Rajid Ahamed (born 14 December 1995), known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Yung Raja, is a Singaporean-Tamil rapper and songwriter. He is known for his use of

Tanglish Tanglish ( ta, தமிங்கிலம்) is the mixing or code-switching of the Tamil and English languages. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two languages and has been variously composed. The earliest form is ''Tamilish'' (d ...

, a mix of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and English, in his raps.

Early life

Rajid Ahamed was born in 1995, in Singapore, to Tamil-Muslim parents from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Ahamed has three elder sisters, which led to him being given the nickname "chinna thambi" (Tamil meaning: younger brother), and subsequently inspiring the first half of his stage name. The second half of his stage name, Raja, pays tribute to the Indian composer,

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

. Rajid Ahamed attended

Ngee Ann Polytechnic Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1963, the polytechnic is renowned for its business programmes. History Ngee An ...

and graduated with a diploma in mass communications.

Career

Before becoming a singer-songwriter, Ahamed was a child actor acting in local dramas and having cameos in films including '' Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen'' and ''

Joker Game is a Japanese novel series written by Koji Yanagi. It has inspired a live-action film and an anime television series. This adaptation was produced by Production I.G aired from April to June 2016. Characters ; : :Played by: Yusuke Is ...

''. Released in early 2018, Yung Raja's debut single was a remix of "

Gucci Gang "Gucci Gang" is a song by American rapper Lil Pump. It is produced by Bighead and co-produced by Gnealz, and is the fifth single from Lil Pump's self-titled debut album. It was originally released on Pump's SoundCloud account on August 28, 2017, ...

" by

Lil Pump Gazzy Garcia (born August 17, 2000), better known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He is one of the most prominent artists of the SoundCloud rap scene and is known for his minimalist music and hyperactive public persona. Li ...

, titled "Poori Gang". Yung Raja came to prominence after being featured in an episode of the Malaysia hip hop web-series, '' 16 Baris,'' in 2018. The same year, he rose to prominence with the single "Mustafa", which was followed by "Mad Blessings". A sequel to "Mad Blessings", titled "The Dance Song", was released in October 2020. In 2019, Ahamed hosted the Asian reboot of

YO! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dough ...

alongside Kim Lee. Yung Raja was one of six inaugural signees of

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

Southeast Asia (alongside

Joe Flizzow Too Phat was a Malaysian hip-hop duo, composed of rappers Joe Flizzow (born Johan Ishak in Kuala Lumpur; 16 October 1979) and Malique (born Malique Ibrahim in Johor Bahru; 21 August 1977). Career In the late 1990s Joe Flizzow, Malique and K ...

Daboyway Prinya Intachai th, ปริญญา อินทชัย, better known as Daboyway is an American-born Thai rapper, songwriter, producer and actor. He gained recognition through the early days formation of ‘Thaitanium’ with his two frien ...

, Fariz Jabba and A.Nayaka) in September 2019. After becoming the first Asian artist signed to

Alamo Records Todd Moscowitz is a music industry executive. He is currently the founder and CEO of Alamo Records and the manager of Gucci Mane. Previously, Moscowitz co-founded 300 Entertainment, served as a co-president and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and ...

, he released the single "Mami" in March 2021. Yung Raja gained international attention after "Mami" was featured in a ''The'' ''Tonight Show'' segment when Jimmy Fallon roasted the song's repetitive hook.

Influences

Yung Raja was influenced by musicians including A.R. Rahman, FlightSch,

Alyph Alif Abdullah (born September 21, 1989), better known as ALYPH or Alif is a Singaporean-Malay singer, performer, songwriter, composer and producer based in Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal ...

Sid Sriram Sidharth "Sid" Sriram (born 19 May 1990) is an Indian Carnatic musician, music producer, playback singer, and songwriter. He is an R&B songwriter and has been working in the Tamil ,Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi and English music ...

, and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Discography

Extended plays

* ''One 65'' (2021) * ''Mike'' (2021)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

{{Reflist Living people 1995 births Singaporean rappers Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean songwriters Tamil rappers Ngee Ann Polytechnic alumni Singaporean Muslims Singaporean people of Tamil descent