Dharmesh Parmar, better known by his stage name MC Todd Foad, was an Indian street rapper and MC. He is best known for rapping on the soundtrack ‘India 91’ in the Bollywood film ‘Gully Boy’ (2019).
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Dharmesh Parmar was born in 1998 (age 24 years at the time of death) in Naigaon, Dadar, Mumbai. He grew up listening to Bollywood songs, bhajans and Bheem Geet in the streets of Naigaon. He studied at St. Paul’s High School in Mumbai. Dharmesh was an average student. He often had to be scolded by his teachers for his mischiefs. During an interview, Dharmesh shared his school memories and said,
Sir will beat me and throw me out. And from my window, my uncle would look out at me and yell, ‘You’re making progress!’
In his teenage years, Dharmesh started watching music videos on Vh1, which attracted him towards rapping. His interest further increased when he met MC Mawali and the Swadeshi Dal.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
He was born in a Gujarati family.
parents and siblings
There is not much information about his parents and siblings.
Wife
He was unmarried.
livelihood
Dharmesh Parmar associated with Mumbai-based multilingual hip-hop collective Swadeshi, formed in 2013. As a part of the group, Parmar performed with MC Mwali, producers Naaar and Monster and other members of the group such as 100RBH and. Maharya soon became popular for his harsh verses.
Dharmesh Parmar during a stage performance
In 2016, she worked with producer Bandish Projekt for songs like ‘Dakala’ for their collaborative EP Katal Kaala and earned a huge fan following. Subsequently, he performed with percussionist and composer Vivek Rajagopalan at the WOMEX Festival in Spain in 2018.
Dharmesh Parmar performing on stage
Later, his verses on songs like ‘The Warli Revolt’ (2019) became very popular and he emerged as a voice fighting for the environment and human rights. In the same year, he was among the 50 rappers who became a part of Zoya Akhtar’s film Gully Boy. In the film, she performed on the soundtrack ‘India 91’.
In 2020, Swadeshi’s music album ‘Chetwani’ addressed some social evils. He was also a part of Swadeshi’s single titled ‘Plandemic’. Dharmesh also performed at the Festival of Peace in his college in 2021.
Dharmesh Parmar performing during his college days
On 8 March 2022, he released his single ‘Truth and Bass’. Parmar gave his last performance at the Swadeshi Mela in March 2022.
Death
Dharmesh Parmar died on 21 March 2022. Mumbai-based music group ‘Swadeshi’ shared the news of his demise through its Instagram account. The group posted a video clip of Parmar’s final performance at the Swadeshi Fair on its Instagram account, writing,
This night @toddof_ presented his last program at the Swadeshi Mela. You have to be there to experience it, the thrill of it, the love of playing live music. You will never be forgotten, you will live forever with your music.”
The group further shared details about Dharmesh’s funeral. He has written,
Gather for his funeral on March 21 at 2 pm near his house at the following address. Address: Dharmesh Parmar, Old BDD Chawl 13/A, BJ Deorukhkar Road, Naigaon, Dadar, Mumbai 14.”
As the news of his demise went viral, many well-known faces from the entertainment industry condoled his demise. While Indian rapper Raftaar commented ‘Too soon’ on Swadeshi Andolan’s Instagram post about Parmar’s death, Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh shared a picture of Parmar with a broken heart emoji on his Instagram story.
Ranveer Singh’s Instagram story about Dharmesh Parmar
Indian actor Siddhant Chaturvedi also shared a screenshot of his conversation with the late rapper on his Instagram, in which both of them were congratulating each other for their performance. Siddhant posted the picture with the caption,
RIP brother.”
Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Instagram story about Dharmesh Parmar
The cause of his death has not been known yet.
Address
Old BDD Chawl 13/A, BJ Deorukhkar Road, Naigaon, Dadar, Mumbai
Favorite
Facts/General Knowledge
- Dharmesh loved traveling in his free time.
- Parmar followed a non-vegetarian diet.
- There was a leaf marked on its back.
Dharmesh Parmar’s tattoo
- Dharmesh was an avid smoker.
- Parmar was trained in Konnakol.
- He had deep faith in Lord Shiva.
- Dharmesh was fond of dogs. He often shared pictures of himself with dogs on his social media accounts.
Dharmesh Parmar with dog
- In an interview, Dharmesh shared some childhood memories and said,
During Ambedkar Jayanti, we used to celebrate a full-fledged Shakti Utsav in our area with orchestra, artistes looking like Amitabh Bachchan and dance competitions and drawing competitions for children. We all came together to participate.”
- In his childhood, he loved cycling so much that he would often rent a bicycle at the rate of four rupees per hour. Talking about this in an interview, Dharmesh said,
I spent my childhood renting bicycles and driving buses at the rate of Rs 4 an hour.”
- Despite being from a Gujarati family, Dharmesh studied in a convent school, but was not that good at the language. In an interview, while talking about how his music group inspired him to learn the language and start rapping in it, he said,
I studied in St. Paul’s High School, a convent, so I am not fluent in Gujarati. I don’t even know how to read or write, but I’m exploring the language, you know. I have a dictionary, and I’m learning new words and phrases every day.
- Early in his musical career, Parmar’s songs were usually inspired by beggars, boys who smoke and hide from the police, and the hardships of train travel.
- In an interview, Dharmesh revealed that he started going to political rallies at the age of 15 just to get money. 100 and a lunch. He said,
When I was 15, my friends and I used to go to political forums because they would give me money. 100 and lunch. I didn’t care about politics, but this is just hustle.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn