Rahul Kumar Velpula (born 26 Jan 1989), known professionally as Roll Rida, is an Indian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, songwriter and actor in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

films and music. He became popular with his

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 ...

rap song on

Sankranthi Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...

, ''Patang'', was a huge hit with over 17 million views. His other popular songs are Kirana rap, Breaking news Kattif, Shankar Ka Beta, Ivvalane Dilkush, Ignite, Arupu etc. In 2018, he appeared as a contestant for ''Bigg Boss 2'' and successfully reached the 15th week of the show and finished in 6th place.

Early life

Roll Rida was born in

Karimnagar Karimnagar is also known as Elagandula (Ancient name) is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration and fifth largest City in the state. It is governed by Municipal corporation a ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

, India. He did his schooling at Johnson Grammar School in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

; intermediate at Narayana Junior College, Tarnaka and completed his

BTech A Bachelor of Technology (Latin ''Baccalaureus Technologiae'', commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech. (Hons.)) is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after the completion of a three to five-year program of studi ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

from

CVR College of Engineering The CVR College of Engineering was established in 2000. It is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education and accredited by the National Board of Accreditation, India. CVR College of Engineering was affiliated with Jawaharlal N ...

, Hyderabad. He was popular for his singing in school and started a band in college with Syed Kamran.

Career

Roll Rida initially worked at

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, Hyderabad and as Quality Analyst at

Tech Mahindra Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company. Part of the Mahindra Group, the company is headquartered in Pune and has its registered office in Mumbai. Tech Mahindra is a 6.0 billion company w ...

. He picked his professional name, Roll Rida, upon a friend's suggestion, after popular American rapper,

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

, of Low song fame. He quit his job to pursue his successful singing career in 2017. His rap song ‘Arupu’ with Syed Kamran became popular. He was the first to do a rap song in Telugu language from

State. In 2013, he debuted on

with a single, ''Patang'', on YouTube became a huge hit, with over 14 million views. His songs Patang, Kirana song, Dilkush are popular among young listeners. He toured USA in 2015 and 2016 to promote his Telugu rap and Hip Hop songs. Roll Rida was featured on

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 ...

in 2010. He worked with Telugu music directors like

M. M. Keeravani Koduri Marakathamani Keeravani (born 4 July 1961; credited as M. M. Keeravani) is an Indian film composer, playback singer, and lyricist, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema along with other languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Ma ...

S. S. Thaman Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...

and

Anoop Rubens Anup Rubens, born Enoch Rubens, is an Indian film music composer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He has received the South Filmfare Awards and Nandhi Awards by Government of Andra pradesh. Rubens works include '' Seetharama Kalyana'' ...

. He also performed with

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

. He worked as a voice artist for

Akhil Akkineni Akhil Akkineni (born 8 April 1994) is an American actor of Indian descent who works in Telugu films. Born into the Akkineni family, he is the son of actors Nagarjuna and Amala. In his film career, Akkineni has earned several accolades such as ...

in the film ''

Manam Manam, known locally as Manam Motu, is an island located in the Bismarck Sea across the Stephan Strait from Yawar on the northeast coast of mainland Papua New Guinea's Bogia District. The island is 10 kilometers wide, and was created by t ...

'', and

Jr. NTR Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fi ...

in ''

Temper Temper, tempered or tempering may refer to: Heat treatment * Tempering (metallurgy), a heat treatment technique to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys **Temper mill, a steel processing line * Tempering (spices), a cooking technique where ...

''. He acted in a short film, ''Hello!'', an urban

rom com Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how Romance (love), true love is able to surmount most obstacl ...

. It was released on YouTube. He was selected for ''Bigg Boss 2'' for his popularity. He stayed in the house till the week before the finale of that season.

Artistry

Roll Rida's rapping is a combination of Hyderabadi Telugu and Deccani slang spoken in Hyderabad old city.

Discography

Singles/Music Videos

Telugu film songs

Filmography

* '' 90ML'' (2019)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rida, Roll Living people Indian rappers Indian male pop singers Indian male playback singers Singers from Telangana People from Karimnagar district Telugu playback singers 1989 births Bigg Boss (Telugu TV series) contestants Male actors in Telugu cinema