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Blaaze | |
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| Born | Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopala Sheshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman (1975-10-15)15 October 1975 (age 50) |
| Origin | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Producer, musician,rapper, singer, songwriter, lyricist, editor, actor |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Website | blaaze.in |
Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopala Sheshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman (born 15 October 1975), professionally known asBlaaze (/ˈblɑːzeɪ/),[1] is an IndianTamil language playback singer and rapper inIndian cinema who specializes in writing and performingrap music.[2] An Indian by birth, born inChennai, he grew up inZambia and later did his education inEngland and in theUS.
Blaaze was born on theVijaya Dashami day of 1975 into a Brahmin family from Mylapore inChennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The name 'Vijaya' was added to his full name because of his birth on Vijaya Dashami. He was later raised inKitwe,Zambia, educated in England and graduated fromColumbia College Hollywood, United States. His father being an architect, his family toured around the entire country with Blaaze starting to performBreakdance on the sets his father designed, when he was 9.[3] He then moved on to rapping and his music career began with a performance for PresidentChiluba ofZambia during the election campaign in October 1991 at the age of 16 and just 5 months later he produced and performed in Zambia's first ever music videoAdvice 4 Livin' with the Zambian national broadcasting corporation.[4]
Ten years later, in 2002 his entry into theIndian film industry happened, whenA. R. Rahman appointed Blaaze to sing his first song inTamil cinema, the "Baba Rap" forRajinikanth's movieBaba. Thereafter he performed for several Chennai film industry songs frequently under Rahman's direction on scores forKangalal Kaidhu Sei,Boys,Enakku 20 Unakku 18,New,Aayutha Ezhuthu,Anbe Aaruyire . Other music directors from the film industry also started using Blaaze's rap talent in their films likeYuvan Shankar Raja forManmadhan andVallavan and the likes ofHarris Jayaraj,Joshua Sridhar,Deva,Mani Sharma,Devi Sri Prasad inter alia for their films respectively. He has also done the rap lyrics for the title track of the famous Star One showRemix. He has appeared as himself in the music videos of several songs he has rapped for, including "Yennadi Muniyamma" (Vathiyar), "Taxi Taxi" (Sakkarakatti), "Vaanam Ellai" (Unnaipol Oruvan) and "Padapadakkudhu Maname" (Moondru Per Moondru Kadal).[5] Blaaze with several others like A.R. Rahman, andApache India played a significant role in familiarizing hip hop in South India in the previous decade.[6]
His famous songs include "The Boss" and "Style" forSivaji: The Boss,,"CEO in the House" forSarkar, "Hey Salaa" forAegan, "Gangsta Blues" forSlumdog Millionaire, "Hosanna" forVinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, "Raajali" for2.0. He also co-wrote the song "Dreams on Fire" fromSlumdog Millionaire, as well as being the lyricist onGangsta Blues, fromSlumdog Millionaire. With guidance fromA. R. Rahman, Blaaze wrote the official UN Anthem for Poverty, "Pray For Me Brother". His continued perseverance to rap about issue-oriented subjects earned him the nation's vote forMTV Youth Icon of the Year 2008.[3]
He has rapped inMohanlal's Malayalam movieCasanova and is the lyricist for two songs on theVince Vaughn motion pictureCouples Retreat., co-written withA. R. Rahman, and, "NaNa", co-written with Vivian Chaix andA. R. Rahman. His band, ZambeZi funK, is ready with their debut album,funKalistiC syllaBleZ. His non-film work comprises issue oriented music, with messages being spread on the Gujarat Riots, Bilkis Bano, the religious issues in India, banning of corrupt police in the song "Ban The Crooked Police"... Inquilab, and "Stand Up Unite", for the Mumbai terror attacks. He has worked as a Music Director for the Warner Bros filmSaas, Bahu Aur ex, with a song on a new age India, called, "What's Up India". The film was directed by Shona Urvashi.
He has also worked as music director for the soundtrack of the filmStriker. In September 2011, 'Time For Gandhi' – BlaaZe's debut album – India's first real hip hop 'protest' album – was released on EMI VIRGIN MUSIC.He lives in Chennai with his family. His sister, Rekha Srinivasan, is a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathak Dancer, residing in New Jersey and founder of the Bhaarat Nritya Academy. With over 100 students trained and mentored, and several accolades, she is a pillar of the New Jersey Community.Bhaarat Nritya Academy
BlaaZé teamed up with Music Director Paul Jacob, and together they released the world's first Sanskrit hip hop album,Rap Bhakthi Mala.[7]
In 2012, Blaaze collaborated with actorDhanush, who sang the song while Blaaze rapped, with the music composed byAnirudh Ravichander and the music video directed byVetrimaaran, as part of the ad campaign for the album ''Tata Nano''.[8][9]
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