Svetha Yallapragada Rao (born January 11, 1986), professionally known as Raja Kumari, is an American rapper, songwriter and singer from Claremont, California.[1][2] Kumari is best known for her collaboration with notable artists including Gwen Stefani, Iggy Azalea, Fifth Harmony, Sidhu Moosewala,[3] Knife Party, Fall Out Boy.[4][5] She is also notable for receiving as a songwriter, the BMI Pop Awards in 2016,[6] and featuring on BBC Asian Network programme Bobby Friction on July 5, 2016.[7]
Raja Kumari | |
|---|---|
 Kumari at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles California | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Svetha Yallapragada Rao |
| Born | January 11, 1986 Claremont, California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, keyboards, guitar |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | Godmother Records Previously: Epic Records, Mass Appeal Records |
| Website | rajakumari |
Early life
editRaja Kumari is born as Svetha Yallapragada Rao into a Telugu family in Claremont, California. Her family hails from Andhra Pradesh, India.[8][9][10][11] Kumari holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies, with an emphasis on South Asian religions.
Her parents played an important role in developing her Indian character and trained her to become an Indian classical dancer who started performing at the age of 5.[12] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Raja Kumari said that she found it tough and lonely as a South Indian girl growing up in Los Angeles.[13]
While in fifth grade, Kumari discovered hip hop through the Fugees' album The Score. By the age of 14, she was a noticed freestyle MC known as "Indian Princess" (IP) or "Raja Kumari". She is a trained dancer in Kuchipudi, Kathak, and Bharatanatyam and had given many live performances in Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad.[8]
During her artist career, she has contributed to several philanthropic activities through her performances including the creation of a hospital in Bangalore and a meditation hall in Hyderabad for the Vegesna Foundation, a school for children with physical disabilities. As a result, Kumari has been recognized as a benefactor by the Foundation for Indic Philosophy and Culture (Indic Foundation) and has been honored with the Kohinoor Award for excellence in the Classical Arts by the Governor of Tamil Nadu.[14]
Career
editKumari[15] co-wrote, featured in or performed background vocals in a number of notable songs including Fall Out Boy's double-platinum single "Centuries", "Change Your Life" feat. T.I., Vicetone's "Don't You Run",[16] Brave Enough by Lindsey Stirling and "Set Me Free" for Baz Luhrmann's original Netflix series The Get Down about the birth of Hip Hop. She has also contributed to songs in albums by Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony (Reflection), Twin Shadow, and Dirty South. Recently she released her debut solo single "Mute" featuring Elvis Brown and produced by Jules Wolfson at Epic Records.[2][7][17] which premiered on Paper Magazine's website. In May 2016, Kumari was honored at the 2016 BMI Pop Awards for co-writing the song "Centuries" with Fall Out Boy.[6][18] In addition, she has a recording contract with Epic Records through L.A. Reid and collaborated with several players in the music industry, including artists Polow Da Don, J.R. Rotem, Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock and Karlin, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, Justin Tranter and Fernando Garibay.[citation needed] She has also been inspired in her music style by the Indian composer and producer A. R. Rahman.[2] In 2018, she co-wrote and performed the song titled 'Roots' and 'City Slums' in collaboration with Divine.[19] She has starred in Gully Boy as a judge, which was a cameo appearance. In 2019, she finally made her debut in mother tongue Telugu by featuring in 'Attention Everybody', a single produced by SouthBay (subsidiary of Ramanaidu Studios), Music composed by Kone Kone and the Telugu lyrics penned by Pranav Chaganty, which was a tribute to Telugu actor Venkatesh Daggubati released on his birthday.
She has been nominated for an MTV European Music Awards three times for Best India Act. She hosted the American Music Awards Pre-Show telecast, alongside Lauren Jaregui.[20] Kumari has also been announced as the face of MAC Cosmetics' holiday campaign: #MACStarringYou, in which she appears in adverts and marketing materials around the globe. She was a judge on season one of MTV Hustle, a rap battle competition show.
In 2022, she started her own independent label, Godmother Records.
