If you have listened to the Jawan title track, vibed to songs like Everybody Knows and Revolver from the 2025 hit The Ba***ds of Bollywood, chances are you are already familiar with the voice of Raja Kumari. Now as the rapper-singer preps to perform at the UN40 Festival on March 15, she fondly remembers memories from the city. “I performed here years ago. The crowd is very artistic and ready to accept art. They’re willing to experiment with me – I can try new songs or perform something deeper, and they will be open to it,” she says.
Her upcoming set promises a different format from her earlier performances, and this time, she will be performing with a live band. “ There will be moments where it’s completely live with no backing vocals. I’ve also created new renditions of some of my songs, so people might even hear a punk version of a track they know,” the 40-year-old singer says.
Born and raised in Los Angeles in a Telugu family, originally from Hyderabad, Kumari’s artistic journey, interestingly, began with classical dance. According to her, training in Bharatanatyam shaped her understanding of rhythm and performance. “If I weren’t a classical dancer, I’m not even sure who I would be. It affects everything – my rhythms, my stage presence, the way I perform,” she explains, adding, “I make songs for dancers. If something feels off when I dance to it, I change that part.”
Her diasporic environment has also influenced her music and views on identity, as she shares, “Growing up in America, when I said I was Indian, people would ask me what tribe. So I started saying ‘dots, not feathers’. That made me want to show the world how beautiful our culture is and put it on a global platform,” Kumari points out. Staying rooted while working in the global music industry has always been central to her journey. “It’s an amazing time to be an Indian in the world. Across fashion, music, film and even business, we’re showing up in so many places and becoming main players. I just stay rooted in myself, no matter what room I’m in. If I’m in a studio with great artists, I still speak up because I’m there for a reason,” she adds.
Adding another feather to her almost decade-old journey, Kumari was recently nominated at the 68th Grammy Awards as a featured artiste on Sounds of Kumbha, a project helmed by Siddhant Bhatia that competed in the Best Global Music Album category. “For me, just going to the Grammys with a project like that felt like a victory. When I started making music in Los Angeles, Indian music was rarely mentioned in the industry. Though we didn’t take the Grammy home, to see so many Indians there and to see our names up there felt incredible,” she reminisces about the moment.
The project also coincided with a deeply personal and spiritual phase in her music. Around the same time, Kumari was working on Kashi to Kailash, an album largely composed in Sanskrit and centred on Lord Shiva.
Visiting the Kumbh Mela during that period proved transformative, she says, sharing that the album was created as an offering to Lord Siva. Now more than a decade into her career, Kumari hints at her sixth studio album, which will also mark ten years since her first release.
Over the years, she has collaborated with artistes across industries and continents, including composer AR Rahman, pop singer Gwen Stefani and the late Punjabi artiste Sidhu Moose Wala. Collaboration, she says, remains one of the most rewarding aspects of her work. “ I love working with artistes who might seem unexpected together. Somehow, I end up being the bridge between different worlds of music,” Kumari shares before she signs off.