Roll Rida

Roll Rida
Background information
Birth nameRahul Kumar Velpula
Born (1989-01-26) 26 January 1989 (age 35)
Warangal District, Telangana
OriginHyderabad, Telangana, India
GenresHip hop, R&B, Indi-pop
Occupation(s)Rapper, songwriter, actor
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • drums
  • sampler
Years active2010 – present

Rahul Kumar Velpula (born 26 Jan 1989), known professionally as Roll Rida, is an Indian rapper, songwriter and actor in Telugu films and music.[1]

He became popular with his YouTube rap song on Sankranthi, Patang,[2] was a huge hit with over 17 million views. His other popular songs are Kirana rap, Breaking news Kattif, Shankar Ka Beta, Ivvalane Dilkush, Ignite, Arupu[3] etc.[4] In 2018, he appeared as a contestant for Bigg Boss 2 and successfully reached the 15th week of the show and finished in 6th place.[5]

Early life

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Roll Rida was born in Karimnagar, Telangana, India. He did his schooling at Johnson Grammar School in Hyderabad; intermediate at Narayana Junior College, Tarnaka and completed his BTech in computer science from CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad. He was popular for his singing in school and started a band in college with Syed Kamran.[citation needed]

Career

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Roll Rida initially worked at Google, Hyderabad and as Quality Analyst at Tech Mahindra.[citation needed]

He picked his professional name, Roll Rida, upon a friend's suggestion, after popular American rapper, Flo Rida, of Low song fame.[6][7] He quit his job to pursue his successful singing career in 2017.[citation needed] His rap song ‘Arupu’ with Syed Kamran became popular.[8][9] He was the first to do a rap song in Telugu language from Telangana State.[10] In 2013, he debuted on Sankranthi with a single, Patang, on YouTube became a huge hit, with over 14 million views.[11] His songs Patang, Kirana song, Dilkush are popular among young listeners. He toured USA in 2015 and 2016 to promote his Telugu rap and Hip Hop songs. Roll Rida was featured on VH1 in 2010.

He worked with Telugu music directors like M. M. Keeravani, S. S. Thaman and Anoop Rubens. He also performed with Divine.[citation needed] He worked as a voice artist for Akhil Akkineni in the film Manam, and Jr. NTR in Temper.[citation needed] He acted in a short film, Hello!, an urban rom com. It was released on YouTube. He was selected for Bigg Boss 2 for his popularity.[12][13][14] He stayed in the house till the week before the finale of that season.

Artistry

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Roll Rida's rapping is a combination of Hyderabadi Telugu and Deccani slang spoken in Hyderabad old city.

Discography

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Singles/Music Videos

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Year Track Lyrics Artist
2013 Patang Roll Rida Roll Rida
The Kirana Roll Rida Roll Rida
2015 Dilkush Roll Rida Roll Rida
Kattif Roll Rida Roll Rida
Ivvalane Roll Rida Roll Rida
2017 Shankar ka Beta Roll Rida Roll Rida
Baitikochi Chuste (RAP Version) Shree Mani Roll Rida & Dan Madhireddy
2018 Saava Kottethadi Roll Rida Roll Rida
O Pilla Roll Rida Roll Rida
KTR Birthday song Roll Rida Roll Rida
Arupu Roll Rida Roll Rida
Raadhu Roll Rida Roll Rida
2020 Don't ride rude Roll Rida Roll Rida
Nagali Roll Rida Roll Rida
2021 Allu Arjun Rap Song Roll Rida, The Hyderabad Nawabs Roll Rida & Harika Narayan

S. Thaman (composer)

Thaggede Le Roll Rida Roll Rida & Praveen Lakkaraju (composer)
Chinna Roll Rida Roll Rida

Film songs

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Year Work Song Music director Notes
2015 Bruce Lee Chiranjeevi Entry Rap Thaman
Gopala Gopala Pawan Kalyan Intro Rap Anup Rubens
2016 A Aa "Anasuya Kosam" Rap Pieces Mickey J. Meyer
2018 Kumari 21F "Lets Party in Bangkok" Mahati Swara Sagar Kannada
Husharu "Kaboom", "Bad Boys" (rap portions) Sunny M.R.
2019 Suryakantham "Friday Night Baby" (rap) Mark K Robin
2020 Ala Vaikunthapurramloo "OMG Daddy" Rap Pieces Thaman
2021 Cinema Bandi "Cinema Teesinam" Varun Reddy also lyrics
Veyishubamulukaluginku "Hey Senorita" Gyaani
Anubhavinchu Raja "Kaki Nemali Ke Votu" Gopi Sundar
2022 Hero "Donal Daggu" Ghibran also lyrics
Rowdy Boys "Date Night " Devi Sri Prasad only lyrics
"Rowdy Boys Title Song" also lyrics
Bheemla Nayak "Bheemla Back On Duty" Thaman only lyrics
Lucky Lakshman "College Song" Anup Rubens as singer
2023 Leo (Dubbed Version) "Ney Ready" Anirudh Ravichander Telugu
"Naa Ready" Kannada
"Njan Ready" Malayalam
"Ready Chal" Hindi

Other songs

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Year Work Song Music director Notes
2023 Nijam With Smita "Episode 4 Closing Song" Saketh Komanduri Television talk show

Filmography

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  • 90ML (2019) as Kishore

References

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  1. ^ "Bigg Boss 2 Telugu, 16 June update: Nani appreciates Deepthi Sunaina, calls out Samrat for being a bad captain". Hindustan Times. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Watch Here: 'PATANG' Rapper Music Video Which Made People Go Craze All Over| Sankranthi Special | Roll Rida, Kamran". All India Roundup. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  3. ^ Kanoj, Priyanka (27 August 2018). "Bigg Boss Telugu 2 contestant Roll Rida's rap song Arapu takes the internet by storm". www.ibtimes.co.in. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  4. ^ Telugu Rapper: Hyderabad, raise a toast to mana very own Telangana rapper, Roll Rida | Events Movie News – Times of India
  5. ^ "Bigg Boss 2 Telugu: Roll Rida to be eliminated". Tollywood. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  6. ^ Roll Rida’s Ignite: A musician’s travails – The Hindu
  7. ^ Dilkush: Hyderabad on the rap map – The Hindu
  8. ^ "రోల్ రైడా 'అరుపు'.. గౌరవం పెరిగిందంటూ ప్రశంసలు". Samayam Telugu (in Telugu). Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  9. ^ Roll Rida and Manisha's 'Arupu' rakes in almost 2M views
  10. ^ "Hyderabad, raise a toast to mana very own Telangana rapper, Roll Rida - Times of India". The Times of India. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Watch Here: 'PATANG' Rapper Music Video Which Made People Go Craze All Over| Sankranthi Special | Roll Rida, Kamran". All India Roundup. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  12. ^ Bigg Boss Telugu 2 written update, 5 July 2018: Tejaswi has a change of heart on her b'day eve – Times of India
  13. ^ "Bigg Boss Telugu 2: Nani's show impresses viewers, tops the TRP ratings". 22 June 2018.
  14. ^ Hooli, Shekhar H. (11 June 2018). "Bigg Boss Telugu 2 contestants list: Here are profiles and pictures of 16 participants [Photos]". www.ibtimes.co.in. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
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