The rap king assembles India’s top tier for bops and bangers

Badshah’s career as rapper, singer, songwriter and producer stretches back to the late 2000; by the mid-2010s he was already part of India’s hip-hop royalty thanks to huge global collaborations and majestic contributions to movie soundtracks. Ek Tha Raja—meaning “there was a king”—shows how far the star has come in the 2020s, as he’s ably drawn in some of the biggest names from his homeland for a career-defining album. Karan Aujla joins on “God Damn”, DIVINE and Nikhita Gandhi lead “O’Sajna”—which samples 1975 movie hit “Dil Kya Kare”—and Arijit Singh, Seedhe Maut and Raftaar also feature.