached a lot of people’s ears through Lehar,” adds conVIth. He also featured in the ‘Lehar Chandigarh Mixtape’ with his track, ‘Shinobiz’. His rhyming skills and raw energy have earned him praise from some of the top names in Punjabi music.Hailing from Nayagaon, Rana Ji also found his tribe at Lehar cyphers. “I wanted to record songs but I didn’t have a mic. So, I would go to a cypher and link up with someone who did. Cyphers are a great place for rappers to hone their craft and overcome stage fright,” he adds. Rana Ji releases his music with J-Punk, another Chandigarh-based artiste, as part of the duo, Bad Flow. The duo also featured on the ‘Chandigarh Mixtape’.Apart from regular cyphers in Chandigarh and Delhi, Lehar also hosts cyphers in Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and Uttarakhand, lending its platform to more obscure voices. While a few artistes associated with Lehar have gone on to find commercial success, industry realities remain harsh. As artistes rise and fall, Lehar lives on — an island of hope for hip-hop artistes trying to make it in the ocean of music.