King

Since appearing on India’s first rap reality show, King has wasted little time in marking himself out as one of his homeland’s most promising hip-hop properties. • Also known as King Rocco, the man born Arpan Kumar in 1997 made his first waves in India’s hip-hop community with a self-released pair of confrontational early singles, “Zinnda” and “Hitman”. • The buzz around his early output secured him a spot on MTV Hustle, in which he was one of 15 aspiring rappers looking to impress judges Nucleya, Raftaar and Raja Kumari on a weekly basis. Ultimately, King's writing skills, flow and live performances were enough to see him finish as third runner-up. • Thanks to the exposure from the show, he’s amassed a legion of followers on social media and a cumulative video view count running into the tens of millions. • King has continued to drop a steady stream of tracks like the brooding “Maahaul” and the dramatic “Ghumshudaa”, the latter of which is accompanied by a high-concept video. • In 2020, King released his debut album The Carnival, an eight-track hip-hop odyssey that deals with everything from life and love to nostalgia and social consciousness. • As a prolific collaborator, his crossover work with the likes of Harjas Harjaayi, Jaz & Aesap and Rahul Sathu places him at the heart of his country’s rap scene.