American hip hop artiste and rapper of Indian origin, Raja Kumari is excited about hip hop’s popularity here
Raja Kumari, originally called Svetha Rao, has made her way from the streets of LA to Mumbai’s gullies. The hip hop and rap artiste has just dropped a single, City Slums, a collaboration with Indian rap artiste Divine. The song, as the name suggests, is the anthem of the city’s streets. Here, Raja talks about blending classical dance forms and hip hop, cultural appropriation, and relocating to India.
Celebrating people of India
While Divine worked on the song from Mumbai, Raja did it in the US. Then, when she came to the city, they wrote the lyrics. “The song allows me to celebrate the people of India,” says Raja. Since they met in December last year when Raja on a tour, she was certain that he’d be the only Indian artiste she’d be collaborating with. “He’s so authentic as an artiste. When I saw his video in the US, I was amazed how happening hip hop was in India; that someone was doing something in the genre,” says she, “I love his lyrics, tone, delivery, content.”
Relocating to Mumbai
After a successful career in the US, where she has been associated with the likes of Iggy Azalea, Gwen Stefani, Fallout Boy, Timbaland, the BMI Pop Awards winner (2016) and Grammy nominee is considering relocating to India. “India is inborn in me. This is where I am from, where my people are, and I’m happiest here. I have a desire to make music internationally but will always have a place in India,” she says. The rapper is excited about hip hop catching the fancy of the nation. “In the next two years, I think it’s going to be one of the most popular genres in India. It’s being marketed well and has a presence in the Indian film industry. I’m excited that I get to be part of the culture from ground up,” she says.
Fusing classical dance and hip hop
With a background in classical dance (Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi) since she was five, Raja realised that hip hop was the best way for her to express herself because she was already trained in the intricacies of rhythm. “In my song Meera, for instance, the taal of Indian classical parts and the tempo of rap are the same,” says she. Growing up, Raja realised that people were leaving behind their roots. “I’ve always wanted to influence people to be proud of where they come from. I decided early on that I needed to make hip hop a part of who I was. It was a fun way to experiment and blend my two cultures — the Indian culture that’s intrinsic and the American that was around me,” avers Raja, who started her hip hop journey at 15. Though most people are encouraging of her music, some purists frowned upon blending Indian classical with hip hop. “Anytime anyone has opposed it, I’ve backed it up with my knowledge from learning ancient history and classical art that I end up convincing them to believe what I feel,” she laughs.
Lucky about collaborations
Raja recently had Never Give Up – Anirudh Ravichander’s composition in Tamil film Vivegam. She says, “Anirudh is an incredible composer and has a really fresh sound. I was really impressed with his production and I think he’s at par with the artistes I’ve worked in America.” The Mute hitmaker has a number of tracks in the pipeline.
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 "Raja Kumari")
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