Krishna Kaul, known
mononymously
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
as Krishna (stylised now as KR$NA; previously as Krsna) and formerly as YoungProzpekt, is a rapper from
Gurugram
Gurgaon (pronunciation: ¡ÊŠÉ½É¡Ã£Ëw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: ¡ÊŠÉ¾ÊŠÉ¡É¾aËm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...
,
Delhi NCR
The National Capital Region (NCR) is a planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in India. It encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The N ...
, India.
He was one of the earliest rappers to emerge in the
Indian hip hop
Indian hip hop is a genre of popular music developed in India. Desi hip hop is a term for music and culture which combines the influences of hip hop and the Indian subcontinent; the term desi referring to the South Asian diaspora. The term has als ...
scene in the mid-2000s under the stage name Prozpekt. He was briefly featured in the 2019 Bollywood film
Gully Boy
''Gully Boy'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language Musical film#Indian musical films, musical drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar, and written by Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The film was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar under the ban ...
as himself. He is known for his writing and technical skills as a rapper, along with his infamous beefs in the
Desi Hip-Hop scene.
Early life
Krishna Kaul was born on 4 October 1987 to a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
family in Delhi. He spent a part of his childhood in
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
, where he was raised and schooled for a few years. Kaul started rapping at the age of fourteen in an effort to blend in with other children at his school in London.
Career
Kaul started recording and releasing songs on his
MySpace page in 2006, by 2008 he had gained a small local fanbase in New Delhi and racked up features with artists in the U.S.A. and Canada. His first shot of success came with the release of the music video for "''Kaisa Mera Desh''" in 2010, becoming the first Indian hip hop song on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and earning a #2 ranking as one of the most watched music videos in India overnight following its release. He also released a song titled "''Vijay''" in collaboration with international NGO
Save The Children
The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
in 2013.
After sporadic underground releases, Kaul switched from Prozpekt to his current stage name KR$NA after signing a record deal with
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...
in 2013. In May 2014, he released his debut album ''Sellout'', an all-English effort on Universal Music with its lead single "Last Night" peaking at #5 on the
Vh1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
Music Charts in India. Kaul became the first hip hop artist in India to do a five-city album tour with a band.
Following this, the music video for the title song "''Sellout''" was released but failed to make a large impact due to lacklustre marketing and shrinking label budgets.
After a 2-year hiatus, Kaul made his return in 2016 with his Hindi release "Vyanjan". Following the success of the song, he signed to the artist management agency DNH Artists (now Kalamkaar) in 2017 and became a partner in 2018, with the likes of Ankit Khanna and
Raftaar
Dilin Nair (born 16 November 1988), better known by his stage name Raftaar, is an Indian rapper, lyricist, dancer, TV personality and music composer associated with Hindi and Punjabi music.
He started his career as a dancer. He began his car ...
.
In 2020, Kaul accused the
IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
and
Disney+ Hotstar
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
of permitting the plagiarism of his 2017 song "''Dekh Kaun Aaya Wapas''" when creating the 2020 IPL anthem "''Ayenge Hum Wapas''", an allegation which was dismissed by composer Pranav Ajayrao Malpe. Kaul responded by stating that "his team
.. will take the legal route and approach Disney+ Hotstar, which commissioned the song".
In the month of January 2021, Kaul was featured on American rapper Hi-Rez's song "''Crossroads''" along with
Royce da 5'9"
Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...
. Later in July, another collaboration with Hi-Rez was released, titled "''Playground''" which also featured former
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility.
Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
member,
KXNG Crooked
Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked") is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a for ...
. His collaboration in Hi-Rez's song "''Overdrive''", was released in November 2021, featuring A-F-R-O,
Joell Ortiz
Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Afte ...
,
Bizzy Bone
Bryon Anthony McCane II (born September 12, 1976),Whitburn, Joel (2008) ''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006'', Record Research, , p. 97 better known by his stage name Bizzy Bone, is an American rapper, singer and the youngest member o ...
,
Tech N9ne
Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two m ...
and
Twista
Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the t ...
. The music videos were released on Hi-Rez's
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel.
In 2022, he featured on
Karan Aujla
Jaskaran Singh "Karan" Aujla (born 18 January 1997) is an Indo-Canadian and Punjabi singer, rapper and songwriter. He is known for his single tracks, 14 of which have been featured in the UK Asian chart by ''Official Charts Company'', while s ...
's song "''Ykwim''".
Discography
Albums
Singles and collaborations
References
External links
*
KRSNAat
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krsna
Indian rappers
Living people
21st-century Indian singers
Singers from Delhi
21st-century Indian male singers
1987 births
Kashmiri Pandits
Indian people of Kashmiri descent