New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The trailblazing rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer Raja Kumari has unveiled "Peace," the new single from her forthcoming album debut on Nas' Mass Appeal India. "
Peace" follows the release of "N.R.I.," (Non-Resident Indian) in May. The music videohas over 2.5+ million views on YouTube, after debuting at No. 1 on Spotify India's New
Music Friday.
"
Peace" is an unexpectedly chill-tempo jam where, over dreamy beats, Raja affirms: "I got peace all around me, ain't no drama these days." She takes the listener on a journey through her calm headspace, and the accompanying video features Raja swaying in nature as a visual manifestation of her enlightenment.
Leading up to today's release, Raja has spent the week sharing her health and wellness practices with her half a million fans on social media, including tips on meditation, clean eating, self care and mindfulness. She's also been texting fans positive affirmations, as she continues to promote peaceful mindset and living.
Here's Raja on "Peace," and how a not-so-peaceful situation turned into an opportunity:
"Mentally, I knew I had to reset in order to focus on myself and my family, and this song was written as a mantra of positive affirmations for peace in my life. We shot this video in the middle of quarantine. Although I'm used to having a big crew on set to handle everything from location scouting to glam and makeup, all I had in LA was me and Shawn
Thomas (long time director and collaborator) and the help of my manager and assistant (all socially distanced with masks!). It definitely was a challenge to start from the beginning again, doing all the styling and hair and makeup myself.
The video was shot between Antelope valley and Mt Baldy, the beautiful scenic area behind my parent's home. Solitude had been a huge theme in the beginning of quarantine and as the world opens up, I wanted to encourage people to look within themselves to find true inner peace."
Raja was the first woman to headline India's biggest music festival NH7, graced the cover of Rolling Stone
India in March and has hosted the red carpet for the American
Music Awards. A recent global face of MAC Cosmetics, Raja is also a judge on MTV's The Hustle and has co-written songs for Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony, Fall Out Boy,
Iggy Azalea and Twin Shadow. She's a fearless, charismatic personality and natural-born storyteller whose songs explore a duality she faces - being from two cultures but not being accepted by either. Her music is a sonic bridge between East and West that fuses the rhythms she absorbed as a trained classical Indian dancer with her love for hip-hop.
