When Riniya Taku, from Itanagar hit the stage with ZeroBaseOne’s ‘Backpacker’, a hard-hitting hip-hop track from the K-drama Study Group, she brought the house down, spitting bars like fire with her energy and command of the mic. By the end, it was clear she had rapped her way to the top, clinching the inaugural rap category win at this year’s All India K-Pop Contest, organised by the Korean Cultural Centre India in Delhi.
The finale was eclectic, with dance and vocal performances by 15 teams—selected through regional rounds across ten cities—that drew a houseful crowd of young fans, chanting, cheering, and filming every move. Now in its 15th edition, the competition—running since 2011—also featured a fan meet and performance by five-member K-pop boy band NOMAD, who lit up the stage with hits like ‘No Pressure’, ‘California Love’, and ‘Carnival’.
The rap rookie
Like many K-pop fans around the world, the 22-year-old Taku’s entry point into K-pop was BTS, back in high school. “I liked listening to their music. I never imagined trying to learn the lyrics or perform it myself,” she recalls. But in 2019, she took the leap—participating in the All India K-pop Contest for the first time.
Having competed for over six years under the Vocal category, Taku is overjoyed to finally take home the trophy. When the new rap category was announced, she saw it as a fresh opportunity. But even then, the win came as a surprise. “I honestly didn’t expect to win,” she admits. “But I did—after all those years of hard work.”
A resident of Arunachal Pradesh, Taku’s mother tongue is Nyishi and she speaks Hindi, which is widely used in the region. Rapping in a third language—Korean—was a whole new challenge. “I had to work hard on my pronunciation, diction, and flow. K-raps are totally different from both Korean pop and English music—they’re fast, packed with wordplay, and really tough,” she says. A self-confessed K-drama fan, she adds that watching shows helped ease the learning curve. “This year, I focused on rap and trained myself in what I wasn’t good at.”
Taku is a longtime fan of South Korean rapper Jessi—ever since her Unpretty Rapstar (South Korean reality show) days in 2015—a love that shows in her confident stage presence. She also looks up to Zico and Suga from BTS, who happens to be her bias, “because he’s cute”, she grins. Although she hasn’t written her own bars yet, Taku is confident she’ll be writing and performing in the music industry someday. “Anyone can break into the scene if they prepare and give it their all,” she says.
Delhi wins big
This year, Delhi had more to cheer for, with homegrown dance team 3plus4crew bagging the top spot in the dance category. Their electrifying performance of Korean boy band Seventeen’s 2023 hit ‘Super’ sent the crowd into an all-out frenzy. Led by dancer Nitin Theo, the 13-member Delhi-based crew is a returning champion—they previously won the dance category in 2016. Their choice to perform a Seventeen track was personal, tied to both their journey as a dance crew and the boy band’s own rags-to-riches story. “Seventeen was a group with many struggles who came together and decided to pull through as a team. Their journey during those hard times inspired us to perform ‘Super’,” says Theo.
Theo, a fan of both Seventeen and BTS, says he is often inspired by the choreographers behind the scenes. One name that stands out is Keone Madrid. “We were introduced to BTS through Keone Madrid,” he shares. The winner of the vocal category was Shylee Preetam from Hyderabad, who delivered a soulful rendition of South Korean singer Ailee’s ‘U & I’.
Marking the 15th year of the contest, Hwang Il Yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India, said, “The contest stands as a symbol of the deep cultural bond between Korea and India. The love for K-pop and Korean culture in India has constantly been growing and I wish the bond between our two countries goes on to become even stronger.”
Next stop: Changwon
Now, the winners are gearing up to head to Changwon, South Korea, later this year to represent India at the K-Pop World Festival. For Theo and his team, it’s a long-awaited return. “The last time we won, we made it to Korea, but we couldn’t actually perform. It was so close, almost within our grasp,” he recalls. “But just being there, witnessing the culture, the energy, it was beautiful. What we brought back from that trip was a promise to ourselves: we have to come back. Not just to Korea, but to perform at Changwon. That stage is massive. To share it with artists from across the world, that’s going to be something else.”
Taku is especially excited about being trained by professional coaches before the big performance. “I would love to learn from them, get their advice and training—because I’ll get to explore things we don’t have access to here,” she says. “I’ll try my best to bring back the trophy. But even if I don’t, I’ll return with the knowledge and experience—and that’s a win too.”