Badshah Indian Rapper Born 1985 in Karnal

Early life

Badshah, whose birth name is Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodiya, was born on 19 November 1985 in Karnal, in the Indian state of Haryana. He attended Bal Bharati Public School and later enrolled in civil engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh. It was there that he came into contact with newer Punjabi music, which led him to start writing rap.

Career

Before becoming a full-time musician he performed under the name Cool Equal and later adopted the name Badshah. His wider breakthrough came with the 2012 single "Saturday Saturday", which was included in the soundtrack of the 2014 film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. The same year he appeared in the music video for "Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai", recorded with Aastha Gill and shown in the Disney film Khoobsurat; the song has since passed one billion views on YouTube. In 2015 he teamed with Gill again on "DJ Waley Babu" and also appeared on "Wakhra Swag" with Navv Inder. Both became commercial hits.

Hindi film music became a regular part of his work, with credits that include "Kar Gayi Chull" from Kapoor and Sons, "Garmi" from Street Dancer 3D, "Naina" from Crew and "Proper Patola" from Namaste England. He also worked with international artists, recording the track "Voodoo" with J Balvin and Tainy, and a remix of that song added a guest verse from Lil Baby.

His first studio album, O.N.E. (Original Never Ends), was released on 17 August 2018 and was preceded by the singles "Mercy" and "Heartless". The following year he released "Paagal", and in August 2019 he made his acting debut in the film Khandaani Shafakhana. On 7 August 2020 he put out an alternative hip-hop album of eight tracks called The Power of Dreams of a Kid, which dealt with his own musical journey. Later in 2020 he released the single "Genda Phool". He also joined Aastha Gill for "Pani Pani", whose video featured Jacqueline Fernandez, and a Bhojpuri version with Khesari Lal Yadav drew more than a million views in under an hour. On 14 March 2022 he released the four-track EP Retropanda - Part 1, which includes "Jugnu" with Nikhita Gandhi, a song with more than 200 million streams on Spotify.

In 2023 he released his third studio album, 3:00 AM Sessions, with Karan Aujla appearing on the opening track. His fourth, Ek Tha Raja, followed on 18 March 2024 through Universal Music Group and features a long list of guests including Divine, Raftaar, Arijit Singh and Nora Fatehi. He announced the Paagal World Tour 2024 around the same time. In August 2025 he released Fitoor, an EP presented as his first independent project and the first of his releases to carry no guest artists. In 2026 he took part in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, and he has announced a fifth studio album, Gentle Monster.

Television has been another part of his career. He has appeared as a judge on MTV Hustle, Indian Idol, Dil Hai Hindustani, India's Got Talent and India's Got Latent. He also has business interests in hospitality, co-owning the Dragonfly Experience venues in Delhi and Mumbai and several restaurants in Chandigarh, and in 2025 he launched the pizza brand Badboy Pizza in Mumbai. In December 2025 the label Maybach Icons of Luxury announced a limited eyewear collection co-designed with him.

Recognition

Badshah's record lists three award wins: one at the Filmfare Awards, one at the Mirchi Music Awards and one at the PTC Punjabi Film Awards. His releases have appeared through labels including T-Series, Sony Music India and Universal Music Group.