BBC News, Delhi
About 15 years ago, the Indian rapper of modest origin broke into the then scene of the music scene in the country and transformed it forever.
He teased, took over the listeners, and dared to explore the “devilish” contours of his mind, as he sang a rash about fun, drugs and “seduction” of women. His songs were played in clubs and weddings, and the stereo were blowing at big parties and at tea booths equally.
Then he disappeared at the height of his career. Seven years later, Yo Yo Honey Singh returned – with a new album and a permanent musical tour, claiming that a man was changed after a long battle with drug abuse and a mental health struggle.
The 41-year-old singer and producer was once one of the biggest Indian music stars, a character who “moved the cultural gravity of hip-hop music,” says music journalist Bhanuj Kaptal in the famous, recent Netflix documentary on Singh.
But he was also deeply controversial – and, according to his own confession, “an aggressive and reckless man”, routine Accused of promoting vulgaritydebauchery and violence through his music.
Many have criticized Singh’s texts for displaying violence against women and rapes, a picture that gained additional attraction in print after his ex -wife and darling of childhood accused him of domestic violence in submission of development. Singh denied the accusation.
Seven years later, the singer is no longer a defiant hitmaker who once ruled the ladder with her provocative hymns that appear on her feet.
Much has changed in the intervening years, including the Indian hip-hop, which developed into a successful, dynamic space. The artists once inspired by sound now surpassed him as the leading voices of the genre.
Singh also seems different. From someone who described himself as a “omniscient Lord of the Universe”, he now identifies himself as a man who believes in good energy, the cyclical nature of life and “scientific astrologers.”
He claims that his music is now more aware of, moving beyond the drug to a little deeper. But faithful fans say he lost the advantage, and his latest records left no mark.
“He has a basic audience who will stay with him forever … but his vision is now old. It’s amazed at,” Kappal says.
But Singh is not ready to write off yet.
Instead of trying to conceal or defend his personal struggle with glory and drugs, he made him the central part of his return.
Since his return, Singh has sincerely admitted his struggle with addiction and mental health. “The drugs completely destroyed me,” he told Lallantop, digital news. “I lost myself for glory, money and a woman. I was like devil, completely Satanic.”
In interviews he is witty and relaxed, speaking with the clarity of the tortured artist who, after fighting against his inner demons, unlocked the spiritual truth
“What goes around comes around, I really believe that,” he said recently. “It took me a lot of time to get out of the place I got stuck. But now I’m back.”
Born Hridesh Singh in the State of Punjab, he grew up in a cramped neighborhood in Delhi. Those heavy early years shaped his music and still echoed in their business.
“This get was my home, a hood, it will always be,” he is often heard.
Singh always knew he wanted a career in music. He began as a college DJ and later moved to production full time. “I wanted to make rhythms and produce music, not sing or write,” he says.
But after years as a small producer in Punjab, he realized that it would not be enough. “My sounds were too urban for a place. People didn’t understand it. That’s why I had to transcend the state.”
That’s how Solo went. In 2011, Singh was released by an international peasant, his Breakout album. Place Punjabi Folk – his Dhol Beats and String Melodies – with a global hip -hop, he created something completely new.
For three months, the formula didn’t seem to have succeeded. Then everything changed. Overnight, the songs became viral, top rankings, won awards – and catapulted Singha in Bollywood.
Brown rangThe song about the global ambition of the brown man became YouTube’s most watched video in 2012. Shot in Dubai in a million dollar budget, she introduced many Indians in Bling of Hip-hop-shirting cars, bags of clothing, watches with relaxed gems and golden chains-based on smooth rhythms.
Despite the strengthening of criticism of his misogynistic texts, Singh packed the stadiums and threw out hits, breaking into Bollywood with songs for stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar.
“Many times, my texts were garbage, I even knew it. But people still listened to him because the sound was so good and fresh,” Lallantop told.
But Singh’s rise to glory bowed with his personal fall.
“I was in drugs and alcohol, I smoked 12-15 joints and bottles of descent. I left my family, lost control. This time I got so high a friend on his stomach eight times,” Lallantop told Lallantop.
In 2017, Singh interrupted the middle of the tournament – the moment that shook him. He left music and substances, returned to Delhi and started recovering with a global team of doctors and therapists. “I told my family that I was mentally good. I can’t do anything until I get better.”
Singh says he was sober for seven years, except for occasional beer.
“I was in hell and back,” he says familiar. “Even now, I wake up foggy for medication.”
Fans, however, appreciate Singh’s raw honesty because of his self -destructive preferences – and his effort to overcome them.
“No one is perfect. But at least Singh tries to be better. He may have left the scene briefly, but his music never stopped playing,” says Nandini Gupta, a student based in Delhi.
He sees his second transformation as performance, noting that his new music remains problematic. “Although he is lowered, he is still objectified by women and only talks about money and celebrates,” says listener Bushra Neyazi.
No matter how you see it, Singh’s redemption feels like another challenge to his audience – pushing them to accept his complicated past and give his music another opportunity.
“I was absent for seven years, but I will drive everything crazy again in the next seven,” he said recently.
“I came back and I want the same love I received seven years ago.”
