Most of you might think who is he? why is he being labeled as the pioneer of the Indian rap genre? well, there is nothing wrong with your thoughts, Neither I was associated with his name nor his songs and contributions to Indian rap culture. I put a little bit of effort and researched him. I have got something for you and want to share it with you all, stay with me till the end.
Harjeet Singh(55) also known as 'Baba Sehgal' is an Indian rapper considered to be the world's first Hindi rap megastar. Born and brought up in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh India. Sehgal received his graduation from G.B Pant University and Technology, Pantnagar, Nainital. Baba Sehgal was the first to introduce Hindi rap in the nineties with his music album. His biggest hit album 'Thanda Thanda Pani'(1992) was also the first successful Hindi rap album followed by 'Manjula' and 'Dil Dhadke'.
Looking back to the time before the 2010s, rap was a rare genre in Indian culture barely existing only in the underground club culture of big cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The Rap style gained popularity after the success of Yo Yo Honey Singh in India and Bollywood in 2011. With increasing interest in the rap trend in India, lots of Indipop rappers have emerged over the years penning the likes of Badshah, Raftaar, Divine, Emiway Bantai, etc.
When talking about Baba Sehgal it's mostly a 90s affair. let's look into his songs and contributions over his career years. Dilruba'(1990) was Sehgal's first album followed by 'Alibaba'(1991) then came to his all-time hit album 'Thanda Thanda Pani'(1992) (sampled originally from Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby"), The following releases were album Main Bhi Madonna(1993), Baba Bachao Na (1993), Dr.Dhingra (1994), Miss 420 (1994) movie soundtrack, Double Gadbad (1994) movie soundtrack, Indian Romyo (1995), Tora Tora (1995), Loomba Loomba (1996), Na Aariya Hai Na Jaroya hai (1997), America Mein Indian Dhaba (1997), D.J Mix Blue (1997), Dhak Dhak dil in Calcutta (1997), A Reason to Smile (1997), Meri Jaan Hindustan (1998), Jugni Mast Kalandar (1998), Abb Mein Vengaboy (1999), Pinga Pinga (2001), Pump Up Your Style (2003), Welcome to Mumbai (2005), Babe Di Gaddi (2009), Woh Beete Din, and The Magic of Dandiya.
To many who don't know he was a contestant in Big Boss, 2006 lasted for 20 days and got eliminated but he opened up that he was busy with his new album and his precise motive to participate in Bigboss season 1 was to gain publicity for his new release' Welcome to Mumbai'. He lived in New York, USA for nearly five years 2001 to 2005. He was the music director for the film 'Dance Party '(1995) directing popular songs like "Kapurthala Se Aaya Hoon, Tere Liye Laya Hoon, Orange kurta Peela Pajama. He also directed the music for the Bollywood films Nalaik(2005) and Bhoot Uncle(2006). He was the first Indian to have a music video broadcast on MTV Asia.
After my research, it did change my misconceptions. As a music addict, I really admire the contributions and efforts that he had put into this genre when rap was not even a genre in Indian music culture, arguably a pioneer of it. We keep on bringing interesting content like this related to Indian music.
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