name: Raja Kumari
Year: 36
home town: claremont, california
Live now: A 3 bedroom apartment in the Juhu district of Mumbai, India.
Claim to Fame: Kumari is a songwriter, singer and rapper whose work spans both Western and Indian music, reflecting her dual identity as a South Asian American. She blends English and Hindi lyrics, and classic Indian riffs over her rapping beats. Last year, she performed her single “NRI” (which stands for Non-Resident Indian) at an Asian American concert. President Biden’s inaugural ballSample lyric: “Feeding samosa. Too brown for the label. Too privileged to co-sign.”
Big break: Kumari started dancing and singing at the age of six, and by the age of ten she was performing traditional Indian dances across India.She began writing and recording her own songs in her early twenties and eventually signed on pulsea Los Angeles music producer and publisher who has written songs for Gwen Stefani, Fall Out Boy, and Iggy Azalea.bounce, bounce‘ (the video was filmed in India) was the catalyst for Ms. Kumari’s return to the studio. “She woke up,” she said. “I thought people wanted to add my voice, but they don’t want South Asian women to do it? Why don’t I make that leap?”
Latest projects: In May, Kumari released her latest single — “Made in India” — Remix Indian pop hits of the 90’s, featuring iconic Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene. Kumari’s 2020 single, feature In the new Disney+ series, “Ms. Marvel.”
Do the following: After years of working with Western labels, Mr. Kumari launched Godmother Records and ‘Made in India’ was the first single produced under that label. “It’s up to her to stand on her own two feet now,” she said. Her goal is also to use the label to discover and sign up-and-coming talent in India. “I have a dream of finding a Grammy-winning girl in India,” she said. “It means a lot.”
Actualized: Kumari, whose real name is Svetha Yelapragada Rao, adopted her stage name at the age of 14 to express her fearless self and build a visual identity around the Hindu female goddess. “That’s the character I needed,” she said, “having conceived the concept in her own room and brought it to life. Times Square billboardI don’t know of anything stronger than that. ”