Interview with Raja Kumari

RAJA KUMARI

Svetha Rao professionally know as Raja Kumari was a songwriter for big names before plunging deep into the music industry and creating her own universe. Her cultural background naturally flows into her music, bringing something unique and almost traditional to life yet very modern. She’s an independent and ambitious woman who tries to deliver a message of authenticity, empowerment and self-confidence. Discover more about the artist!

O

n The Move: Hello Raja! For those who don’t know you yet, could you tell us a bit more about yourself, your background?

Raja Kumari: I’m Raja Kumari and I was born in Los Angeles, my parents came from India in the 70’s and me and my brothers were all born here so that plays a large role and influence on my music. I’m trained in Indian classical dance so I think the movements and the rhythms of that training influence everything; from my fashion to my music, to my stage show. I’ve always kind of wanted to find a safe place where both cultures could coexist instead of having to choose to be American or to be Indian. So I think my music kind of speaks to that, it speaks to people from all different cultures because I think we all kind of deal with that.

On The Move: Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to get into music even when you were dancing or is it something that came after?

Raja Kumari: I think the music and the dance are very interlocked, they all lend to each other. I’ve always enjoyed music because you need it to dance. I don’t think I knew I could sing. Actually in 3rd grade, I was watching TV after school, my mom was trying to get me to go somewhere and she was like: «we have to leave, turn the TV off!» and so I turned it off and I just kept singing the song, it was «Heartbreaker» by Mariah Carey and my mom said «I told you to turn the TV off!» and I was like «Did she just think I was Mariah? I think I could sing!» (laughs) and that was it, that’s how my whole journey began. You know I just felt like dance was definitely something that my parents wanted me to do and I’m happy I learned it, it’s definitely a big part of who I am but music was like my rebellion, my own personal expression. Because maybe Indian classical dance was in a language I didn’t speak, you know I wasn’t speaking that language every day, I’m speaking English and living in Los Angeles so music was more my personal way to express myself.

On The Move: You started by collaborating with other artists whether it was Fall Out Boy or Iggy Azalea. How different it is to write for other artists than writing for yourself?

Raja Kumari: It was a wonderful experience and I continue to enjoy songwriting for other artists because you don’t want to take yourself too seriously all the time and I love to write pop music and kind of step off my box and imagine a world through somebody else’s perspective or imagine how somebody else would feel so it’s not always about me, me, me (laughs). And also songwriting just really allowed me to practice my craft, and get to work

with such amazing producers. You know sometimes as an artist, you only get to work with producers who agree to work on your project but as a songwriter, I was able to get in the studio with the most incredible producers in the world, like so many Grammy Award winners, so many legends. And every single person I worked with taught me something and I brought that with me when I went to make my album, you know.

« Culture is meant to be shared, it’s just letting people know why certain things are done so that they’re educated on it, it’s a gift »

On The Move: What do you think is the difference when you work with a band, a pop-singer or a rapper? Do you think there is a specific approach for each genre?

Raja Kumari: I think here in America when you are a fan of pop culture, you kind of hear all these genres so I was exposed to all kinds and I’ve always loved all the different types of music. That’s the fun thing about being a songwriter, you don’t have to commit to one, you can just float around. But one thing I tried to do is put a little bit of myself in everything that I wrote. Like even on the Fall Out Boy record, one of the melodies in «Centuries» felt really Indian to me, like when I sing it. With Iggy Azalea, there are Indian vibes too so I just found ways to put what I liked about music and how I heard it with everybody I worked with, you know it’s just figuring out what’s for you and what’s for them but still leaving your imprint on it.

On The Move: Your stage name means «crowned princess» right?

Raja Kumari: Yeah I always say «daughter of the King» and it’s funny because people would be like «your dad’s a doctor, he’s not a king!» but I’m not talking about my physical father, I’m talking about the celestial God above us, like I’m the daughter of the King of Kings you know and I think about that you know. To have all these opportunities, I’m definitely blessed. I just want to represent that in the best way that I can.

25

On The Move: You spent a few years in India working, discovering your culture, working on your craft… So, what’s the biggest lesson that you’ve learned there, that you can put into your music in America for example?

Raja Kumari: India gave me so much strength because people were so receptive to my music. I think in different regions of the world maybe they haven’t been primed for certain cultural experiences but you know going to India and performing for 10,000 people that are singing the words back to me gave me the strength to know that this can happen all over the world. So what I took back from India is the confidence, you know to conquer more regions and to be authentic. People react to authenticity. India feeds me in so many ways, just being with the people, the love is so next level so I’ll make sure I always spend a good amount of time in India.

« I’m not one of the people that got the opportunity to have the American dream and doesn’t go home to their motherland »

On The Move: What’s the difference between the Indian market and the American one?

Raja Kumari: It’s so different. The music industry is completely different. In America there are so many independent artists – I don’t mean artists outside labels – I just mean music and in India, the majority of music is with Bollywood films. Here it’s also a lot more competitive but I’ve learned to be myself and I’ve been able to blaze my own trail, even here. I’m always surprised because I have a lot of Brazilian fans lately and a lot of people from Israel have been following me on my Instagram, people are discovering me all over the world and it’s so exciting. Every time I see somebody dancing to the music and they’re not in India, it just reminds me how universal the music is and how it was made for the world and that it’s time to give it to everyone else. Honestly I just put the things that I find beautiful into my art,

so whether it’d be like jewelry or fashion or some instrument like the Indian flute, like on stage I might dance with a classical mask and stuff, I just bring in what I find interesting and I hope that that just opens the door to people’s curiosity about the East. I definitely spent my whole life studying so if anybody wants to learn from me, I’m here to teach (laughs).

