Fourteen-year-old Dipesh Yadav had no intention of becoming a musician. Like countless teenagers, he was obsessed with video games, spending hours immersed in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Then came an offhand remark from his mother. Instead of spending all his time playing games created by others, why not make one himself? Yadav took it as a challenge.
He quickly built the framework of a simple racing game, but when his friends volunteered to test it, they found one glaring flaw: it had no sound. Determined to fix it, Yadav discovered digital audio workstations (DAWs). That accidental detour changed the course of his life. “I never finished designing that game, but it led me straight to my real passion,” recalls the Rajasthan-born musician. Today, he is better known as Mutant, an independent producer whose music blends hip-hop, trap, EDM and boom bap with Indian influences.
Over the years, Mutant has steadily carved out a space for himself in India’s independent electronic music scene. Tracks like Freedom and Occult have garnered millions of streams, with the latter climbing to No. 108 on Apple Music’s Daily Hip-Hop chart. At the heart of that vision lies an almost unwavering creative rule. “I have an absolute obsession with adding an Indian element into every single track I make, no matter the genre,” he says. His influences are as eclectic as his productions. While artists such as Dr. Dre and Metro Boomin shaped his understanding of hip-hop and trap, his childhood was equally filled with the voices of Kishore Kumar, Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan, along with raginis. Bringing them together became his creative pursuit.
Limited resources forced him to become a one-man creative studio—producer, designer, photographer and visual director—ensuring every aspect of his work reflected his artistic vision. “When I am not making music, I’m doing graphic design or taking photos, so I enjoy total control over how my music looks,” he says. “To me, a track isn’t finished until the artwork matches the emotion of the sound.”
Working on a new album, Yadav remains convinced that constraints make the best teachers. “Lack of access forced me to learn everything myself,” he says. “Whether it’s selecting colours or directing an aesthetic, I enjoy the creative impulse of bringing a story to life through the ears and eyes of people.”