No clouds, light reign
Delhi rapper King has gone from working a government job to featuring on the Spotify Global Top 25 playlist. See how his life has changed since then
Imagine waking up to find your song on the same Spotify playlist as the international musicians you’ve idolised over the years.
That’s what happened to 27-year-old Delhi rapper Apran Kumar Chandel, aka King, when his single, Maan Meri Jaan, broke onto the streaming platform’s Top Global Chart list on January 1, at the #25. He was effectively in the same circles as Beyoncé (Cuff It), The Weeknd (Die For You), Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa (One Kiss). Maan Meri Jaan is still In the global top 50. It has had more than 185 million streams and over 250 million views on YouTube.
King knows it’s a big deal. “(If) I can do that, three years into the scene, so can others,” he says. “People in India know about cricket, but not about the achievements of musicians. Look at what Diljeet Dosanjh, AP Dhillon and Badshah are achieving.” Dosanjh will perform at Coachella next month. AP Dhillon’s Excuses was Spotify’s most-streamed song in India last year. Badshah was one of the first Indian musicians to collaborate with international artists such as Major Lazer.
Maan Meri Jaan is the kind of love song that resonates with new relationships and old ones. “Everyone can relate to the feeling,” says King.
It also means that the world is playing closer attention to him. He has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. On YouTube, there are 5.4 subscribers playing his songs. “It’s important for people to see that I am not just a musician but a person as well,” he says. “Genuineness is what connects.”
Too many one-hit wonders have floundered in this space. Rihanna reacted to her early success by avoiding public life. Gotye’s most famous 2011 song, Somebody That I Used To Know, may well be how we remember him now.
King’s life started out normcore. His father is a government employee, his mother is a homemaker. He grew up in Delhi, on a diet of Backstreet Boys, Vengaboys, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne. “Dad would hum at times. But my parents were too busy working.”
He was a soprano in Delhi’s Navyug School choir. He played football on the national Under-20 team while at Dyal Singh College. “I was a sports-quota student. I couldn’t relate to the kids there,” he says, explaining why he dropped out. “Things are different for those who go to a government school. Wealth isn’t a part of our identity.”
He held a government job for five years. But music was always the escape. King wrote his first song, Boombass, in 2015, at age 19. He posted it on YouTube, just to try his luck. People loved it. So 10 months later, he released another one Zinnda, about surviving heartbreak. “I wrote about what was on my mind. I looked to old-school songs instead of pursuing what’s trending.” It worked.
In 2019, he auditioned for MTV Hustle, adopting the regal stage name as a challenge and confidence booster. He didn’t tell anyone at home about it until he knew he was among the final contestants. It’s what gave his music a wider platform, a stepping stone to the Spotify charts.
Maan Meri Jaan keeps its simple and real. King plans to do the same. He’s planning a world tour, is working on collaborations with artistes he can’t name yet, and is planning another India tour. That’s just what kings do.
Latest obsession: Cars. He owns a BMW, but is obsessed with a G Wagon, as of now.
Weakness: Chhole bhature. Unless he’s eating healthy. Then it’s fruit salad.
Currently listening to: Hasan Raheem, David Bowie and AC/DC.
Meet the band: Subhanshu Singh (guitar), Dan Thomas (drums), Danik Ghosh (bass). Birraj K Taneja (keys), Section 8 (DJ), Hanish Taneja, Gaurav (sound engineer & SFX), Amey Pendarkar (lights engineer), Harsh Patel (visual engineer).
Follow @kkuenzang on Twitter and Instagram
From HT Brunch, March 4, 2023
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