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Raftaar
Indian rapper and singer (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dilin Nair[a] (born 16 November 1988), better known by his stage name Raftaar, is an Indian rapper, lyricist, music producer, composer, dancer, actor and TV personality associated with Hindi, Punjabi and Haryanvi music. He is among the first rappers in India to break into the mainstream music industry.[3]
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Early and personal life
Kalathil Kuzhiyil Devadasan Dilin Nair[a] was born on 16 November 1988 to a Delhi-based Malayali couple in Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram), Kerala.[4][5][6] Raftaar married Komal Vohra, the sister of Indian television actors Karan Vohra and Kunal Vohra, in December 2016.[7][8] They filed for a divorce in 2020 and have been living separately. The legal proceedings were delayed due to COVID-pandemic and were finalised on 6 October 2022.[9][10]
On 31 January 2025, Raftaar married fashion stylist, actress and model Manraj Jawanda in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in traditional Malayali and Sikh wedding ceremonies.[11][12][13]
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Career
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2008-2012: Early career, Mafia Mundeer and Dance India Dance
Raftaar initially began his music career by making tracks with his childhood friends and fellow rappers Ikka and Lil Golu. After a while of making tracks and uploading them online, Yo Yo Honey Singh heard a track on Orkut which was uploaded by The Black Wall Street Desi's, The group which featured the three. Singh reached out to the three youngsters and invited them to his studio in Okhla, Delhi. According to Ikka on his track "The Interview", Singh worked with the three youngsters while also giving them stage names; "Young Amli" for Ikka, "Raftaar" for Dilin who went by the name OniMaxxx or Max and "Lil Golu" for Sahil who had the nickname Golu. Raftaar also started his career as a dancer, as Max and participated in a reality TV show Dance India Dance in 2011, in 'DID Double' along with a friend named Manik.[14]
In the meantime, Raftaar split from Mafia Mundeer due to credit-related problems, most notably for the track "Dope Shope" from Singh's album, International Villager.[15] He also appeared in the music video for a few seconds and alleged that his scenes were also cut.[16]
2012-2017: The Titans, Swag Mera Desi and mainstream break-out
After the split, he then formed a group 'The Titans' with Badshah and Sachit Takkar (Sachh). They produced many songs together in the Punjabi music industry and Bollywood together.[17]
Raftaar became widely known and recognised after releasing his song "Swag Mera Desi" in 2013 with Manj Musik. The line "Ab yeh karke dikhao" (transl. Now try to do this) from the song was interpreted as a subliminal directed towards Yo Yo Honey Singh,[18] who used the phrase in his song "Party With The Bhoothnath" which led to a dispute between the two rappers in media.[19] "Swag Mera Desi" won Best Urban Song at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards in 2014.[20]
The next year, he skyrocketed to mainstream popularity with the songs, "All Black", with Sukhe and Jaani,[21], as well as the song "Toh Dishoom" from the 2016 film Dishoom.[22]
2017-2020: KALAMKAAR, debut album and collaborations
In 2017, Raftaar debuted in the Bengali music industry through the film One which featured singer Vishal Dadlani and Raftaar.[23] In the same year, he founded the record label KALAMKAAR, alongside Ankit Khanna, signing a variety of acts, such as KR$NA, Rashmeet Kaur, Deep Kalsi, Karma, Yunan and Harjas Harjaayi.[24] He also produced and rapped a song for the Chaamp soundtrack.[25] He released his debut album, Zero To Infinity, the following year in May.[26]
Raftaar collaborated with Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan for the second edition of Breezer Vivid Shuffle in 2019,[27] and in the same year, he started judging the reality shows MTV Hustle, Dance India Dance and MTV Roadies. The next year, he released his second album, Mr. Nair, through Zee Music Company, featuring his labelmates KR$NA, Rashmeet Kaur, Deep Kalsi, Karma, Yunan, and Harjas Harjaayi among others.[28]
2020-present: Further collaborations and HARD DRIVE Vol.1 & Vol.2
Over the next few years, Raftaar, continued to collaborate with various upcoming Desi hip-hop artists like Shah Rule, MC Stan, Seedhe Maut, King, on singles and also, on a collaborative EP with Prabh Deep, titled PRAA, in addition to releasing his own projects, most notably the HARD DRIVE Vol. 1, and its sequel, in 2022 and 2024, respectively.[29][30]
He was seen as a guest judge on 2 episodes of India's Got Latent in 2024 and returned to judge the fourth season of MTV Hustle, after being absent from the previous two seasons.[31] In 2025, he participated in the reality show The Traitors as a contestant, until he was eliminated in the sixth episode.[32]
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Discography
Albums
EPs and Mixtapes
- WTF Mixtape: Vol. 1 (2013-14) (unreleased)
- BAR'ISH EP (2020–21) (unreleased)
- HARD DRIVE Vol.1 (EP) (2022) [34]
- PRAA (EP) (2023)[35]
- HARD DRIVE Vol.2 (EP) (2024)[36]
Singles and collaborations
Film music
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Television roles
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References
External links
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