Imran Khan Dutch Rapper Born 1984 in The Hague

Imran Khan is a Dutch singer, songwriter and rapper who performs mainly in Punjabi. He was born on 28 May 1984 in The Hague and is associated with a blend of hip hop and pop. His songs "Amplifier" and "Satisfya" have each passed one billion views on YouTube, and his channel there had about 7.5 million subscribers when it was last counted in April 2025.

Early life

Khan was born in The Hague, in the Netherlands. His parents had emigrated from Gujranwala, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, and he grew up with Punjabi as part of his family background. He started making music in his late teens.

Career

Khan first gained attention in 2007 with his debut single "Ni Nachleh". Prestige Records signed him later that year, and the label released the song and supported his early performances in several countries. A series of remixes of "Ni Nachleh" followed, many of them by the producer Eren E.

His second single, "Amplifier", came out on 12 July 2009. Two weeks later, on 27 July 2009, Prestige Records released his first studio album, Unforgettable. The album has 15 tracks and was produced by Eren E and Hakan Ozan. Besides "Amplifier", it includes "Bewafa", "Pata Chalgea" and a remix of "Ni Nachleh".

In 2011 Khan left Prestige Records and founded his own label, IK Records. In the same year he toured in the United States and in Australia and New Zealand. On 24 May 2012 he released "Satisfya" through his new label. The music video was directed by David Zennie and shows Khan with a yellow Lamborghini Aventador and a cheetah. It became his most-viewed video on YouTube.

In 2015 he made his Bollywood debut as a playback singer, performing "Let's Celebrate" for the Hindi film Tevar. That June he released the single "Imaginary", with a video shot in Los Angeles, again directed by David Zennie. The song reached number one on the Asian Music Chart. The following year he put out "Hattrick", which features Yaygo Musalini, and in 2018 he released "Knightridah", which also reached number one on the Asian Music Chart.

In 2021 he released two singles, "M.O.B.", featuring J.J. Esko, on 14 May, and "They Don't Like It" on 28 September. In 2022 he released "On My Way" with the artist Meez, and he toured India that year under the title Unforgettable Tour. His later releases include the single "Deposit" in 2024.

Recognition

Khan's first album received a nomination for Best Album at the 2010 UK Asian Music Awards. He was nominated for four awards at that ceremony in total, covering Best Album, Best Video for "Amplifier", Best Male Act and Best Desi Act, and he won Best Desi Act. In 2010 he also won Best Album at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards for Unforgettable and was named Male Musical Artist of the Year by Anokhi Magazine.

At the Brit Asia TV Music Awards in 2013 he won Best Urban Asian Single for "Satisfya". In 2015 he won three awards at the Pakistani Music and Media Awards, for best songwriter, best video and best song, the last two for "Imaginary". The same year he won three more awards at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards: Best Urban Asian Act, Best Music Video and Best UK Single, the latter two also for "Imaginary".