KRSNA (rapper)

2006-2011: Career beginnings and "Kaisa Mera Desh"

After releasing a few collaborations with UK rappers like Rabbit Sack C and Big T, Krishna's first shot of success came with the release of the music video for "Kaisa Mera Desh" in 2010,^[8][9] becoming the first Indian hip hop song on YouTube and earning a number 2 ranking as one of the most watched music videos in India overnight following its release.^[10] His next success came with the song "Lokpal Freestyle", which shared the same theme of conscious hip-hop.^[11] He also released a song titled "Vijay" in collaboration with international NGO Save The Children in 2013.^[12]

After sporadic underground releases including collaborations with artists such as Twisted Insane and Lost Stories, Kaul switched from Prozpekt to the stage name KR$NA after signing with Contrabands, a joint venture company between Universal Music India, VH1 and Hard Rock Cafe, in 2013.^[13][14] In May 2014, he released his debut album Sellout, an all-English effort on Universal Music with its lead single "Last Night" peaking at number 5 on the VH1 Music Charts in India.^[15] Kaul became the first hip-hop artist in India to do a five-city album tour with a band.^[3][2] Following this, the music video for the title song "Sellout" was released but failed to make a large impact due to lacklustre marketing and shrinking label budgets.^[16][17]

2016-2021: Comeback and further successes

After a two-year hiatus, Kaul made his return in 2016 with his Hindi release "Vyanjan".^[18][19] Following the success of the song, he signed to the artist management agency DNH Artists (now Kalamkaar) in 2017 and became a partner in 2018, with the likes of Ankit Khanna and Raftaar.

In 2019, Kaul released "Freeverse Feast (Langar)", produced by Raftaar, allegedly in response to rapper Emiway Bantai's "Freeverse Feast (Daawat)"^[20], where the latter boastfully claimed that "he's the only rapper representing India worldwide". This was the first track which sparked a feud between the two rappers, even though both had collaborated back in 2017.

In 2020, Kaul accused the IPL and Disney+ Hotstar of permitting the plagiarism of his 2017 song "Dekh Kaun Aaya Wapas" when creating the 2020 IPL anthem "Ayenge Hum Wapas", an allegation which was dismissed by composer Pranav Ajayrao Malpe. Kaul responded by stating that "his team[...], will take the legal route and approach Disney+ Hotstar, which commissioned the song".^[21][22]

In the month of January 2021, Kaul was featured on American rapper Hi-Rez's song "Crossroads" along with Royce da 5'9".^[23] Later in July, another collaboration with Hi-Rez was released, titled "Playground" which also featured former Slaughterhouse member, KXNG Crooked. His collaboration in Hi-Rez's song "Overdrive", was released in November 2021, featuring A-F-R-O, Joell Ortiz, Bizzy Bone, Tech N9ne and Twista. The music videos were released on Hi-Rez's YouTube channel.^[24] In the same year, Kaul also released his sophomore studio album Still Here, his first album released through Kalamkaar Records, the artist agency he had joined 3 years back. The album featured guest appearances from labelmates Raftaar, Rashmeet Kaur, Karma apart from fellow rappers Ikka, Badshah.^[25][26]

2022-present: Collaborations, EPs and Yours Truly

In 2022, he featured on Karan Aujla's song 'Ykwim', and also made an appearance in the music video. In the same year, also collaborated with British rapper French the Kid, on the song "10 Pe 10", which was released in November 2022, with an accompanying music video.

After the release of some tracks containing subliminal disses on each other, the beef between KR$NA and Emiway Bantai escalated in 2022, when Emiway released "Chusamba", in response to which KR$NA released "Lil Bunty". Emiway again responded with "KR L$DA SIGN", and KR$NA released "Machayenge 4", referring to Emiway's popular song series. Emiway retorted with his own version of "MACHAYENGE 4", and was met with widespread backlash, which prompted him to delete the track for a while after its original release.^[27][28][29]

Kaul with Brodha V won the Radio City Freedom Awards 2023 on 31 March 2023, for the Best Indie Collaboration. The two won the Freedom Awards 7 for the song "Forever", which was released in September 2022.^[30] Starting in 2023, Kaul released a series of EPs, which featured collaborations from fellow rappers, and producers in the Desi hip-hop scene. His first EP, Time Will Tell, released in March 2023 and featured Pakistani rappers Talha Anjum, and Talhah Yunus, and production from their frequent collaborators, Umair and Jokhay.^[31] His second EP, FAR FROM OVER, released in August 2023, and featured the Indian hip-hop duo Seedhe Maut, musician AR Paisley and production from Bharg.^[32] His third EP, For The Day One$, which released in 2024, also featured production from Bharg, and guest appearances from rappers Faris Shafi, Karma, and singer Lisa Mishra.^[33]

In 2025, Kaul, along with 3 other rappers– Jay Park, MaSiWei, and Vannda, featured on Japanese hip-hop artist Awich's track "Asian State of Mind", which was released on 28 February, accompanied by a music video, which was shot in each of the featured rappers' home countries.^[34][35] In the same year, Kaul announced his first mixtape, Yours Truly, which was also his first project to be distributed via Mass Appeal India.^[36] The announcement coincided with American rapper Nas making his India debut on 19 April 2025 at Mass Appeal Presents: The World Reunion—A Charity Concert in Mumbai.^[37] Yours Truly eventually released on 22 May 2025, with a title announcement, made 4 days prior to its release. It featured guest appearances from Seedhe Maut, Raftaar, Aitch, Awich, Yashraj and Badshah.^[38] The music videos of the tracks, "Who You Are", "Vibrate" and "Sensitive" were released shortly after the album's release, with the music video for "Sensitive" featuring comedian Samay Raina.^[39]

In the same year, Kaul entered into a collaboration with boAt Lifestyle and was appointed as the brand ambassador, serving as the public face of the company. ^[40]

Albums

• 2014: Sellout
• 2021: Still Here

EPs

• 2023: Time Will Tell

• 2023: Far from Over

• 2024: For the Day Ones

Mixtapes

• 2025: Yours Truly^[41][42]

Singles and collaborations