From a spate of international collaborations that Indian artistes have recently hit headlines for, Raja Kumari’s project with John Legend is particularly noteworthy. The All of me hitmaker is, after all, among the most powerful forces in the American music circles, and the first black man to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) status. 

In their latest offering, the American songwriter and Indian rapper make a powerful appeal to individuals, encouraging them to “take bold steps”, and travel a path that’s less-trodden. Kumari minces no words when stating that it was her exposure to the American music scene at the onset of her career that made her the right fit for this project. “[The opportunity] came from my training as a songwriter. I was a published songwriter in America, writing [numbers] for Gwen Stefani, and Iggy Azalea. It was there that I honed my craft as a writer. Being in a room and writing with legends like Timberland was fun and [educational],” she says, but is quick to add that she represented herself as an artiste from India while working on this project. “The emotion that I carried was that I was representing India, and that’s why I wanted to deliver the highest excellence.”