In 2023, she worked with Kshmr on track "All Fall Down"[21]
Discography
editFilm songs
edit| Year | Song | Work | Composer | Co-Singer(s) | Writer(s) | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Jugni" | Kaatru Veliyidai | A. R. Rahman |
|
Shellee | Tamil | |
| "Freaking Life" | Mom |
|
|
Hindi | |||
| "Never Give Up" | Vivegam | Anirudh Ravichander | Raja Kumari | Tamil | |||
| 2018 | "Allah Duhai Hai" | Race 3 | JAM8 |
|
Hindi | ||
| "Husn Parcham" | Zero | Ajay–Atul |
|
||||
| 2019 | "The Wakhra Song" | Judgementall Hai Kya | Tanishk Bagchi | Navv Inder & Lisa Mishra | Tanishk Bagchi Rap Lyrics: Raja Kumari |
||
| 2020 | "Afreeda" | Dil Bechara | A.R. Rahman | Sana Musa | Amitabh Bhattacharya | ||
| 2021 | "Phire Faqeera" | Pagglait | Arijit Singh | Amrita Singh, Arijit Singh | Neelesh Misra | ||
| "Pagal" | Amrita Singh | ||||||
| 2023 | "Jawan Title Track" | Jawan | Anirudh Ravichander | Raja Kumari | Also Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions | ||
EPs and mixtapes
edit| Year | EP / Mixtape | Track | Artist(s) | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Curry Sauce Vol. 1 | New Level | Raja Kumari | ||||||||||||||||||
| Memo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| MF Bawse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | The Come Up | Tribe | Raja Kumari | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mute | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Come Up | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Believe in You | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Meera | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The City | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | BLOODLINE | SHOOK | Raja Kumari | ||||||||||||||||||
| KARMA | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ROBIN HOOD | |||||||||||||||||||||
| STILL CARE | |||||||||||||||||||||
| BORN HUSTLA | Raja Kumari ft. Janine The Machine | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | HBIC | MANIFEST | Raja Kumari | ||||||||||||||||||
| MADE IN INDIA | |||||||||||||||||||||
| HBIC | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ON | Raja Kumari ft. KR$NA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| THE DON | Raja Kumari ft. Shah Rule | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | The Bridge |
|
|
Singles and collaborations
edit| Year | Track | Artist(s) | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Don't You Run | Vicetone ft. Raja Kumari | From the "Aurora EP" by Vicetone |
| Mirage | Lindsey Stirling ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Brave Enough" by Lindsey Stirling | |
| Medicine | Ferras ft. Raja Kumari | ||
| 2017 | Drips Gold | Eden xo ft. Raja Kumari | |
| City Slums | Raja Kumari ft. DIVINE | ||
| 2018 | Vamos | Badal ft. Dr Zeus & Raja Kumari | From the EP "Puro Puro" by Badal |
| I Did It | Raja Kumari | ||
| Roots | DIVINE ft. Raja Kumari | ||
| 2019 | Kaun Hai Tu? | Shah Rule & Raja Kumari | |
| Sab Theek Ae | Deep Jandu ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Down to Earth" by Deep Jandu | |
| 2020 | Bindis and Bangles | Raja Kumari | |
| I Am A Rebel | Raja Kumari | Promotional track for boAt | |
| N.R.I. | Raja Kumari | ||
| Goddess | Krewella, NERVO ft. Raja Kumari | [22] | |
| PEACE | Raja Kumari | ||
| One Love (in support of UNICEF) | The Amplified Project, Bob Marley & Skip Marley
ft. Various Artists |
Cover of Bob Marley’s song One Love
In support of UNICEF's COVID-19 response | |
| SHANTI (PEACE - Hindi Version) | Raja Kumari | ||
| 2021 | Hello World | Rita Wilson, Claudia Leitte & Raja Kumari | |
| US | Sidhu Moose Wala ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Moosetape" by Sidhu Moose Wala | |
| Rani Cypher | Raja Kumari ft. Dee MC, SIRI & Meba Ofilia | ||
| Firestarter | Raja Kumari | ||
| Get It In | Raja Kumari | ||
| 2022 | Cleopatra | THEMXXNLIGHT ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "SKYPEARL" by THEMXXNLIGHT |
| Sahi Ja Nahi? (Good Or Not?) | F1rstman ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "The Blend" by F1rstman | |
| Out of Love | Raashi Sood & Raja Kumari | ||
| Life | King Sunny, Raja Kumari & Deep Jandu |
Songwriting credits
