The rap king of Bollywood – Badshah, shares his life experience and one of his most challenging projects till date, with MUSBA HASHMI.

What is your latest album O.N.E about?

It stands for Original Never Ends. This album consists of 18 songs out of which four have been released — DJ Wale Babu, Mercy, No Pain and Heartless. Two will be releasing soon — I am Ill and Aashiq Awara. I have collaborated with Aastha Gill, Sunidhi Chauhan and Lisa Mishra for this album.

How has your journey been from Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia to Badshah?

It has been an amazing journey so far. God has been kind to me. People are kind too that they accepted me and  love me. There was a lot of struggle, it wasn’t easy but I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to let people know that you should never give up — that is the lesson I learnt. I never gave up, no matter what. My dream and passion was too strong for anything to pull me down. I kept polishing my skills. I kept looking for ways to become better and it paid off.

When did you first realise your passion for music?

I was always passionate about it. While I was studying and even when I was working, music was a constant. I don’t come from a music background, no one in my family sings and we were nowhere related to music apart from the fact that we used to play music at our place every time. It was a 24 hour thing for us. I grew up with music and this is the reason why I love it.

Where did you get your inspiration from?

When I started rapping, there was no inspiration for me. There was no one to look after me. I was doing something new. That was the reason it became a little difficult to convince my parents to allow me to take it up as a career. It was both a good and bad thing at that time. The good was there were no benchmarks and I was allowed to do it in my way. I can say my inspiration has been my life, all the successful people who become something out of nothing— Virat Kohli, Shah Rukh Khan, Ratan Tata and everyone who is successful.

You have collaborated with different rappers and artists, how was the experience ?

Collaborations always bring out a new sound. It is great for the industry. When two artists come together, they blend the individual song and create a new sound. It is just like mixing two colours to get a new one. My experience has been great with all of them. In future, I would like to work with Kumar Sanu.

How will you differentiate between rappers and singers?

Singers sing, rappers rap. Both are a different genre. It is like differentiating between a table and a chair. A lot of people don’t understand but rap is essentially rudiment poetry and we just follow one note. But in singing, you play with notes. Rap is all about expressions. Singing is about a good voice.

A rap that is close to you and why?

There is one song — Lose Yourself by Eminem. It has inspired me in the greatest way possible. It has taught me to take a leap of faith.

What was the most challenging project for you?

It has to be my album. There were no deadlines because I was doing it for myself. I tend to become lazy and not finish things on time. But I gave myself a deadline and decided to complete my album. No one is doing albums these days, there is probably a lot of insecurities about one’s product (song) but I am very confident about my product and I can’t wait for it to come out.

Best moment from your journey.

I am loving the response I am getting for my song Heartless. Through this song, people have been able to discover a new side to me. I feel glad that people are taking me as a writer and not just an entertainer. I think I am a writer, a lyricist and I have got stories to tell.

Advise to the aspiring rappers.

I just want to let them know that you have to be yourself, you have to keep yourself motivated, be unique — don’t copy anyone — just be you. Rapping is all about uniqueness and what can be more unique than just being yourself.

What is your take on nepotism?

The word is just a nomenclature, it is a word which is being thrown around in a bad light right now. Nepotism exists everywhere, baap ka business beta sambhaal raha hai, vahan nepotism hai.  It is being passed down to generations, pehle raja hote the phir unkey bete raja bante thhey. Not that I am comparing anything, but if you are talented, people will find you.

I don’t think it is right to call out someone’s name for nepotism, there are preferences of people like I might not like to work with someone. The word is bad to use just for a few people because in a project, a lot of money is at stake and the directors and the producers do not want to favour people just because they are star kids. I am sure they look for something which is going to be fruitful for them.

What are your upcoming projects?

I have done two songs for Namaste England, one for Stree and then there are other songs from my album that are scheduled to be released soon.

