Rapper Badshah is not at all flamboyant in real life. A civil engineer, who pursued a degree to please his family, he has battled depression and considers himself a balladeer. Ankita Jain reports
Heard of Badshah, the latest Punjabi rap sensationIJ He is of the cheesy party favourites like DJ waale babu and the cult hit ChullIJ Now he’s been picked up by none other than AR Rahman to recreate, rather rev up, the 90s’ anthem Humma Humma, so ably electrified by Remo Fernandes. He’s done the rap between the old verses but has probably done it with more reverence and thought than just another piece of experimentation. “We are in a phase where the film industry is experimenting with old songs, not doing covers really, but adding colour to them. Some are liked by many whereas others fail miserably. As far as my songs are concerned, I want to reinvent them in a way that they are remembered rather than being compared. Personally, I do not want to recreate any song but when Karan Johar asked me to revisit this foot-tapper for OK Jaanu, I couldn’t say no,” Badshah says.
He began rapping instinctively when he was in the seventh standard. “It was based on my maths teacher who didn’t know how to teach,” says Badshah, who claims to be a mathematics Olympiad gold medallist. Those days he was known as Aditya Singh, not the king of performance called Badshah. “Even today, I am Aditya, a regular middle class boy who did his engineering, who goes to buy groceries and just leads an ordinary life. Behind the mike, I become Badshah, the famous rapper. You can call it a bipolar disorder. For me, Badshah is an assumed persona to vent my views on the society I live in and reflect my struggles. I am a story-teller, simply portraying what I see and trying to keep it as close to reality as I can,” he adds. “Also, I was called Prince during my childhood,” he chuckles, indicating he has no trouble assuming identities.
Badshah, who did civil engineering, says becoming a musician would not have been endorsed by his family. “In India, a majority of young people cannot take upm subjects which interest them and they are simply forced by their parents to study disciplines which are mainstream and seem comfortable.”
As music was his soul and he didn’t have any industry links, he started utilising the digital platform to express himself. Soon he became a well-known name on YouTube. “I was discovered on YouTube and my popularity was limited to the online fraternity.”
For independent and film musicians across the country, the past two years convinced everyone that one viral “single” was indeed a minimalist move to cutting an album. There are newer rules on the popularity front: more focus on visuals, musicians must transform into performers, the release must be timely. And the same two years have witnessed the market for rappers expanding. “The rap genre is getting recognised in India now and there is a flood of talent,” he says.
Also, the shelf life of such work in India is short. And Badshah has too many examples to harbour any illusions of grandeur. “There was a time when people enjoyed listening to Himesh Reshammiya and Anu Malik. I do not know how long the trend of rap will survive in the industry. But when the audience gives up, I might come up with a restaurant,” he laughs.
There was a time when only item songs were suggestive or titillating but now all songs seem to have dual meanings and puns, especially rap, including a few of his songs like 2 many girls, Bad baby and Chull. “Bollywood is all about entertainment. I don’t think these songs are suggestive but entertaining till they are not offending anybody. I am an artiste catering to the youth and they love my work. The irony is people don’t want anything else from Badshah; he is synonymous with party music and I have to cater to that. Alcohol and girls have been a hot topic for many rappers but so far my songs have been clean. Abhi to party shuru hui hai is possibly the cleanest of them all because I composed this song for a Disney film where even a word like saala could not be used.”
Badshah, who hasn’t broken his image of a rapper and couldn’t position himself as a versatile artiste, says, “The image is certainly created by the audience. People will soon be seeing me composing full length songs in forthcoming films but then again I cannot deny the fact that I am best at rap.”
Talking about DJwale babu, he says, “There are many versions of this song which are in circulation. The lines came to me after I attended a wedding in Haryana where an elderly woman requested the DJ to play her favourite song. She literally said, ‘DJ waale babu mera gaana baja de’ and I composed the song keeping the line in mind. Chull I had composed for myself. I never knew it would become the most watched song on YouTube in India.”
Few know that Badshah has had his own battle with depression. Having compromised his dreams to become an engineer and then failing to cut an album despite trying diligently for two years, he plunged low. “In fact, I was under medication for six months. I connected well with Shaheen Bhatt (Alia Bhatt’s sister) during the Dream tour with Varun, Katrina, Alia, Siddharth and many more. Shaheen often suffers from depression bouts. We talked about it extensively during the trip and decided to come up with a platform where people could openly talk about it.
In India, people assume you to be mad if you tend to talk about mental illness; the word ‘depression’ doesn’t exist in their dictionary. And around 50 per cent of people are depressed in our country, battling their own demons and life’s challenges. It is among those wounds which are not visible.”
Badshah, who will be seen judging a music reality show Dil Hai Hindustani, concludes with one of his rap songs soon to be on air. This he composed for his girlfriend while he was struggling in Mumbai. “Mujhe maloom hai mera chehera tera dil ka sukun hai, tu bhi mere ragon meh behta khoon hai, kehne ko dur hai, dil k kareeb hai, paise ka nasha bhi janejana ek junoon hai. Mujhe pata hai tu hai pareshan kyu ki meri first album do saal seh coming soon hai...”