| Raja Kumari | |
| Birth Name: | Svetha Yallapragada Rao |
| Birth Date: | 1986 1, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Claremont, California, United States |
| Genre: | |
| Occupation: | Rapper, singer, songwriter |
| Instruments: | Vocals, keyboards, guitar |
| Years Active: | 2012–present |
| Label: | Godmother RecordsPreviously: Epic Records, Mass Appeal Records |
| Associated Acts: | Divine, Iggy Azalea, Fifth Harmony, Fall Out Boy, Gwen Stefani, Knife Party, Sean Garrett, Shannon K, Deep Jandu,Sidhu Moosewala |
Svetha Yallapragada Rao (born January 11, 1986), professionally known as Raja Kumari, is an American rapper, songwriter and singer from Claremont, California.[1] Kumari is best known for her collaboration with notable artists including Gwen Stefani, Iggy Azalea, Fifth Harmony, Sidhu Moosewala,[2] Knife Party, Fall Out Boy.[3] [4] She is also notable for receiving as a songwriter, the BMI Pop Awards in 2016, and featuring on BBC Asian Network programme Bobby Friction on July 5, 2016.[5]
Raja Kumari is born as Svetha Yallapragada Rao into a Telugu family in Claremont, California. Her family hails from Andhra Pradesh, India.[6] [7] [8] [9] Kumari holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies, with an emphasis on South Asian religions.
Her parents played an important role in developing her Indian character and trained her to become an Indian classical dancer who started performing at the age of 5.[10] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Raja Kumari said that she found it tough and lonely as a South Indian girl growing up in Los Angeles.[11]
While in fifth grade, Kumari discovered hip hop through the Fugees' album The Score. By the age of 14, she was a noticed freestyle MC known as "Indian Princess" (IP) or "Raja Kumari". She is a trained dancer in Kuchipudi, Kathak, and Bharatanatyam and had given many live performances in Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad.
During her artist career, she has contributed to several philanthropic activities through her performances including the creation of a hospital in Bangalore and a meditation hall in Hyderabad for the Vegesna Foundation, a school for children with physical disabilities. As a result, Kumari has been recognized as a benefactor by the Foundation for Indic Philosophy and Culture (Indic Foundation) and has been honored with the Kohinoor Award for excellence in the Classical Arts by the Governor of Tamil Nadu.[12]
Kumari[13] co-wrote, featured in or performed background vocals in a number of notable songs including Fall Out Boy's double-platinum single "Centuries", "Change Your Life" feat. T.I., Vicetone's "Don't You Run",[14] Brave Enough by Lindsey Stirling and "Set Me Free" for Baz Luhrmann's original Netflix series The Get Down about the birth of Hip Hop. She has also contributed to songs in albums by Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony (Reflection), Twin Shadow, and Dirty South. Recently she released her debut solo single "Mute" featuring Elvis Brown and produced by Jules Wolfson at Epic Records.[15] [5] [16] which premiered on Paper Magazine's website. In May 2016, Kumari was honored at the 2016 BMI Pop Awards for co-writing the song "Centuries" with Fall Out Boy.[17] [18] In addition, she has a recording contract with Epic Records through L.A. Reid and collaborated with several players in the music industry, including artists Polow Da Don, J.R. Rotem, Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock and Karlin, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, Justin Tranter and Fernando Garibay. She has also been inspired in her music style by the Indian composer and producer A. R. Rahman.[15] In 2018, she co-wrote and performed the song titled Roots
She has been nominated for an MTV European Music Awards three times for Best India Act. She hosted the American Music Awards Pre-Show telecast, alongside Lauren Jaregui.[20] Kumari has also been announced as the face of MAC Cosmetics' holiday campaign: #MACStarringYou, in which she appears in adverts and marketing materials around the globe. She was a judge on season one of MTV Hustle, a rap battle competition show.
In 2022, she started her own independent label, Godmother Records.
