Badshah (rapper)

Badshah
Badshah in 2018
Born	Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia (1984-11-19) 19 November 1984 Delhi, India
Other names	Badboyshah
Alma mater	Punjab Engineering College
Occupations	Rapper singer songwriter music producer filmmaker entrepreneur
Years active	2006-present
Television	MTV Hustle India's Got Talent Indian Idol Dil Hai Hindustani
Spouse	Jasmine Masih ​ ​ (m. 2012; div. 2020)​
Children	1
Musical career
Origin	Delhi, Chandigarh
Genres	Pop rap underground rap synthwave Hip-Hop Desi hip hop Bollywood
Labels	Sony Music Entertainment Universal Music Group
Formerly of	Mafia Mundeer
Past members	Yo Yo Honey Singh Raftaar Ikka Lil Golu Alfaaz J Star Money Aujla Leo Grewal Ninja

Aditya Prateek Singh^[a] (born 19 November 1984),^[4] better known by his stage name Badshah, is an Indian rapper, singer, songwriter, music producer, television personality and businessman. Badshah has recorded his songs in Hindi, Punjabi, English and Haryanvi languages.

Badshah gained widespread recognition after his 2012 single, "Saturday Saturday", was featured in the soundtrack of the 2014 movie, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. His notable works in Bollywood films include "Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai" from Khoobsurat (2014 film), "Kar Gayi Chull" from Kapoor and Sons, "Garmi" from Street Dancer 3D, "Naina" from Crew, "Proper Patola" from Namaste England. He has also collaborated with international artists such as J Balvin and Tainy for the song "Voodoo"^[5] with a guest verse from Lil Baby.

Badshah has appeared as judge on MTV Hustle, Indian Idol, Dil Hai Hindustani, India's Got Talent, and India's Got Latent.

Aditya Prateek Singh^[a] was born on 19 November 1984 in Delhi.^[6] His father, from Delhi, was a government officer, and his mother, from Punjab, was a teacher. He has a younger sister named Aprajita Singh.^[7][8]

He completed his schooling from Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura, Delhi where he performed with his school choir.^[8] Prior to becoming a full-time musician he enrolled as a student of civil engineering at the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Chandigarh, where he was exposed to new Punjabi music which prompted him to take on rap writing.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Badshah started his career in the music industry with the name "Cool Equal", but then changed his name to Badshah on the Indian rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh's advice as according to Badshah, Singh thought that he lived like a Badshah i.e. he would wake up or call whenever he wanted to and according to his own liking.^[13][14][15] He is further known for his catchphrase "it's your boy Badshah", often stylized as "Ish yo boy Baad-uh-sh-aa-ah".

In November 2006, he produced his first song "Soda Whiskey" which became a hit.^[16]

Due to his 2006 single's popularity, Anup Kumar, the manager of Yo Yo Honey Singh contacted him for possibly working together. Badshah was aware of Singh's music due to his popularity in the underground music scene. It was decided that Singh would compose the music for Badshah's English album.

The two collaborated on many tracks together, most of which could not be released. Some of the tracks like "Begani Naar", "Khol Botal" and "Dilli Ke Deewane" released in 2007-08. In late 2011/early 2012, he split from Mafia Mundeer and Singh due to credit-related problems. In an earlier interview with Raaj Jones in 2015, Badshah claims to have co-written many tracks with Singh with "Brown Rang" being written by both together, the rap for "Angreji Beat" being written by Badshah and also the rap for Singh & Raj Brar's 2008 track; "Chandigarh De Nazareyan Ne Patteya" being written by Badshah only as he was from Chandigarh himself. Badshah claims to have written / co-written almost all tracks for Singh, till the latter's album International Villager.^[17]

In his 2024 Interview with The Lallantop, Badshah claims initially giving Singh 2 lakh rupees, followed by an additional 3 lakh rupees for doing the music production for his debut English album and subsequently, 6 lakh rupees for fulfilling the budget for the music video of the song "Get Up Jawani" which was shot in 2009. The track became a part of Singh's debut album International Villager which launched in November 2011, with the release of its music video in April 2012. Badshah reiterated his claim to have written the track "Brown Rang" and the rap for the track "Angreji Beat" for Singh which the latter denies. Singh has denied Badshah ever being a part of "Mafia Mundeer" and instead states that Badshah was just a client for him.^[18]

After the split, Badshah formed a group The Titans alongside fellow rapper Raftaar and Sachit Takkar (Sachh). They produced many songs together in the Punjabi music industry and Bollywood together.^[19]

Badshah appeared alongside Deep Money on the track "Come 2 Me" in December 2012 from the latter's album Born Star. The album's music was produced by The Titans and also included many appearances from Raftaar most notably from the track "Bottle".

