Indian-American singer-songwriter and rapper Raja Kumari becomes an American Music Award (AMA) winner on Tuesday. She was nominated for Arcane League of Legends: Season 2 under the 51st AMA, which was conducted in Los Angeles on Monday night.
First Indian-Origin Artist Nominated for an AMA
Earlier in an interview with PTI, Raja Kumari claimed she was the first Indian-origin artist to receive an AMA nomination. The AMA nominated Renegade (We Never Run) an Arcane League of Legends collaboration between Kumari, UK hip-hop artist Stefflon Don, and Dominican-Brazilian artist Jarina de Marco in the Favourite Soundtrack category.
A Song with a Sidhu Moose Wala Connection
Raja told PTI that the song was really special for her. “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,” Raja told PTI.
Casting for the Song and Cultural Representation
She said she was approached for the song because the character in the film is Indian. “They (Arcane team) had heard about me as being representative of our culture and being able to make aggressive music as a woman,” added RajaKumari.
She said she never really expected the song to become such a big hit. “The song actually went top 10 in the world on the ‘Viral 50’ charts on Spotify. It was something that kind of came out of nowhere. I just did a song for a film. I didn’t have many expectations for it. It ended up really impacting people,” said Raja Kumari.
Recognition and Future Aspirations
The AMA nomination, added the rapper, came at a time when she was beginning to believe that perhaps one has to focus on one genre to make it big. “And 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 added.
