The Sonic Stylist

With a viral mixtape and music video, hip-hop OG Kr$na has finally hit the big time.

- 

KR$NA IS Indian hip-hop's ultimate survivor. Over his nearly two-decade-long career, the New Delhi rapper has endured plenty of setbacks and false starts. There was the conscious rapper era as Young Prozpekt, which yielded a viral protest anthem but soon fizzled out. The major label deal that ended in crushing disappointment. The years spent as a perennial outsider, never quite accepted by the gatekeepers of the Indian rap underground despite being a veteran artist.

Most artists would have tapped out long ago. But Kr$na is still here—still writing, still rapping. He's played the long game, soaking up each insult and betrayal, using it as fuel for the fire. And over the last few years, that persistence has finally started to pay off.

His latest mixtape, Yours Truly (released on his childhood icon Nas's Mass Appeal label), hit #1 on Apple Music within 12 hours of release and crossed over a million streams on Spotify within 24 hours. He's collaborated with local heavyweights like Badshah and Raftaar, as well as global stars such as Awich, Jay Park and Tech N9ne. He's been ranked #10 on Lifted Asia's list of the hottest rappers in the region, and he's rocking festival stages from Mumbai to Phnom Penh. It's a hard-earned victory lap for the kid who never quite belonged, but never stopped showing up.