Raja Kumari on her latest EP H.B.I.C, on feeling empowered and launching her own label, and on thinking about "legacy"
Download MP3I’ve always been fascinated by how we introduce and even reintroduce ourselves. Sometimes it’s a completely unfamiliar situation and a fresh and true orientation is required. When you’re a child or youre naive to the environment, it helps to have an experienced or more seasoned facilitator, but as you mature and become more confident or if its super comfortable, it’s often rejuvenating and empowering to just own the encounter and declare yourself. Speaking of owning it, thank you so much for listening to the show, for subscribing and downloading and rating the podcast on your favorite platform, and for following on social media @drabhaydandekar. So finding that sweet spot of liberation and empowerment can be so challenging for Indian Americans - as we’re often filled with so many blends and bridges: classical and contemporary, old and new, desi and diasporic - and for many, searching for that sweet spot spawns moments of artistic clarity and resonance. And this is squarely where we find hip-hop artist, singer, and performer Raja Kumari. She’s an American… born Svetha Yallapragada Rao in Claremont California, who grew up incredibly rooted in Indian culture, with classical Indian music as a soundtrack and intensive training in bharatnatyam, kathak, and kuchipudi. At 14, Sveta started performing as a hip-hop artist under the name Raja Kumari, rapping and writing her own songs and learning and collaborating with Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony, and Iggy Azalea. Along the way, she’s released a number of hit singles and EP’s and moved to Mumbai to concentrate on professional work as well as interests in philanthropy and mentoring other artists. This summer,
after forming her own independent music label - godmother records. she released her latest work : the single Made in India, a feature on Raashi Sood’s single Out of Love, and her latest EP titled HBIC , a collection of unapologetic and richly confident and empowering expressions of her individual journey. We caught up recently, and as I listened to Raja’s music, I wanted to ask her if what kept going through my mind as a listener was driven and motivated by an epiphany or story…
