From Ghatkopar to the Grammys: Yashraj Mehra’s rise from college fests to global stage

“I was catching up with old school friends over dinner in Ghatkopar when I received a message about the project being nominated. I read the message out quite casually. The scale of what had just happened didn’t sink in right away. But my friends were over the moon. They cheered for me louder than I ever have,” the 25-year-old recalls.

Yashraj performs at a college fest in 2017

That text message was from a group comprising artistes Siddhant Bhatia, Gujarati folk sensation Aditya Gadhvi and saxophonist Lars Moller among others, who worked on Sounds of Kumbha, an album featuring live-recorded sounds from the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. Credited as composer and lyricist on the song Wheel of Time, Yashraj is one of the youngest on the celebrated ensemble roster.

The song features visuals from the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj

“The concept was a breath of fresh air for me. Sourcing music through unconventional methods adds a unique texture to the song. More importantly as a hip-hop artiste, it begged the question, can I put my thoughts across without the usual aggression associated with the genre? When I wrote the verse, it fit like a LEGO block in the rest of the song,” he recalls. Shot at the Island City Studios in Khar, the rapper’s long-distance collaboration sounds a lot like what this writer heard almost a decade ago, across college stages. “I’ve lived a life and a half after my college days, I had to adapt to the scene. This song felt like going back to 
being the old, vulnerable me,” he admits.

Siddhant Bhatia

Behind the scenes

‘Ghatkopar ka ladka’ as he calls himself on his new track, Yashraj gives credit (at least some of it) to his alma mater, Udayachal High School in Vikhroli. “While the ‘cool’ boys who played sport flaunted their absurdly large friend groups during lunch break, I would sit in my corner writing rap. It taught me the ability to isolate myself, which comes in handy even today,” he says. In college, the artiste had his own coming of age and burst onto the cultural festival scene with theatre shows, directing short films, hosting events, and rapping. As this writer recalls, it was almost impossible to be at a college festival in the city where the artiste wasn’t the topic of discussion.

Lars Moller plays the saxophone during the 2025 Kumbh Mela

Eminem, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang Clan, Tupac Shakur, and closer to home Vivian Fernandes aka DIVINE have a hand in ushering the young artiste to limelight, he informs us. “I would listen to albums like Nas’s Illmatic from start to finish on loop. It gave me the confidence to join rap cyphers and jams in the city. I entered the scene at the right time. DIVINE’s landmark track Jungli Sher had just been released, and the scene was booming,” he says. The admiration is mutual, he would eventually learn, when Fernandes met the rapper and gave the then 20-year-old Yashraj a pat on the back.

Yashraj with DIVINE. PICS COURTESY/YASHRAJ MEHRA ON INSTAGRAM

Fast forward

The rapper might soon run out of boxes to tick on his bucket list. With collaborations with big-ticket rappers like Badshah and Raftaar, a solidified presence on most festival rosters, and now a Grammy nomination, we wonder what lies ahead.

Aditya Gadhvi

“I’m turning back. I want to revisit my older emotions, this time as a more mature artiste. I am no longer trying to prove anything to anyone. I don’t have to be flashy and loud. I would rather spend an evening with my close friends than attend at a party with the bigwigs. It keeps me sane. Sane enough to keep writing,” he signs off.

Log on to: Sounds of Kumbha on Spotify and YouTube; yashraj on Instagram

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