Most know him by his stage name Yung Raja and his infectious brand of music We speak to him, as Rajid Ahamed, about his professional and giving journey, and why he is currently collaborating with Giving.sg’s E-Flag Day to provide migrant workers with meals.
“Just to clarify, I was not an accident!” Rajid commented as he shared about his siblings who are older than him by more than a decade. After his parents brought up his siblings in South India, they moved to Singapore. Three years later, Rajid was born, making him a born-and-bred Singaporean.
The age gap meant that Rajid’s parents could give him more attention. In particular, Rajid’s mother noticed how her son had a knack for acting. He loved imitating Kollywood films. “I was always the entertainer,” Rajid recalled. “I enjoyed being the ‘clown’, making everyone laugh.”
So, at the age of thirteen, Rajid started his career in the entertainment industry as an actor. Balancing school work, Rajid was a freelance actor for eight years where he acted in a range of projects, from commercials, to Mediacorp dramas, to films.
“I was hustling and grinding after school hours. I was determined to become the best actor in Singapore. I even dreamt that I could win an Oscar one day.”
But alongside pursuing stardom, Rajid recalls his parents instilling a deep sense of duty and service.
From young, Rajid was entrusted with the responsibility to take care of his family. Growing up, he also saw how his mother served the ladies’ wing of her mosque and selflessly gave food to cleaners at their HDB flat and the mosque. His father, on the other hand, was recently given a ‘Long Service Award’ for serving twenty years with SINDA. For the past five years, his father has been an Islamic teacher for the Singapore prison.
Perhaps it was these experiences that sparked an early desire in Rajid to give back to society.
A Struggling Actor Listening To Rap Music
After pursuing acting for eight years, Rajid started to feel like “he was running in circles”.
“The opportunities that came my way was to play the ‘Indian guy stereotype,’” Rajid lamented. “What I wanted was to be seen beyond my race. I wanted to be seen as someone that is excelling, and people in surrounding countries to know me for me.”
After fulfilling his full-time national service duties, Rajid truly felt the weight of his responsibilities as a full-grown adult. “I had to truly reconsider whether acting was the right career path for me. Was it financially sustainable to go for twenty auditions, then get selected for one gig every ninety days?” Rajid pondered. He had to consider his family’s financial situation.
Thus Rajid accepted that he had to let go of his acting dreams and “prayed to God that another career path would open”.
As it so happened, Rajid had been an avid listener of rap music. As a sheltered kid, he loved the brashness and unapologetic expression in rap music. He had even started playing around with music production software as a hobby.
His close friend, Fariz, then gave him prophetic advice. “Hey bro, try rapping la. I think you can rap sia. I think you will have a better chance at rapping than acting, because when acting, you are playing a role. But when you are doing music, you can define what kind of artist you want to be.”
That was the turning point for Rajid. Still, it was not an easy decision. He had to convince his mother to give him two years to try “another thing”. His mother wanted him to pursue a university degree, but Rajid reasoned that he wanted an alternative to taking a study loan. He did not want to bring more debt to the family.
A Rapper Finding Early Success
Rajid hit the ground running.
“If I wanted to become a rapper, I thought a good place to start would be emceeing in hip hop clubs,” Rajid shared. In the first month, he approached his friend Mr Boo, who was an emcee at a hip hop club and who eventually gave him his first emcee opportunity. Soon, Rajid was emceeing at the nightclub ‘Cherry’ on Fridays and Saturdays where he got to connect with potential collaborators.
Rajid initially spent a few months working with various producers, but nothing “was good enough”. Then, him and his close friend Fariz, now known as artist Fariz Jabba, uploaded a few videos on Twitter and they went viral after trending in Singapore and Malaysia.
Given Rajid’s happy-go-lucky personality, he was conscious to not write about gangsterism and negative stereotypes associated with rap. Instead, he and Fariz contextualised and localised the genre, consciously making it their own.
A breakthrough was the release of his single “Poori Gang” in January 2018. When popular artist M.I.A. reached out to him after that song made waves, that was his first point of validation – encouraging him to venture into his rap career with full force.
From Success To Service
As his rap career took off, Rajid recounts how he focused on clearing his family’s debts first, before donating his “surplus” to others. A month ago, on the day his latest single “Mami” was released, Rajid and his parents finally became debt-free.
“When there’s something I enjoy, I love ‘hyping’ everyone else to enjoy it too,” Rajid shared. This goes beyond his role as a performer. Whether it is for the crowdfunding app “ShareTheMeal” to fight global hunger through the United Nations World Food Programme or fundraising for local charities, Rajid is a natural campaigner that can rally others to do good. His childhood experiences witnessing his parents serve the community have also shaped his giving mindset. “Charity first starts from family,” Rajid shares.
Now, he wants to ensure giving back is a part of every step he takes.
One of the causes he holds closest to his heart is food.
I was a chubby kid. My mother fed me a lot, and then on the opposing end, I knew those who did not have food. It just seemed so crazy!
This was why Rajid fundraised for Krsna’s Free Meals earlier this year, where he fundraised approximately five thousand dollars in seven weeks.
Next, Rajid will be partnering Giving.sg E-Flag Day to fundraise for Food Bank Singapore.
Ultimately, Rajid really believes that all of us have a responsibility to positively impact the people around us. He is conscious of the ripple effect of positively influencing others. That, to him, is how to build a City of Good. Rajid truly believes in the power of positivity, where it is important for each of us to “consciously send out positive energy”.
His feel-good rap music highlights that. Looking ahead, aside from fundraising with Giving.sg, Rajid has set up the groundup initiative Maharaja to further bring to light the various social needs in Singapore and how to take action.
From 23 April to 6 May, you can support Yung Raja’s fundraiser for Giving.sg E Flag Day in partnership with Food Bank here. You can also follow his social work at Maharaja (@mhrj.sg) on Instagram.