He broke into the mainstream after his 2012 single, "Saturday Saturday", was featured in the soundtrack of the 2014 movie, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.^[14][20][21]

His track "Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai" alongside Aastha Gill and Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor in the music video was featured in the 2014 Disney film, Khoobsurat. The track became a blockbuster and has since crossed one billion views on YouTube.^[22]

Badshah released his debut album, O.N.E. (Original Never Ends), on August 17, 2018.^[23]

His 2019 song "Paagal" reached 74.8 million views on YouTube within 24 hours, setting the record for the most-viewed video in 24 hours on YouTube.^[24] YouTube did not confirm the record. Badshah's label then Sony Music, confirmed that they had used the help of advertisements from Google AdSense to promote the song. An explanation from YouTube not acknowledging the record was due to the fact that Badshah's record label Sony Music India had purchased advertisements from Google and YouTube that embedded the video or directed fans to it in some way. However, it has emerged that this is a common practice in the global music industry, and that similar practices had previously been used by the record labels of previous record holders such as Ariana Grande and Blackpink. This has cast doubt on some of the 24-hour viewership records on YouTube.^[25]

He made his acting debut in August 2019 in the movie, Khandaani Shafakhana.^[26]

On 7 August 2020, the rapper released an alternative hip-hop album, The Power of Dreams of a Kid, which had eight tracks and included features from various artists such as Lisa Mishra, Sikander Kahlon, Fotty Seven, Bali and music producer Andy Grewal. The mixing and mastering of the album was handled by Aditya Dev.^[27]

His song "Genda Phool" was released by Sony Music India in 2020. It sampled a Bengali folk song "Boro Loker Biti Lo". Ratan Kahar, a Bengali artist, claimed to be the original writer and composer of the folk song.^[28] Though Badshah later released a statement saying that it was a traditional Baul folk song which was not copyrighted, since folk music does not fall under copyright protections and is thus in the public domain.^[29]

Badshah released a four-track EP, Retropanda - Part 1, on 14 March 2022.^[30]

Badshah collaborated with Aastha Gill for the song Pani Pani. The music video featured him alongside Jacqueline Fernandez.^[31] He further released the Bhojpuri version of the song, and rapped in the Bhojpuri language, alongside Khesari Lal Yadav. The Bhojpuri version got more than one million views in less than an hour and became the first Bhojpuri song to do so.^[32]

In 2023, he released his third studio album, 3:00 AM Sessions on 7 February 2023, through Universal Music Group. The album featured 7 tracks with several artists including Karan Aujla on the track "Players".

A year later, he released his fourth studio album, Ek Tha Raja on 18 March 2024, through Universal Music Group. It features several artists including Raftaar, Karan Aujla, Ikka, Dino James, Nora Fatehi, Raga, Seedhe Maut, Aastha Gill, Arijit Singh, MC Stan, KR$NA and Nikhita Gandhi.^[33] He also announced the Paagal World Tour 2024.^[33][34]

Badshah married Jasmine Masih in 2012. In January 2017, they had a daughter together named Jessemy Grace Masih Singh.^{[35] [36]} They divorced in 2020.^[37]

Indian rapper Badshah has ventured into the hospitality industry with several diverse dining experiences. He co-owns Dragonfly Experience in Delhi and Mumbai, and has launched three upscale restaurants in Chandigarh — Sago Spice Symphony, Seville, and Sidera.^[38] In 2025, he also introduced Badboy Pizza, a QSR brand in Mumbai, with plans to expand nationwide.^[39]

In 2019, Badshah began his acting career through the film Khandaani Shafakhana where he plays the role of a music superstsar who helps and supports the protagonist in the movie. He also had few other cameo appearances and works in movies mentioned here

• Badshah on Instagram
• Badshah on Twitter
• Badshah at IMDb
• Badshah's channel on YouTube