TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'm DOING

I’ve been thinking a lot these days about the relationship between peace and power, in that I have often found my most peaceful moments are actually ones where I’m not only feeling blissful and with great clarity, but that I’m also feeling deeply empowered and almost invigorated to tackle any challenge. I for one know that these moments can be fleeting and I often will yearn for something to speed up or slow down life’s pace to find that great resting spot of peace and power, and in a way, it’s almost like it’s helpful to keep reminding myself that the peace unlocks the power and vice versa. And just as we had left off after a conversation a few years ago, this is squarely where we find hip-hop artist, singer, and performer Raja Kumari. She was born Svetha Yallapragada Rao in Claremont California, and 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 past year, she’s shared the stage with John Legend and collaborated on a variety of projects with the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Aniruddha Ravichander, Madhuri Dixit, and Sushmita Sen. After forming godmother records, her own independent music label a few years ago -, she’s released her latest work this past spring: a feature album called THE BRIDGE.
We caught up recently just as she was about to embark on her North American tour, and chatted about everything from some spiritual reset moments, to different artistic personas, and to what she’s searching for both personally and professionally, and as I’ve been listening to Raja’s music lately , we started by talking about some of her recent reflections and looking toward the end of the year.