On The Move: You had a new single released a few months ago, what can you tell us about it?

Raja Kumari: «Shook» is the first single off my new EP called «Blood line» and «Blood line» is my second project. The first one was called «The Come- Up» and was really about manifesting ideas and intentions, it had a lot of lyrics about you know “just another dollar and a dream now we’re certified”. I wrote that EP at like 2am after I finished my songwriting, you know it was very much a labor of love, it was like okay it’s time for me to make my own music, it had a lot of hope and a lot of intentions set. And then the thing is I started to manifest all of it. I went to India and I started really doing these things, I started performing, I started getting all these things that I said I wanted in the music. So «Blood line» is really about when you start to get to things that you really truly love and want, like what are you willing to do to protect them and once people are going to listen, what you are going to say. So this album is really unapologetic, definitely a lot more aggressive. I also noticed that when I’m on stage performing, whenever I would rap, everybody would lose their sh*t! I’d just see people’s mouths just drop open, I was like «damn this is very simple for me to do» so I think also this album was a challenge for me because I made a rap project you know, like it’s 80% rap I would say, which I’ve always been a fan of. I’ve always done it in my music but I really let that character lead in this chapter. I’m really excited because it’s a challenge for me and I like to challenge myself, do different things, really step out of the box, push myself lyrically and I think a lot of the lyrics reflect what I’ve learned living around the world. Instead of just putting an Indian melody here, which I have done in the past, I’m saying words that are uniquely Eastern, like in «Shook» my favorite lyric that I like to quote all the time is «send my Benjis over to Gandhi and now we feast» and that’s really my mentality, like I’m not one of the people that got the opportunity to have the American dream and doesn’t go home to their motherland. Whatever I make in the world, whatever I do it’s for the people and then it will go home for them.

27

On The Move: Your music videos are amazing and I feel like you have a character in them. Can you tell us about the character that you created?

Raja Kumari: I think it’s all me, but as a classical dancer, I played a lot of roles. In Indian classical dance, we usually do stories of the Gods, like we act out the Mahabari, the Rama etc. and I portrayed a lot of very strong female characters like the Goddess Devi so I think I kind of put together all these powerful women and that’s why Raja Kumari is this very royal thing because I just believed that about myself and I believed that about my calling and my purpose and so when I get on stage it’s like I become that, that princess, you know if I’m supposed to speak for the people then I must be strong. Beyoncé’s a huge inspiration I think in every single person’s life on earth and I remember when she talked her Sasha Fierce I was really young and I just understood that that’s how she was able to transform and then it kind of helped me create Kumari to be like who I am, make it bigger than me.

On The Move: What’s your advice for artists that are multi-cultural like you? Or not just in the music industry, like in general?

Raja Kumari: Though it looks like a very dark time in the world, it’s actually a really exciting time where people are interested and curious about these things that people are trying to subdue. If you are a strong voice for your culture, you know and love your culture and you’re authentic about it, I think people can always relate to that. Authenticity is the thing that I will always try to preach first and foremost. It’s just like whatever is authentic to you, for me I’m a dancer, I really loved the traditional classical things so that’s why I wear the Bindi, Indian jewelry when I’m on stage, it’s not a costume that I want to put on, it’s really an expression of self. So I think that if you’re coming into fashion, if you’re coming into art, the atmosphere and everything I think it’s just about don’t try to tempt to do something like that, just exist in that space and be who you truly are and people will react and they’ll relate. Culture is meant to be shared, it’s just letting people know why certain things are done so that they’re educated on it, it’s a gift. Like the Bindi conversation comes a lot, they’re like «oh you know Coachella, everyone wears Bindis», whatever, I think it’s hypocritical to have something so beautiful and expect to not share it, it’s not fair. But my goal is to tell people that if you are going to wear the Bindi, you know, it’s your third eye illuminated. You choose to see the world through your third spiritual eye instead of the two physical eyes. So if anyone wants to acknowledge that then the Bindi is for

them. It’s just our job to make people aware of those things because it’s not their fault, they don’t know. I’m glad I was born in California because I think it gives me a lot of perspective that maybe if I was born in India it would have been different. I think I’m uniquely equipped to try to be the bridge and try to translate it for both sides in whatever way I can.

On The Move: You were talking about «Blood line», do you have collaborations on it or did you prefer to work on your own?

Raja Kumari: I definitely have collaborations on it, there’s one from my friend Janine The Machine who is just like a friend of mine, we wrote a lot of music together and we did some songs. I think it’s good to have girls collaborate and I have another collaboration with an epic female artist that’s brand new but we’ll talk about that when the time comes. But I love collaborating, I’m a songwriter so I believe in collaborations. I made the album with Sean Garrett, he’s an incredible songwriter, he’s worked with Beyoncé and Chris Brown, he’s been very instrumental in a lot of really big hip-hop moments and cultural pop moments so he really pushed me. Some of that stuff I was almost scared to do and he was like «why are you scared of yourself?» and I was like «I don’t know!» (laughs). It’s like if two people can agree of the lyrics making sense then there’s a better chance that it will be making sense to everyone.

« Authenticity is the thing that I will always try to preach first and foremost »

On The Move: When is it coming out? Can you say it yet?

Raja Kumari: It’s going to come early 2019, I think we can tell that. It’s finished, it’s ready to rock, it’s my first US project, everything else has been kind of focused in international building so I’m really excited because I haven’t had a chance to really go all around America and do the same kind of things I did in India so I’m really excited to do that here!

INTERVIEW BY PAM CHARBIT WITH LUDIVINE DESUMEUR PHOTOS BY Jonathan Benbaruk EXCLUSIVELY FOR ON THE MOVE

29