edit| Year | Track | Artist(s) | Album / EP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Change Your Life | Iggy Azalea | The New Classic |
| 2014 | Freefallin' | Dirty South | With You |
| Boss Mode | Knife Party | Abandon Ship | |
| Centuries | Fall Out Boy | Single | |
| 2015 | Like Mariah | Fifth Harmony ft. Tyga | Reflection |
| Sadness | Selah Sue | Reason | |
| Eclipse | Twin Shadow | Eclipse | |
| Spark | Ghost Town | Single | |
| Runnin' | Empire (season 2) | Empire: Season 2, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack) | |
| Broken Hearted | Kalin and Myles | Single | |
| Changed My Life | Kalin and Myles | Kalin and Myles | |
| 2016 | Red Flag | Gwen Stefani | This Is What the Truth Feels Like |
| Naughty | |||
| Loveable | |||
| Obsessed | |||
| Splash | |||
| War Paint | |||
| Mirage | Lindsey Stirling | Brave Enough | |
| 2017 | Never Give Up | Anirudh Ravichander | Vivegam |
| 2018 | Bright | Avril Lavigne | Unreleased from "Head Above Water" |
| 2019 | Attention Everybody | Kone Kone and Pranav Chaganty | Single (Telugu Debut) |
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Network | Role | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Lockdown | ZEE5 | Recreating a Hindi Song | Web Reality Show[23][24][25] |
| 2019 | MTV Hustle | MTV | Judge |
References
edit- ^ Vivianne Lapointe (May 11, 2016). "While You Were at Coachella: I Escaped to Bali With the People Who Write the Hits". HuffPost.
- ^ a b c Nadya Agrawal (July 1, 2016). "Rapper Raja Kumari Blends Indian Classical Music With Trap Beats on "Mute"". Paper Magazine.
- ^ Nolan Feeney (March 18, 2016). "Gwen Stefani: How Making My New Album Saved My Life". Time.
- ^ Bill Lamb. "Fall Out Boy – "Centuries"". About.com.
- ^ "Raja Kumari". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "BMI Honors Taylor Swift and Legendary Songwriting Duo Mann & Weil at the 64th Annual BMI Pop Awards". BMI. May 2011.
- ^ a b "Raja Kumari – Mute!". BBC Asian Network – Bobby Friction. July 5, 2016.
- ^ a b Sengupta, Meenakshi. "All hail the Raja Kumari!". Telangana Today. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ Adivi, Sashidhar (June 11, 2020). "'The Indian Princess' of rap". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ "My culture is in my art: Rapper Raja Kumari". Hindustan Times. August 7, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ "Indian-American rapper Raja Kumari to WION: One day I will bring a Grammy home". WION. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- ^ ""My parents poured all their Indianness in me!" Raja Kumari talks about what makes her the bridge between the East and the West". Hindustan Times. January 27, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ^ "COVER STORY: How Raja Kumari Embraced Culture and Controversy". Rolling Stone India. March 13, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ^ Nila Choudhury (May 26, 2011). "Multi-talented starlet Raja Kumari's got a heart". Urban Asia.
- ^ "Raja Kumari on cross-cultural music collaborations: Like to call it a brown renaissance".
- ^ "Preview: Vicetone ft. Raja Kumari – Don't You Run (Original Mix)". Bangin Beats.
- ^ "Raja Kumari – MUTE Ft. Elvis Brown". LiveFast magazine.
- ^ "Meet L.A. Reid's Latest Protege Raja Kumari". The Knockturnal.
- ^ "For How Much Longer Can We Ignore Caste and Still Call Ourselves Progressive?". The Wire. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ "Raja Kumari becomes first Indian to host American Music Awards 2019".
- ^ All Fall Down (feat. Yashraj, Riar Saab, Raja Kumari)Karam 3rd Studio Album of Kshmr
- ^ Meadow, Matthew (May 15, 2020). "Krewella & NERVO Team Up For New Single, "Goddess"". Your EDM. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Zee Media Bureau (August 17, 2018). "ZEE5 launches Lockdown with Badshah, Kailash Kher, Raftaar, Jonita Gandhi and many more". Zeenews.india.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ Mid-day (March 21, 2018). "Raja Kumari and Kailash Kher collaborate for reality show Lockdown". Mid-day.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ R.M. VIJAYAKAR (August 24, 2018). "ZEE5's Maiden Offering in the Music Space, 'Lockdown,' Premieres: Watch Trailer". Indiawest.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018.