Top Nepali Rappers of All Time

Introduction:

Yama buddha was born on 30 May 1987 in Salakpur Morang Nepal. Many of us know Yama Buddha, but many of us are unaware of the fact that his real name is Anil Adhikari. Yama Buddha is a well-known rapper in the local streets of Kathmandu. He was a creator and the presence of the popular Rap Battle Show Raw Barz. Yama Buddha created Raw Barz to provide creative talented youth with a rap platform.

He hosted the rap battles in the Raw Barz for a while others were focused only on subjects like girls and money at that time in Nepal. Yama Buddha linked rap to society. He in fact introduced rap as a separate genre in the Nepalese musical society. His works influenced youths to take rap music seriously in Nepal as well. His famous song Saathi is an example of this change.

His Popular songs/raps Sathi, Aama, Aaudai Chhu ma, Yo Prasanga, and more are popular hits. Yama Buddha was an optimistic man with positive thinking. His personality can be described as a friendly, hardworking, emotional, and responsible man. Yama Buddha was a lyrical genius who made the Nepali audience realize that hip-hop and rap are not about reciting some random lyrics very fast but they can be inspiring and meaningful as well.

Personal Details

Particulars	Descriptions
Real Nam	Anil Adhikari
Popular Name	Yama Buddha
Date of Birth	30 May 1987
Birth Place	Salakpur Morang, Nepal
Profession	Rapper, songwriter, music producer, Rap battel host
Height	5 feet 8 inch
Education	IT Engineer
Married to	Asmita Sedhai
Parents	Ambika Prasad Adhikari and Urmila Adhikari
Hobbies	Singing, traveling, learning
First hip-hop song	Final Fantasy
Religion	Hindu
Deth	2017 January 14 (at the age of 29, suicide)

Childhood and Education

His earlier schooling started in Kathmandu, but he completed grade 4 and grade 5 at Pathibhara Boarding School, Ithari. Then, he went back to Kathmandu to study in grade 6 at the Excelsior School, Swayambhu. He completes his SLC from the Excelsior School and his +2 from Edmark Academy. After +2, he moved to the United Kingdom and completed his IT engineering from there.

Music Journey

Yama Buddha’s first song released was “Final Fantasy” which almost went unnoticed. But it was his second song that he dropped in 2011 that instantly brought him all the attention the song was called ‘Sathi’. It was a very emotional song that depicted what it feels like to lose a friend. It also reminded people how harmful and deadly can drugs be.

After the success of the Saathi, he released his debut album titled ‘Ekadeshma’ in 2012. He was also different than most of the country’s other hip-hop artists, he used to think out of the box and stand in the industry with a different identity. Where it was ‘Footpath Mero Ghar’, that talks about how feels like to be a homeless person and ‘Shipahi’ was about a soldier fighting a war miles away from his loved one. He had also done a promotional song for the “Talakjung vs Tulke” movie which was the first official submission of Nepal to the Best Foreign Language Film for the 88th Academy Awards 2016.

Yama Buddha Suicide

On 14 January 2017, Yama Buddha was found at his London-based apartment. That was the most shocking news in the entire hip-hop society as well as a very bad incident for Nepalese artists. According to his family source said that Yama Buddha was found hanging on his belt inside the bathroom. According to the family source “We are in shock as he was normal until having dinner, He might have been depressed since his works weren’t moving forward after 2012 when he was at the peak of his career.”

At that time Yama Buddha was busy recording for his latest album “Khatra” two days prior to the incident and had completed 15 percent of the recording. His album was due for release on January 15, said a relative. A local club had also booked an event for the upcoming Valentine’s Day where Yama Buddha was set to perform.

According to The Kathmandu Post, after returning from the work had dinner around 12 am and went to sleep with his wife. And around 3 am he went to the bathroom and did not return which came to notice only at 6 am when another person staying with them wanted to use the restroom and found it locked.

The door was opened using another set of spare keys and found Adhikari hanging on the towel hanger of the bathroom with his belt. This statement does seem mysterious in itself as himself being locked from inside using the keys instead of the latch. And similarly, hanging on the hanger of the bathroom is also not justifiable as hangers are installed generally at a similar height as humans which should not be able to suspend at enough height.

