Raf-Saperra - Sultan Rahi (Official Video)
Visionary underground phenomenon Raf-Saperra follows up his scintillating EP 5 Deadly Venomz (released via Fatboy Records/ Mass Appeal), his breakout trip to Paris Fashion Week soundtracking the KidSuper show, a sold-out US and UK ‘Raw As Folk’ tour and his official London afterparty with US rap icon Nas with powerful new single “Sultan Rahi”.
The London-based rising star, whose real name is Adeel Sardar Khan, has been cultivating a reputation as one of the most exciting musicians coming out of the city IN a generation, fusing a powerful, natural talent as a traditional Punjabi singer with the rap sounds emanating from America’s East Coast and his birth, upbringing and musical culture in Streatham, South West London.
Raf continues to garner a huge amount of attention across the music and fashion spaces, having soundtracked the latest SS25 KidSuper show in Paris, his sold out US/EU ‘Raw As Folk’ tour, which was followed by an official after party in London alongside Nas and Mass Appeal, as well as an official screening premiere for his short film ‘Tale of the Snake Charmer’, attended by Nas himself. Now, Raf-Saperra returns with a powerful new single, “Sultan Rahi”, which sees Raf’s distinct vocal presence welded onto a stylistic Punjabi Hip-Hop and Trap record packed with woozy bass kicks and snappy percussive elements. Titled after the iconic Punjabi Actor, ‘Sultan Rahi’ the track proves to be a genre-bending sound merging Raf’s own contemporary sonics with moody Bhangra influences capturing fashion, slang and street auras.
Following his breakthrough project Ruff Around The Edges last year, gaining immediate attention across the likes of i-D, THE FACE and THE GUARDIAN, Raf upped the levels again with one of the most exciting cross-Atlantic collaborative projects of the year. 5 Deadly Venomz, tapping up GRISELDA’s Conway The Machine, Dave East and Big Body Bes, fusing his indigenous Bhangra sound with some of the most critically-acclaimed rappers in the US landscape right now.
A powerful statement of intent as to Raf’s global aspirations, 5 Deadly Venomz delivered a series of seamless rap-fusion tracks, interlacing NYC lyricism from the street’s brightest minds with London’s popping Bhangra flavours and iykyk Punjabi talent. Taking the listener on an immaculately curated journey through Raf’s now global steppings, from the ground-breaking opener “Rolling Thunder” with sees Raf trade sung verses with GRISELDA’s Conway The Machine’s blistering raps and cadence, to the classic rap instrumentals of “Hood Harvest” – Big Body Bes announcing “Punjabis in the lobby!” feels like a momentous regime change as the rap star and Dave East spit iconic New York tales over a Bobby Kang instrumental, Raf’s sung couplets dancing around the raps to create what feels like a signature new sound.
One of a key group of trailblazers in the rising British Asian cultural renaissance including Yung Singh (Raf delivered a live sung couplet P.A. over Singh’s UKG set at Fabric), and artist Navinder Nagla, Saperra is crafting some of London’s hottest new generational sounds that are fuelling a genuine subculture in raves across the UK and in Europe (“N.L.S.” famously getting dropped at Berlin club Berghain). With “Modern Mirza” topping over 7.8M plays and “Snake Charmer” over 2.3M, Raf’s inclusion as one of BBC’s Future Sounds artists last year seems right on time.
With critical acclaim coming across the spectrum: THE GUARDIAN, i-D and THE FACE to COLORS and BASEMENT APPROVED, and fashion co-signs up across the notorious tastemaker OUTLANDER as well as ELLE INDIA, Raf is feeling like a true generational talent in the making. A fiercely independent artist selling out tours both sides of the Atlantic as well as tapping one of the US’ most revered rap superstars, Raf-Saperra’s emergence as a key new name in the London landscape continues to rise beyond already sky-high expectation.