Badshah (rapper)

Aditya Prateek Singh (born 19 November 1984), better known by his stage name Badshah, is an Indian rapper, singer, songwriter, music producer, television personality and businessman. Badshah has recorded his songs in Hindi, Punjabi, English and Haryanvi languages.

Badshah gained widespread recognition after his 2012 single, "Saturday Saturday", was featured in the soundtrack of the 2014 movie, ''Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania''. His notable works in Bollywood films include "Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai" from Khoobsurat (2014 film), "Kar Gayi Chull" from ''Kapoor and Sons'', "Garmi" from ''Street Dancer 3D'', "Naina" from ''Crew'', "Proper Patola" from ''Namaste England''. He has also collaborated with international artists such as J Balvin and Tainy for the song "Voodoo" with a guest verse from Lil Baby.

Badshah has appeared as judge on MTV Hustle, Indian Idol, Dil Hai Hindustani, India's Got Talent, and India's Got Latent.

Early life and education

Aditya Prateek Singh was born on 19 November 1984 in Delhi. His father, from Delhi, was a government officer, and his mother, from Punjab, was a teacher. He has a younger sister named Aprajita Singh.

He completed his schooling from Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura, Delhi where he performed with his school choir. Prior to becoming a full-time musician he enrolled as a student of civil engineering at the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Chandigarh, where he was exposed to new Punjabi music which prompted him to take on rap writing.

Career

Badshah started his career in the music industry with the name "Cool Equal", but then changed his name to Badshah on the Indian rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh's advice. He is further known for his catchphrase "it's your boy Badshah", often stylized as "Ish yo boy Baad-uh-sh-aa-ah".

In November 2006, he produced his first song "Soda Whiskey" which became a hit.

Due to the track's popularity Anup Kumar, the manager of Yo Yo Honey Singh contacted him for possibly working together. Badshah was aware of Singh's music as he was quite popular in the underground music scene. It was decided that Singh would do the music for Badshah's English album.

The two created many tracks together most of which could not be released of which "Begani Naar", "Khol Botal" and "Dilli Ke Deewane" released in 2007-08. Badshah states initially giving Singh 2 lakh rupees, then 3 lakh rupees for the album and subsequently 6 lakh rupees for the music video of "Get Up Jawani" which was shot in 2009. The track became a part of Singh's debut album International Villager which launched in November 2011. Badshah in late 2011/early 2012, split from "Mafia Mundeer" and Singh due to credit-related problems. Badshah claims to have written the track Brown Rang and the rap for "Angreji Beat" for Singh which the latter denies. Singh has denied Badshah ever being a part of "Mafia Mundeer" and instead states that Badshah was just a client for him.

He also appeared alongside "Deep Money" on the track "Come 2 Me" in December 2012.

He broke into the mainstream after his 2012 single, "Saturday Saturday", was featured in the soundtrack of the 2014 movie, ''Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania''.

His track "Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai" alongside Aastha Gill and bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor in the music video was featured in the 2014 Disney film, Khoobsurat (2014 film). The track became a blockbuster and has since crossed 1 Billion+ views on YouTube.

Badshah released his debut album, ''O.N.E. (Original Never Ends)'', on August 17, 2018.

He made his acting debut in August 2019 in the movie, ''Khandaani Shafakhana.''

On 7 August 2020, the rapper released a pop and hip-hop album, ''The Power of Dreams of a Kid'', which had eight tracks and included features from various artists such as Lisa Mishra, Sikander Kahlon, Fotty Seven, Bali and music producer Andy Grewal. The mastering and mixing of the album was done by Aditya Dev.

His 2019 song "Paagal" reached 74.8 million views on YouTube within 24 hours, setting the record for the most-viewed video in 24 hours on YouTube. YouTube did not confirm the record. Badshah's label then Sony Music, confirmed that they had used the help of advertisements from Google AdSense to promote the song.

An explanation for YouTube not acknowledging the record was that Badshah's record label Sony Music India had purchased advertisements from Google and YouTube that embedded the video or directed fans to it in some way. However, it has emerged that this is a common practice in the global music industry, and that similar practices had previously been used by the record labels of previous record holders such as Ariana Grande and Blackpink. This has cast doubt on some of the 24-hour viewership records on YouTube.

His song " Genda Phool" was released by Sony Music India in 2020. It had mixing with a Bengali folk song "Boro Loker Biti Lo". Ratan Kahar, a Bengali artist, claimed to be the original writer and composer of the folk song. Though Badshah later released a statement saying that it was a traditional Baul folk song which was not copyrighted, since folk music does not fall under copyright protections and is thus in the public domain.

Badshah released a four-track EP on 14 March 2022, ''Retropanda - Part 1''.

Badshah collaborated with Jacqueline Fernandez in the song ''Pani Pani'', the song is sung by Aastha Gill along with him. He further released the Bhojpuri version of the song, rapping in Bhojpuri language, by collaborating with Khesari Lal Yadav. The Bhojpuri version got more than one million views in less than an hour and became the first Bhojpuri song to do so.

He released his third studio album ''Ek Tha Raja'' on 18 March 2024, released by Universal Music Group. It features several artists including Raftaar, Karan Aujla, Ikka, Dino James, Nora Fatehi, Raga, Seedhe Maut, Aastha Gill, Arijit Singh, MC Stan, KR$NA and Nikhita Gandhi. He also announced the Pagaal World Tour 2024.

Personal life

Badshah married Jasmine Masih in 2012. In January 2017, they had a daughter together named ''Jessemy Grace Masih Singh''.
They divorced in 2020.

In 2024, Badshah revealed his struggles with depression and anxiety, which even led to panic attacks, one of which he confused with a heart attack.

Discography

Film songs

Film career

As actor

In 2019, Badshah began his acting career through the film ''Khandaani Shafakhana'' where he plays the role of a music superstsar who helps and supports the protagonist in the movie. He also had few other cameo appearances and works in movies mentioned here

As producer

Television

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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Indian rappers
21st-century Indian singers
21st-century Indian male singers
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Indian record producers
Musicians from Delhi
Rappers from Delhi
Hindi-language singers
Punjabi-language singers
1985 births

Film career

As actor

In 2019, Badshah began his acting career through the film ''Khandaani Shafakhana'' where he plays the role of a music superstsar who helps and supports the protagonist in the movie. He also had few other cameo appearances and works in movies mentioned here

As producer

Television

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Badshah
Indian rappers
21st-century Indian singers
21st-century Indian male singers
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Indian record producers
Musicians from Delhi
Rappers from Delhi
Hindi-language singers
Punjabi-language singers
1985 births
Punjab Engineering College alumni