Raja Kumari calls AR Rahman her 'musical father'

MUMBAI: Indian-American songwriter-rapper Raja Kumari considers Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman her "musical father".

"He's my musical father. He gave me his keyboard to practice and he made me meet the flautist of his team, who plays the flute in all his music. From obsessing over him while growing up to having this experience where he'll sing you a melody and ask you to sing it like he did, it's all crazy," Raja Kumari said.

She also shared how she ended up becoming a pop star. "My guruji came from India to Los Angeles and lived with me to teach me dance for 10 years. I did a lot of shows and tie it up with charity. I exhausted all of my uncle's resources and was not able to raise enough money. I raised $80,000 -- which is a lot -- but needed $1.2 million. The stage was not enough, I wanted to be on Internet and, thus, everywhere. So, I thought if Justin Timberlake would just name-drop my cause, it would be fully funded. Thus, the switch to becoming a pop star (happened), so I could reach more people for my cause," Raja Kumari added.

The "The Wakhra Song" hitmaker shared her experiences On JioSaavn's podcast.