Krsna (rapper)

Krishna Kaul, better known by the stage name Krsna (stylised as KR$NA), and formerly known as Prozpekt, is a rapper and songwriter from New Delhi, India.[1][2] He is one of the earliest rappers to emerge in the Indian Hip Hop scene in the mid-2000s under the stage name Prozpekt. He also featured in the 2019 Bollywood film Gully Boy as himself.[3][4] .

KR$NA
KR$NA performing in 2016
Background information
Birth nameKrishna
Also known asKR$NA, KRSNA, PROZPEKT
Born (1989-10-04) October 4, 1989
GenresHip-hop
InstrumentsVocal
Years active2005 – present
LabelsUniversal Music, Zee Music Company, Ak Projekts, Kalamkaar
Associated actsRaftaar, Manj Musik

Early life and education

Kaul was born in New Delhi, India and is of Kashmiri Hindu descent. He attended Hansraj College in Delhi University and subsequently moved to Mumbai to pursue a post graduate course at St. Xavier's College and a career in the music business before returning to New Delhi in 2015.[5][6]

Career

Being exposed to Hip Hop music at an early age, Kaul started recording and releasing songs on his MySpace page in 2006, by 2008 he had gained a small local fanbase in New Delhi and racked up features with artists in the U.S and Canada.[5] His first shot of success came with the release of the music video for "Kaisa Mera Desh" in 2010,[7][8] becoming the first Indian hip hop song on YouTube and earning a #2 ranking as one of the most watched music videos in India overnight following its release.[9] He also released a song titled "Vijay" in collaboration with international NGO Save The Children in 2013.[10]

After sporadic underground releases, Kaul switched from Prozpekt to his current stage name KR$NA after signing a record deal with Universal Music in 2013.[11] In May 2014, he released his debut album Sellout, an all-English effort on Universal Music with its lead single "Last Night" peaking at #5 on the Vh1 Music Charts in India.[12] Kaul became the first hip hop artist in India to do a five city album tour with a band.[2][1] Following this, the music video for the title song "Sellout" was released but failed to make a large impact due to lackluster marketing and shrinking label budgets.[6][13] After a 2-year hiatus, Kaul made his return in 2016 with his Hindi release "Vyanjan".[14][15] Following the success of song, he signed to the artist management agency DNH (KALAMKAAR) Artists in 2017 and became the partner in 2018, whom he is currently represented by along with the likes of Raftaar and Manj Musik.

As of 2019, he released a few singles, but there hasn't been another album so far. He has till date released three songs in 2020: Untitled, Maharani and Makasam (all three being disses towards another rapper who goes by the name Muhfaad) which were very successful, crossing 2 million+ views and counting on Youtube. He belongs to an elite group of rappers in India who spit highly intellectual bars. He is very versatile as he makes hardcore hip-hop songs, commercial songs as well as chillhop and trap music. Kr$na can rap both in Hindi and English equally well, and is known for his seamless transition between the two languages in his songs.

Discography

Albums
  • "Sellout (2014)"
  • "TBA (2020)"

Singles
  • "Vyanjan (2016)"
  • "Desi Wrap Up (2016)"
  • "Dekh Kaun Aya Waapis (2017)"
  • "Alag (2017)"
  • "Im Ready (Featuring Raftaar) (2017)"
  • "Woofer (Featuring Deep Kalsi) (2017)"
  • "Tere Buss Ki Naa Hai (2017)"
  • "Meri Baari (2017)"
  • "Mumbai Se Delhi Tak(Featuring Emiway Bantai) (2017)"
  • "Jaanta Kyun (2019)"
  • "Aadat (2019)"
  • "Farak Nahi Padta (2019)"
  • "Freeverse Feast (Langar) (2019)"
  • "Seedha Makeover (2019)"
  • "Dum Hai (2019)"
  • "Untitled (2020)"
  • "Maharani (2020)"
  • "Sher (2020)"
  • "Maakasam (2020)"
  • "Quarantine (Featuring Talhah Yunus & Talhah Anjum) (2020)"
  • "Damn (Featuring Raftaar) (2020)"
  • ”Down (Featuring Raftaar) (2020)”
  • ”Do khiladi problem Bhari Hundred (Featuring Raftaar and Karan Wahi) (2020)”
  • ”Woofer 2 (Deep Kalsi Featuring KR$na) (2020)”
  • ”Gallan (Deep Kalsi Featuring Fateh, KR$na, Harjas and Karma) (2020)”

References
  1. Sridharan, Apuurva. "Krsna: Rap is about the situation that surrounds you". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  2. Rodricks, Allan Moses (2014-06-05). "No Plan B for this rapper". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  3. "The 4th episode of Voice of the Streets featuring rapper Krishna Kaul is here and it's brilliant". mid-day. 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  4. "Krishna Kaul". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  5. UK, The Hip Hop Chronicle (2008-04-27). "Young Prozpekt - Indian Prince - The Hip Hop Chronicle UK". The Hip Hop Chronicle UK. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  6. IANS (2014-11-01). "Krsna's 'Sellout' title track video released". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  7. "Desi rapper slamming CWG is a hit". mid-day. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  8. "'Yeh Kaisa Mera Desh: - Young Prozpekt's Rant against the Commonwealth Games". Men's XP. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  9. "Hip hop hustle". Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  10. "Young Prozpekt playing for change".
  11. "Contrabands signs on indie artist, rapper and hip-hop musician - KRSNA". Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  12. "I live and breathe rap: Indian Rapper Krsna". Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  13. Ferreira, Verus. "Musicunplugged.in : news". www.musicunplugged.in. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  14. "How I made a rap song using the entire Hindi alphabet". www.dailyo.in. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  15. "Rap Scene Today is Bigger, Less Friendly: KRSNA of 'Vyanjan' Fame". The Quint. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
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