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Although he died at an early stage, his art and memories will not fade away easily from the history of Nepal and the Hip-Hop Industry.

Introduction:

Nepalese rapper, composer, structural engineer, and non-political leader Balen Shah was born on 1990 April 27. Balendra Shah is also known as Balen Shah. He is the youngest son of Ram Narayan Shah and his wife Dhruva Devi shah. His father is an Ayurvedic practitioner. 

His paternal ancestral home is in Mahottari Ekdara Rural Municipality, while his maternal home is in Dhanusha. His parents moved to Kathmandu from Mahottari after his father was posted to Naradevi Ayurvedic Hospital. He married Sabina Kafle in 2018. She is a public health professional.

Personal details:

Real Name	Balendra Shah
Popular Name	Balen
Date of Birth	1990 April 27
Birth Place	Naradevi, Kathmandu, Nepal
Profession	Rapper, Composer, Leader (Politically not exposed)
Height	1.77m (5ft 10 in)
Education	Structural Engineer
Marital Status	Married with Sabina Kafle (2018)
Parents	Ram Narayan and Dhruva Devi Shah
Years active	2012-Present
Religion	Hindu

Education

Balen shah completed his school life at Alliance Academy. He completed 10+2 studies at V.S. Niketan higher secondary school. He completed a bachelor’s degree (BE) in civil engineering from Himalayan Whitehouse international college. He also received a master’s degree (M-Tech) in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka India.

Music career

Balen shah from an early age was interested in music and poetry. He was inspired by Laxmi Prasad Devkota. He was interested in poetry and music but his voice wasn’t soft so he chooses to rap. 

Slowly he was mixing and rhyming poet through rap. He released his first single, Sadak Balak, which he wrote while in the ninth grade, in 2012. At that time legend, Yama Buddha was contributing to hip-hop in Nepal. 

Balen Shah was also a friend of Yama Buddha that helped Balen Shah to enter the hip-hop genre. At that Yama Buddha was hosting the popular Rap Battle Show Raw Barz. At that time Balen Shah showed his interest in a rap battle and told Yama Buddha to allow him to participate in that battle. Yama Buddha recognized his friend’s true talent and allowed him to participate and start the rap journey.

Balen shah’s first and last battle in “Raw Barz” with at that time famous rapper Litl Grizl. From that battle, Balen shah became famous in the hip-hop industry. Then Balen shah went to India for further study. After returning from India he released a song “Man Yo Udyo” He was inactive but his fan always loved him. So that his song man yo Udyo song also become popular.

Finally, he thinks that once his study is finished then he will come back in rap. But in the year 2015, a massive earthquake caused major damage to the infrastructures all over Nepal. Balen professionally being an engineer realized his responsibility and served his professional service in different rural areas of Nepal instead of completing his dream career.

In 2019 Balen shah and Rohit Shakya together create a music video “Marpha ko Madira”. And Balen Shah’s most popular rap video was “Balidan”, which purely expresses the frustration with the geopolitical affairs of Nepal.

Political Career

Balen shah was involved in the “We for constitution movement” before the promulgation of the constitution of Nepali in 2015. He had also expressed interest to put candidacy for Kathmandu mayorship in the 2017 local elections but later backed down as he was not fully prepared for the plans to be executed.

Finally, after 5 years, he announced his candidacy for the post of Mayor in the Kathmandu Metropolitan in 2022. On 26 May 2022 Balen shah was elected as Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan with 38.6% of the votes cast. He defeated Nepali congress candidate Srijana Shrestha and former mayor and CPN (UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit by a margin of over 23,000 votes.

Controversies

In July 2022, he attracted controversy over the use of a sacred crown in “Nephopko Shreepech”, a hip-hop reality TV show in which he served as a judge.

