DYK Rapper Baba Sehgal Forced AR Rahman To Let Him Sing Song Rukmani Rukmani In Roja?

Baba Sehgal was one of the first rappers in India in the 1990s who made his career out of music. His rap music cassettes were widely popular, and he became one of the first people to have his own music video. Owing to his popularity and talent, the rap artist managed to work with AR Rahman. However, not many know that Baba Sehgal used a tactic to get to sing one of Rahman's songs. It was his first and last song with AR Rahman.

How did Baba Sehgal convince AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam to sing in Roja?

In a conversation with YouTube channel Timeout With Ankit, Baba Sehgal recalled meeting AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam at his concert in Chennai. At that time, Rahman and Ratnam were looking to release Roja's music album in Hindi, and it was Baba, who helped them get in touch with the music label - Magnasound.

However, as a part of the negotiations, Baba put forth his condition that he would sing at least one song in the Hindi album of Roja. “I told then I will sing at least one song, even if they like it or don’t like it. So I sang one song and that was the first and the last song that I sang for Rahman. I said you will have to give me a song or Magnasound won’t make a deal. I sang it and it was a hit,” he recalled.

For the unversed, Baba Sehgal sang the song Rukmani Rukmani, which is one of the evergreen songs.

What else do we know about Baba Sehgal?

Baba Sehgal's first album was Dilruba (1990), followed by Alibaba (1991). However, he rose to fame with his biggest hit album, Thanda Thanda Pani (1992), which sold 5 million cassettes, making it the first successful Indian rap album. He has served as a playback singer in movies such as Singam, Singam II, Arya 2, Miss 420, Bhoot Unkle, Action 3D, Mr. Perfect and Gajakesari.