Melophiles swiping through the 2025 American Music Awards winners list may have missed out Raja Kumari’s name, which is why we’re calling for your attention while celebrating a momentous development for the Indian community on the global stage.
Earlier this year, the rapper, singer-songwriter, whose real name is Svetha Yallapragada Rao, made headlines as the first Indian-origin artist to be nominated at the American Music Awards. This Monday, she fulfilled her destiny by bringing that trophy home and becoming the first Indian-origin artist to win a title at the AMAs.
Raja Kumari American Music Awards win
She scored her history-scripting milestone all thanks to her contributions to the Arcane League of Legends Season 2 soundtrack, with the track titled, “Renegade (We Never Run).” This particular OST marks an ambitious and border-crossing partnership between Kumari, UK hip-hop artist Stefflon Don and Dominican-Brazilian artist Jarina de Marco. The trio’s invigorating OST for the steampunk action-adventure TV series, which is available on Netflix, earned a nod in the Favourite Soundtrack category.
Raja Kumari was especially hand-picked for the musical project due to her cultural roots, as the show also features an Indian character, Sevika. Although Amirah Vann voices her in the series, the Arcane team went Kumari’s way for musical inspiration as they had heard about her “as being representative of our culture and being able to make aggressive music as a woman,” according to PTI.
Raja Kumar Arcane OST
Kumari landed her AMA nomination at a time when she started thinking along the lines of focussing only on one genre to make it big in the industry. “I’ve always been a global artist, so an AMA award is a great reminder that there’s still much more work for me to do, and still much more for me to impact and grow,” she said in an interview with the Indian news agency.
While detailing her experience of working on the Arcane OST, Kumari revealed how the late iconic Indian singer and rapper Sidhu Moose Wala‘s influence helped forge a bond between her and Stefflon. “(Don and I kind of share the Sidhu (Moose Wala) connection. She has a song with Sidhu, too. And when I was meeting Sidhu during the time that we were collaborating, he had played me the song. So, I’ve always had this soft spot in my heart for her because we both kind of share this gentle giant,” she shared.
While this was her first time being nominated and taking the same trophy home, it surely wasn’t Kumari’s first encounter with the American Music Awards. Five years ago, she hosted the show’s live red carpet, as she also recalled in an Instagram post earlier this month while urging fans to vote for League of Legends Season 2 for Favourite Soundtrack.
Who is Raja Kumari?
In addition to American Music Awards honouring her for the first time this year, the Indian-American rapper is also a Grammy-nominated artist.
Born to Telugu parents on January 11, 1986, she is now based in Claremont, California. As a South Indian girl in LA, she has previously penned songs for big names from the global music mainstream, including Fall Out Boy, Timbaland, Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony and even rapper Iggy Azalea.
It was ultimately her song “Change Your Life” with the latter Australian rapper that helped her earn a Grammy nomination. Plus, “Centuries,” a smashing hit she co-wrote for Fall Out Boy brought her a BMI Pop Award win.
Ironically, the record for Iggy actually ended up changing both her and Azalea’s lives. Kumari collaborated with Nasri, the leader singer of Canadian reggae fusion band Magic! to write the track, which still features her demo vocals.
Raja sees herself as “the bridge between East and West,” according to Billboard. During her formative years, she learned Indian classical dance from a guru in India, which helped her understand her roots. However, she admitted that she “was never all the way Indian,” as she grew up listening to hip-hop icons like Wu-Tang and Fugees and Tupac, with creative inspirations flowing to her from AR Rahman and Nusrat Ali Khan as well.
Back in 2017, the ‘Indian Princess’ exploded onto the Indian music scene by partnering up with Mumbai’s very own DIVINE for her debut Indian single and the street anthem, “City Slums.”
Previously accused of cultural appropriation, she’s drawn criticism for “using Mumbai’s slums as a backdrop” in the music video. However, in an interview with Rolling Stone India, she countered the claim, saying, “I’m not trying to take from India and leave, I’m not pillaging anything.” Kumari has admitted to being in between India and Los Angeles all her life, and so she added, ” think that that could have been said in the beginning, but I’ve been here for three years and I still live here. I bought a car and I have a dog…. I’m here.”
Raja Kumari founded her independent label
In 2022, the Indian-American musician brought her label Godmother Records to life as a “safe space for women in music,” as per her interview to IndiaWest.com. “Made in India” served as the first release for the indie platform, and its cover art features Kumari’s own picture from her young days.
Describing as to what she aimed to achieve through her label, Raja said in 2023 that she wanted to steer clear of making “TikTok numbers” or following the herd. She has always been focussed on creating legacy. “I want to sign artists that are committed to their artistry and their music,” she added, noting that she wanted to have artists who created music across genres.
Raja Kumari’s Cannes debut
Walking the Cannes red carpet for the first time in 2023, Raja, aka Svetha Rao opted for a custom Manish Malhotra ensemble. Representing India in France, she graced the global platform for Inde Wild, a skincare brand blending Ayurvedic ingredients with modern chemistry, alongside Dolly Singh and founder Diipa Khosla.
Raja Kumari music: Notable mentions
Despite her California connection, Kumari has managed to land several Bollywood projects over the years. In addition to working on Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero for the song called “Husn Parcham,” she also had a cameo in Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy as a judge, alongside numerous other titans from the Indian hip-hop scene.
Her wide-ranging songwriting credits extend to The Wakhra Song, Jawan Title Track, “US” with Sidhu Moose Wala, “Mirage” with Lindsey Stirling, “In Love” with Guru Randhawa, “All Fall Down” by KSHMR, and spiritually-charged music in albums like “Kashi to Kailash.”