I wrote about these guys back in December 2024 when they were still mostly known as the raw, autotune-heavy crew from West Delhi. A lot has changed since then. Not just in output but in how they move, how they sound, and what they choose to say. The Sector 71 guys didn’t just grow up. They grew in different directions while staying on the same block.
And I think most people haven’t caught up to what’s actually happening here.
The DL91FM Moment
When DL91FM dropped in May 2025, thirty tracks, every song featuring Seedhe Maut alongside the crew, it split the room.
On one side, you had people who’d been waiting for another Nayaab, another Lunch Break. Polished Seedhe Maut. Lyrical acrobatics. Boom-bap DNA. What they got instead was lo-fi, glitchy, experimental. Cloud rap retrofitted with hyperpop and jerk elements, produced entirely by Hurricane. It didn’t sound like anything Seedhe Maut had done before. And it definitely didn’t sound like what people expected from a label debut.
On the other side, you had the people who actually listened.
Critics had a field day. Rohan Carriappa called the Ab17 and Seedhe Maut combination oil and water. And I get where that take comes from if you’re evaluating it through a traditional lens, if your framework for good rap is clean bars over clean beats with no friction. But that’s exactly the point. That friction IS the sound. Ab17 doesn’t exist to complement Seedhe Maut’s polish. He exists to disrupt it. His pronunciation, his cadence, his energy, it’s not supposed to fit neatly. It’s trap. It’s mumble. It’s a different language within the same language.
Listen to Dil Se. Listen to How Bout. Listen to Channel Got Work.
These aren’t tracks that are trying to be lyrical showcases. They’re mood pieces. They’re texture. The mumble isn’t laziness, it’s a deliberate sonic choice, the same way Young Thug doesn’t articulate every syllable because the voice IS the instrument. When Lil Bhavi chose to mumble his way through Peace of Mind, a Seedhe Maut feature, the kind of platform most rappers would use to show off every trick they have, that wasn’t a mistake. That was a statement. He’s not performing for approval. He’s committed to the sound.
If you’re evaluating this crew through the lens of “can they keep up with Calm and Encore,” you’re asking the wrong question. The question is: are they doing something new? And the answer, pretty clearly, is yes.
Bhaskar: A Whole Different Person
This is maybe the most dramatic evolution of anyone in the crew.
Go back to Section 71 in 2023. Bhaskar was raw, crass, controversial. Heavy autotune, graphic lyrics, unapologetic about how he talked about women. It was polarizing and it was supposed to be. That was the energy. Unfiltered street rap with no concern for who’s comfortable.
Then he got a girlfriend.
And I don’t mean that in a dismissive way. I mean it literally changed what he wanted to say. The Dalli project, sixteen tracks, an entire album built around this girl, this muse, is a completely different Bhaskar.
Songs like Lachak, Dalli, Dhoke. These aren’t hard-hitting trap bangers about the streets. They’re love songs. Vulnerable, melodic, cinematic. He’s singing more than he’s rapping on half of it. The hooks sound like conversations you’d have at 2 AM with someone you’re scared of losing.
What makes this interesting isn’t just the content shift. It’s that he didn’t abandon the sound to do it. The trap DNA is still there in the production. Premium’s beats still hit. But Bhaskar layered something on top of it. Emotional range. The guy who used to be the most abrasive voice in the crew made the most tender project to come out of DL91.
And honestly? That takes more guts than being crass ever did. Anyone can shock you. Making yourself that open, especially when your audience knows you as the controversial one, that’s a risk. Dalli is the proof that Bhaskar isn’t a one-note artist. He’s an artist, period.
Lil Bhavi: Building a World
Bhavi has been the most consistent in terms of vision. From Section 71 to Section 71 Deluxe to OK Hai and now 71 State of Mind, you can trace a clear line. He knows what his sound is and he’s building a universe around it.
71 State of Mind came out in February 2026, twelve tracks, and it’s his most complete statement yet.
Tracks like Sound of Streets and Two Tones show a guy who’s figured out how to balance the mumble-trap energy with actual structure. TPA TAP from OK Hai was already a hint that Bhavi could make songs that stick in your head without abandoning the raw aesthetic.
