Hanumankind
Sooraj Cherukat, known professionally as Hanumankind, is a rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor from Kerala, India. He released his first single "Daily Dose" from his debut EP Kalari in 2019. He received mainstream popularity in India and internationally with his track "Big Dawgs", which features the Hyderabad-based artist and producer Kalmi and American rapper ASAP Rocky on its remix. He acted in the 2024 Malayalam film, Rifle Club, directed by Aashiq Abu.
Early life and education
Sooraj Cherukat was born in 1992, in Malappuram, Kondotty, Kerala, India. His father works for a leading oil company, as a result he moved around a lot. As a child, Cherukat lived in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, Qatar, and Italy before settling down in Houston, Texas when he was in second grade. He attended Houston Community College. In 2012, he returned to India enrolling at PSG College in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to pursue a degree in business administration. He worked at Goldman Sachs in 2014, and also as a personal trainer.Music career
2018-2023: Career beginnings
Cherukat officially began his career as a professional rapper by performing at NH7 Weekender, which is held in multiple cities and releasing his debut EP Kalari, in 2019. Before the release of Kalari, he had released a mixtape consisting of him rapping on YouTube beats, called the 959 Mixtape on Soundcloud and a single "Super Mario", where he rapped over a beat which sampled the video game Super Mario's soundtrack in 2018. The name Hanumankind is a portmanteau of the Hindu deity Hanuman and "mankind".Cherukat released his sophomore EP, Surface Level, in 2020, which was succeeded by the release of some singles, such as "DAMNSON", "Genghis", "Go To Sleep", as well as collaborations, like "THAT'S A FACT" and "Enemies" with Yashraj.
He collaborated with Charan Raj and Sanjith Hegde for the song "Maadeva" featuring on the Kannada movie Popcorn Monkey Tiger.
2024-present: Breakthrough with "Big Dawgs" and debut mixtape
His song "The Last Dance" is featured on the official soundtrack for the Malayalam-language film Aavesham.He was featured in Rolling Stone India
Hanumankind collaborated with Indian composer Shashwat Sachdev for the soundtrack of the 2025 Hindi film Dhurandhar, on which he was featured on two tracks, "Dhurandhar " alongside Jasmine Sandlas, and "Ez-Ez" alongside Diljit Dosanjh.