BROWN SUPERSTAR He quit a 10-year acting career to rap about Mustafa Centre. Now Yung Raja is poised to take over Southeast Asia
CATEGORY FIVE was what came to mind the moment I met Yung Raja. The rapper was a whirlwind of energy, working the camera one second and taking Stories for the ’gram the next. And then he was jumping up and down in a new outfit. “Dude, this is so dope. I feel like Aladdin,” Raja, whose real name is Rajid Ahamed, said.
It’s rare, bordering on impossible, for a musician to garner a cult following based on the strength of one song. But Raja’s sparse discography and rabid following (he has more than 19,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and a single track ‘Young Mustafa’, released a year ago) proves otherwise.
But the man did pay his dues in the entertainment industry. A decade of countless casting calls and a few smalltime gigs in commercials had led to what he thought was his big break in the 2015 big-budget film Ah Boys to Men 3, playing a character named Balan.
“That big break never came. Nothing happened. I was back to square one,” lamented Raja. He admitted that he was in a dark place, one forged by his own ambitious hand. He had many hopes and dreams when he started acting at the age of 13. A decade later, those aspirations had morphed into foreboding spectres, a reminder of his inability to make it. Then, his best friend and rapper Fariz Jabba planted a seed in his head. “He said that I should venture into hip hop and believed that I had what it takes. Honestly, I didn’t believe him in the beginning and the thought of throwing away 10 years of acting and starting again from scratch did scare me,” shared Raja.
But, he figured that he was young and had nothing to lose. So, he began the grind. Then, he met hip hop producer Ezekiel Keran, better known as FlightSch. They went into the latter’s studio and came up with a couple of tracks. One of them, ‘Poori Gang’, a Tamil remix of the popular trap anthem ‘Gucci Gang’, became a smash hit.
“I created this Yung Raja persona for the purpose of freely expressing myself. It was my escape and saved me from the disillusionment and unhappiness that I had after a 10-year acting career. Yung Raja was the rebirth I was looking for. I’m so appreciative of everything that’s happening in my life right now.”
One of those much-appreciated ventures was his stint as host on the show Yo! MTV Raps, airing this month. “This is the start of a proper Asian hip hop scene. In the past, rappers in each country didn’t know about the community in the other regions but with this show, we are coming together and realising how vast and diverse we are. Honestly, the show has been the pinnacle of my human experience so far,” said Raja.
So, what’s next for the self-professed brown superstar? Raja is coy but he reveals that he has another song coming out this year. “I’m so happy right now. Everything that happened in my life has led to this moment, and I just want to keep spreading truth, love and positivity in my music. That’s the key man, that’s the key.” AM
“I created this Yung Raja persona for the purpose of freely expressing myself. It saved me from the disillusionment and unhappiness that I had”