But 71 State of Mind is where it all clicks together. It’s not a collection of singles. It’s a project with a coherent mood, the sound of someone who’s FROM somewhere specific and isn’t interested in sounding like he’s from anywhere else.
What people miss about Bhavi is that the mumble isn’t a limitation. It’s architecture. He uses his voice as texture the way a producer uses a synth. The words matter, but the way they sit in the beat matters more. That’s a fundamentally different approach to rap than what DHH is used to hearing, and it’s why critics keep reaching for the wrong framework to evaluate him.
OG Lucifer: The One Who Proved Everyone Wrong
If there’s one artist from this crew who silenced the skeptics, it’s Lucifer.
Suhana Din featuring Calm was the breakout. Melodic, warm, completely different from the aggressive energy he brought on Section 71.
But DL91FM is where it became undeniable. Track after track. Pickup, Kilas, the title track. Lucifer didn’t just hold his own alongside Seedhe Maut. He elevated songs. The reviews that dismissed the label signees as “boring” almost always added “except OG Lucifer.” Even the harshest critics couldn’t deny him.
And what’s remarkable is the range. On Kilas, he goes fully introspective. Detailed storytelling about his childhood with minimal wordplay, just raw honesty. Then on Pickup, he flips into something frenetic, almost unhinged in the best way, riding a flipped Indian classical sample like it was built for him. Then Poore Dil Se! drops in December 2025 and he does it again, tracks like Saaf Dil and Awaaz Kam showing he can be tender and precise in the same breath.
The thing about Lucifer is he can go toe to toe with the most polished artists in DHH, Calm, Encore, and not sound out of place. That’s not because he’s mimicking their style. It’s because his raw energy and their technical precision create a contrast that makes both sides better. He’s the one who proved that the Section 71 sound and the Seedhe Maut world don’t have to be oil and water. They can be something new.
What the Critics Are Missing
Here’s the thing about the “oil and water” take. It assumes that the goal of DL91 was to make these artists sound like Seedhe Maut. It wasn’t. The goal was to make something that sounds like DL91.
This crew isn’t doing new school to sell out. They’re not chasing the Bollywood crossover. They’re not cleaning up their sound to make it radio-friendly. They’re pushing new school trap IN ENGLISH, something you don’t see DHH artists doing in Hindi with this level of commitment, while keeping the street authenticity that made them who they are. The English verses aren’t there to seem international. They’re there because that’s how this generation actually talks. Code-switching isn’t a gimmick for these guys. It’s reality.
The traditional DHH listener wants bars. Complex rhyme schemes. Punchlines. And there’s nothing wrong with that, KR$NA does it better than almost anyone. But that’s not the only valid form of hip-hop. Trap is a different discipline. Mumble is a different discipline. Melody-forward rap that prioritizes mood over wordplay is a different discipline. Dismissing it as “they can’t rap properly” is like dismissing abstract art because it doesn’t look like a photograph.
What Sector 71 is doing, from Bhaskar’s emotional reinvention to Bhavi’s textured mumble architecture to Lucifer’s raw lyricism to the entire DL91FM experiment, this is what it looks like when a scene evolves in real time. Not everyone’s going to understand it on the first listen. That’s fine. Seedhe Maut bet on these guys for a reason. And two years in, that bet is paying off.
Where It Goes From Here
2025 and early 2026 has been relentless output from this crew. DL91FM. Dalli. OK Hai. Poore Dil Se. 71 State of Mind. Individual singles. Features. This is the kind of run where you either burn out or you establish yourself as something permanent.
I think it’s the latter. Not because every track is perfect, it’s not. Thirty songs on a mixtape is going to have some filler. But the trajectory is clear. Each project sounds more confident than the last. Each artist is finding their lane. And the fact that they’re doing this under DL91, a label built by Seedhe Maut specifically to give this sound a home, means they have a support system that most underground artists in India don’t.
The Sector 71 guys went from being the controversial signees nobody asked for to being the most interesting thing happening in Delhi’s rap scene. And they did it by staying exactly who they are, just louder, sharper, and with more to say.
The new school is here. It’s not asking for permission.