Social Media

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balenOfficial
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balenshah/
• Twitter:https://twitter.com/ShahBalen

Some popular song of Balen shah

1. Sadak Balak: https://youtu.be/cV5pgrkDkY4
2. Hande: https://youtu.be/t5e8b-KOpp4
3. Tathya: https://youtu.be/O0FM2DtDq2c
4. Gai ta Badhyo: https://youtu.be/Ir-SAvHLt1E
5. Marpha ko Madira: https://youtu.be/5XkszPOC2Dg
6. Man yo Udyo: https://youtu.be/3pKMH-1dJoQ
7. Balidan: https://youtu.be/VZfKqojCmeg

Introduction of Girish Khatiwada

Girish Khatiwada is a versatile Nepali Rapper, Vlogger, and TV personality. He was Born on 30th August 1979 in Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal. He is married to his girlfriend Jyoti Ranabhat. He is generally introduced as the first rapper of Nepal and was labeled the” Godfather of Nephop” by The Diplomat Magazine.

Personal Details (Summary)

Name	Girish khatiwada
Date of Birth	August 30, 1979,
Birth Place	Biratnagar
Age	44 years as of 2023
Country	Nepal
Profession	Rapper/vlogger
Height	5 feet 8 inches
Education	MBA
Stage Name	‘Gorkhali G’
Married to	Jyoti Ranabhat
First Nepali hip-hop song	Meaningless Rap

Childhood and Education

He was born in Biratnagar and completed his schooling in Biratnagar. Then he completed his high school level at Modern Indian School, Kathmandu. Then he headed to the USA and completed his MBA there at the University of Phoenix.

Girish Khatiwada Career

According to him, he was introduced to west hip-hop in the early 1990s while being involved in Breaking Dance held at Dharan. After being inspired by western hip-hop, he wrote his first ever rap “Meaningless Rap” in 1994 at the age of 15. He named it meaningless as it was forcefully designed with words and slang arranged only for rhyme and could hardly make sense. Before that, there was not a single rap and hip-hop trial made. Therefore, Girish Khatiwada is also cited as the first rapper in the Nepalese Hip-Hop industry.

In 1994, he became mainstream with his counterpart Parnil Timilsina with other music tracks like “Timi jaha pani janchhau”, “Malai bhool deu”, “Hami dherai sana chhau”, etc.

Contribution to NepHop

Girish Khatiwada, during the 90s, used to extract music from western hip-hop instruments and incorporate them with traditional Nepalese folk music and sync with it to give a Nepalese vibe. This led to the formation of a new Nepali music genre “Nep Hop” or “Lok Hop”.

Vlogging and YouTube

Along with the stage of the first Nepali rapper, Girish Khatiwada is also cited as the first Nepali Vlogging Youtuber. He joined YouTube on Jan 2, 2006. He shares his rap as well as lifestyle vlogs on his YouTube Channel.

Struggle and Successes

Girish Khatiwada is hard-working and works day and night for his successful career. He claims that he has started such a trend of songs that his fan never wants to go away from him. Even by watching his YouTube videos, we can see how hard-working he is. He has thousands of followers on his social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. 

Girish Khatiwada was also one of the judges of the recently broadcasted most popular hip-hop-related Nepali reality show Nephop Ko Shreepech with famous rapper Balen Shah and Manash Ghale.

Some of the Popular Raps

1. BE WHAT YOU WANNA BE: https://youtu.be/kElMpiPG1EE
2. Prithvi Narayan Shah: https://youtu.be/xbYMMP60ID8
3. Jitney ko Itihaas: https://youtu.be/ljdjrGXTT3c
4. Sadak ko army: https://youtu.be/vST5vDvMsa0
5. Ma Yesto Chu: https://youtu.be/qi7TtE-xF3Y
6. AAG LAAGI: https://youtu.be/pt5i_2BCuO0
7. Baal Chhaina: https://youtu.be/0_SylM5fGEA
8. AAJA KO DINA: https://youtu.be/NGbh5bwE-dA
9. U GOT ME: https://youtu.be/ZZJGuS7oAvg
10. OI HOI: https://youtu.be/FPxB1CfH3Mg

Social Media

The followings are the main social media profiles of Girish Khatiwada.

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter

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