Writer: MUSBA HASHMI

Courtesy: Sunday Pioneer

The rap king of Bollywood – Badshah, shares his life experience and one of his most challenging projects till date, with MUSBA HASHMI.

What is your latest album O.N.E about?

It stands for Original Never Ends. This album consists of 18 songs out of which four have been released — DJ Wale Babu, Mercy, No Pain and Heartless. Two will be releasing soon — I am Ill and Aashiq Awara. I have collaborated with Aastha Gill, Sunidhi Chauhan and Lisa Mishra for this album.

How has your journey been from Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia to Badshah?

It has been an amazing journey so far. God has been kind to me. People are kind too that they accepted me and  love me. There was a lot of struggle, it wasn’t easy but I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to let people know that you should never give up — that is the lesson I learnt. I never gave up, no matter what. My dream and passion was too strong for anything to pull me down. I kept polishing my skills. I kept looking for ways to become better and it paid off.

When did you first realise your passion for music?

I was always passionate about it. While I was studying and even when I was working, music was a constant. I don’t come from a music background, no one in my family sings and we were nowhere related to music apart from the fact that we used to play music at our place every time. It was a 24 hour thing for us. I grew up with music and this is the reason why I love it.

Where did you get your inspiration from?

When I started rapping, there was no inspiration for me. There was no one to look after me. I was doing something new. That was the reason it became a little difficult to convince my parents to allow me to take it up as a career. It was both a good and bad thing at that time. The good was there were no benchmarks and I was allowed to do it in my way. I can say my inspiration has been my life, all the successful people who become something out of nothing— Virat Kohli, Shah Rukh Khan, Ratan Tata and everyone who is successful.

You have collaborated with different rappers and artists, how was the experience ?

Collaborations always bring out a new sound. It is great for the industry. When two artists come together, they blend the individual song and create a new sound. It is just like mixing two colours to get a new one. My experience has been great with all of them. In future, I would like to work with Kumar Sanu.

How will you differentiate between rappers and singers?

Singers sing, rappers rap. Both are a different genre. It is like differentiating between a table and a chair. A lot of people don’t understand but rap is essentially rudiment poetry and we just follow one note. But in singing, you play with notes. Rap is all about expressions. Singing is about a good voice.

A rap that is close to you and why?

There is one song — Lose Yourself by Eminem. It has inspired me in the greatest way possible. It has taught me to take a leap of faith.

What was the most challenging project for you?

It has to be my album. There were no deadlines because I was doing it for myself. I tend to become lazy and not finish things on time. But I gave myself a deadline and decided to complete my album. No one is doing albums these days, there is probably a lot of insecurities about one’s product (song) but I am very confident about my product and I can’t wait for it to come out.

Best moment from your journey.

I am loving the response I am getting for my song Heartless. Through this song, people have been able to discover a new side to me. I feel glad that people are taking me as a writer and not just an entertainer. I think I am a writer, a lyricist and I have got stories to tell.

Advise to the aspiring rappers.

I just want to let them know that you have to be yourself, you have to keep yourself motivated, be unique — don’t copy anyone — just be you. Rapping is all about uniqueness and what can be more unique than just being yourself.

What is your take on nepotism?

The word is just a nomenclature, it is a word which is being thrown around in a bad light right now. Nepotism exists everywhere, baap ka business beta sambhaal raha hai, vahan nepotism hai.  It is being passed down to generations, pehle raja hote the phir unkey bete raja bante thhey. Not that I am comparing anything, but if you are talented, people will find you.

I don’t think it is right to call out someone’s name for nepotism, there are preferences of people like I might not like to work with someone. The word is bad to use just for a few people because in a project, a lot of money is at stake and the directors and the producers do not want to favour people just because they are star kids. I am sure they look for something which is going to be fruitful for them.

What are your upcoming projects?

I have done two songs for Namaste England, one for Stree and then there are other songs from my album that are scheduled to be released soon.

Writer: MUSBA HASHMI

Courtesy: Sunday Pioneer