Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Raja Kumari has opened up about the challenges she faced early in her career, particularly from a major American label in 2015. She recounts being advised to “drop the bindi” to secure a larger budget, highlighting a past focus on exoticizing rather than celebrating her Indian heritage. “Back then, it was about exoticising who I was, not celebrating it,” Kumari shared.
Expressing her desire to authentically represent her culture, Kumari found immense artistic liberation upon returning to India. “I didn’t want to wear my culture as a costume. I wanted to celebrate it,” she explained. “Here, I could reference a character like Meera and just name a song after her without over-explaining.” Before establishing her own artistic identity, Kumari had a successful career as a songwriter for global artists like Fall Out Boy, Gwen Stefani, and Fifth Harmony. This experience taught her valuable lessons about the music industry and the unique power of her own voice, leading her to pursue her solo path. “My voice is distinct—it pokes through. So when people sampled me, I thought, if you can sample me, why not have me too,” she recalled.
Kumari’s current work in India is deeply rooted in this authenticity. Her contributions to the album Sounds of Kumbh and her personal album Kashi to Kailash prominently feature spirituality. “I’ve strung together the devotional songs across all my albums,” she stated. “I’m not keeping it in the background anymore—I’m bringing it to the forefront, being fearless about it.” She also experiments with embedding specific frequencies and resonances in her vocals to create trance-like states, believing in the healing power of sound, much like the ancient resonance of temple bells and structures. “Sound has always been healing… I’d love to see a revival of that in modern music,” she expressed.
Looking ahead, Kumari is optimistic about the global potential of Indian music. “We do not lack talent—we’re superfluous in talent,” she asserted. She believes that with the right infrastructure and a celebration of indigenous sounds, Indian music can achieve global reach, akin to the success of K-pop.