In 2023, she worked with Kshmr on track "All Fall Down"[21]
| Year | Song | Work | Composer | Co-Singer(s) | Writer(s) | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Jugni" | Kaatru Veliyidai | Shellee | Tamil | |||
| "Freaking Life" | Mom | Hindi | |||||
| "Never Give Up" | Vivegam | Anirudh Ravichander | Raja Kumari | Tamil | |||
| 2018 | "Allah Duhai Hai" | Race 3 | Rap Lyrics: Raja Kumari | Hindi | |||
| "Husn Parcham" | Zero | Ajay–Atul | |||||
| 2019 | "The Wakhra Song" | Judgementall Hai Kya | Navv Inder & Lisa Mishra | Tanishk Bagchi Rap Lyrics: Raja Kumari | |||
| 2020 | "Afreeda" | Dil Bechara | A.R. Rahman | Sana Musa | Amitabh Bhattacharya | ||
| 2021 | "Phire Faqeera" | Pagglait | Amrita Singh, Arijit Singh | Neelesh Misra | |||
| "Pagal" | Amrita Singh | ||||||
| 2023 | "Jawan Title Track" | Jawan | Anirudh Ravichander | Raja Kumari | Also Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions | ||
| 2016 | Curry Sauce Vol. 1 | New Level | Raja Kumari | |||||||||||||||||||
| Memo | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MF Bawse | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | The Come Up | Tribe | Raja Kumari | |||||||||||||||||||
| Mute | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Come Up | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Believe in You | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meera | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The City | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | BLOODLINE | SHOOK | Raja Kumari | |||||||||||||||||||
| KARMA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ROBIN HOOD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| STILL CARE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| BORN HUSTLA | Raja Kumari ft. Janine The Machine | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | HBIC | MANIFEST | Raja Kumari | |||||||||||||||||||
| MADE IN INDIA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| HBIC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ON | Raja Kumari ft. KR$NA | |||||||||||||||||||||
| THE DON | Raja Kumari ft. Shah Rule | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | The Bridge |
|
|
| 2016 | Don't You Run | Vicetone ft. Raja Kumari | From the "Aurora EP" by Vicetone |
| Mirage | Lindsey Stirling ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Brave Enough" by Lindsey Stirling | |
| Medicine | Ferras ft. Raja Kumari | ||
| 2017 | Drips Gold | Eden xo ft. Raja Kumari | |
| City Slums | Raja Kumari ft. DIVINE | ||
| 2018 | Vamos | Badal ft. Dr Zeus & Raja Kumari | From the EP "Puro Puro" by Badal |
| I Did It | Raja Kumari | ||
| Roots | DIVINE ft. Raja Kumari | ||
| 2019 | Kaun Hai Tu? | Shah Rule & Raja Kumari | |
| Sab Theek Ae | Deep Jandu ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Down to Earth" by Deep Jandu | |
| 2020 | Bindis and Bangles | Raja Kumari | |
| I Am A Rebel | Raja Kumari | Promotional track for boAt | |
| N.R.I. | Raja Kumari | ||
| Goddess | Krewella, NERVO ft. Raja Kumari | [22] | |
| PEACE | Raja Kumari | ||
| One Love (in support of UNICEF) | The Amplified Project, Bob Marley & Skip Marleyft. Various Artists | Cover of Bob Marley’s song One LoveIn support of UNICEF's COVID-19 response | |
| SHANTI (PEACE - Hindi Version) | Raja Kumari | ||
| 2021 | Hello World | Rita Wilson, Claudia Leitte & Raja Kumari | |
| US | Sidhu Moose Wala ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "Moosetape" by Sidhu Moose Wala | |
| Rani Cypher | Raja Kumari ft. Dee MC, SIRI & Meba Ofilia | ||
| Firestarter | Raja Kumari | ||
| Get It In | Raja Kumari | ||
| 2022 | Cleopatra | THEMXXNLIGHT ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "SKYPEARL" by THEMXXNLIGHT |
| Sahi Ja Nahi? (Good Or Not?) | F1rstman ft. Raja Kumari | From the album "The Blend" by F1rstman | |
| Out of Love | Raashi Sood & Raja Kumari | ||
| Life | King Sunny, Raja Kumari & Deep Jandu |
| Year | Track | Artist(s) | Album / EP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Change Your Life | Iggy Azalea | The New Classic | |
| 2014 | Freefallin' | Dirty South | With You | |
| Boss Mode | Knife Party | Abandon Ship | ||
| Centuries | Fall Out Boy | Single | ||
| 2015 | Like Mariah | Fifth Harmony ft. Tyga | Reflection | |
| Sadness | Selah Sue | Reason | ||
| Eclipse | Twin Shadow | Eclipse | ||
| Spark | Ghost Town | Single | ||
| Runnin' | Empire (season 2) | Empire: Season 2, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack) | ||
| Broken Hearted | Kalin and Myles | Single | ||
| Changed My Life | Kalin and Myles | Kalin and Myles | ||
| 2016 | Red Flag | Gwen Stefani | This Is What the Truth Feels Like | |
| Naughty | ||||
| Loveable | ||||
| Obsessed | ||||
| Splash | ||||
| War Paint | ||||
| Mirage | Lindsey Stirling | Brave Enough | ||
| 2017 | Never Give Up | Anirudh Ravichander | Vivegam | |
| 2018 | Bright | Avril Lavigne | Unreleased from "Head Above Water" | |
| 2019 | Attention Everybody | Kone Kone and Pranav Chaganty | Single (Telugu Debut) |
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Lockdown | Recreating a Hindi Song | Web Reality Show[23] [24] [25] | ||
| 2019 | MTV Hustle | MTV | Judge |