Sidhu Moose Wala
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known professionally as Sidhu Moose Wala, was an Indian singer and rapper. He worked predominantly in Punjabi-language music and cinema. Moose Wala is considered to be one of the most influential and successful Punjabi rappers of all time and to many, among the greatest Indian musicians of his generation.
In 2020, Moose Wala was named by The Guardian among 50 up and coming artists. He also became the first Punjabi and Indian singer to perform at Wireless Festival and won four awards at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards.
Moose Wala rose to mainstream popularity with his track "So High". In 2018, he released his debut album PBX 1, which peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. His singles "47" and "Mera Na" were ranked on the UK Singles Chart.
Born in Moosa, Punjab, Moose Wala began his career in 2016 as a songwriter for the song "License" by Ninja, and as lead artist in 2017 with Gurlez Akhtar for a duet song, "G Wagon". Following his debut, he collaborated with Brown Boyz for various tracks. Moose Wala's tracks peaked on the UK Asian Music chart. His song "Bambiha Bole" was among the top five on the Global YouTube music chart. In 2021, he released Moosetape, tracks from which charted globally including on the Billboard Global 200, Billboard Global Excl. US, Canadian Hot 100, UK Asian, and New Zealand Hot charts. He has the most number-one singles on the Billboard India Songs chart. It became the first Indian album to have more than 1 billion streams on Spotify.
In 2021, Moose Wala joined the Indian National Congress political party and unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election for Mansa.
He was shot dead by unidentified assailants on 29 May 2022; a Canada-based gangster, known as Goldy Brar and a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility for the killing, which the police said was the culmination of an inter-gang rivalry. On 23 June 2022, his first posthumous single, "SYL", was released.
Moose Wala's lyrics and themes promoting gun culture and violence were often seen as controversial in India. Subsequently, he had faced legal challenges for his support of gun culture and his inflammatory lyrics.
Early life
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu was born in the village of Moosa in the Mansa district of Punjab, India to Balkaur Singh and his mother is Charan Kaur, members of the Jat Sikh community.Moose Wala studied at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 2016. He admired and was influenced by rapper Tupac Shakur. He started listening to hip-hop music as a student in sixth grade, and was trained in music by Harvinder Bittu in Ludhiana. According to statements he made while campaigning, he chose Sidhu Moose Wala for his stage name as a tribute to his home village of Moosa.
After graduation, Moose Wala moved to Brampton, Ontario, Canada, as an international student. While living there he studied at Humber College.
Career
2017–2018: Rise to fame
Moose Wala released his first song "G Wagon" in 2017 while living in Brampton. Later that year, he had his breakthrough with the song "So High", a gangster rap with music producer Byg Byrd. The song won him the 2017 Best Lyricist award at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards. Following this, he joined Brown Boys Records along with Sunny Malton and Byg Byrd.He began to perform live shows in India in 2018, and performed numerous shows in Canada. He continued his success with singles like "Issa Jatt", "It's All About You", and "Just Listen". In May 2018, he released the single "Tochan", followed by "Famous" which entered the UK Asian Top 40 Chart.
At the 2018 PTC Punjabi Music Awards, he was nominated for the Best New Age Sensation award for "Issa Jatt". In August 2018, he released his first film soundtrack song, "Dollar", for the film Dakuaan Da Munda.
Following various successful songs with music publisher Humble Music, he began releasing songs independently in 2018, starting with "Warning Shots", a diss track targeting Karan Aujla's track "Lafaafe".
In October 2018, he released his debut album PBX 1 under T-Series, in the pop music genre with hip-hop influences. The album charted on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, and won the Best Album Award at the 2019 Brit Asia TV Music Awards. The album was followed by the release of most of his tracks under his own label, as well as tracks from other artists.
2019–2022: Established singer
In February 2019 Moose Wala released "Legend" under his own record label, and it won the Brit Asia TV Kuflink Best Track of the Year Award that year.In the same month, he released "Chosen" and "Outlaw", and in April, he released "East Side Flow", which was followed by "Mafia Style" with Aman Hayer. In June, his concert at the Surrey Music Festival was cancelled due to security concerns stemming from violence at his previous performances.In August, he collaborated with Bohemia on "Same Beef", which was a huge hit. In September, he released two film soundtrack songs: "Dogar" for Teri Meri Jodi and "Jatti Jeone Morh Wargi", featuring Sonam Bajwa, for Ardab Mutiyaran. In October, he released "47", featuring British rappers Mist and Stefflon Don, which entered the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also charted on the New Zealand top 40 singles chart.
In 2019, Spotify included him in its list of the most popular artists in Punjab, along with Maninder Buttar and Karan Aujla.
In January 2020, Moose Wala was featured along with Nseeb on Prem Dhillon's track "Old Skool". The song was followed by "Tibeyan Da Putt", which topped the iTunes charts and was ranked at number 8 on the Apple Music charts in India. His second studio album, Snitches Get Stitches, was released under his own label in May 2020. That same month, he released the single "Dear Mama" on his mother's birthday.
In June 2020, he collaborated with Amrit Maan on the song "Bambiha Bole". whose music video was viewed over ten million times within twenty-four hours. The song reached number one in India and entered the top 50 in Canada and New Zealand on the Apple Music charts.It topped the UK Asian chart and also entered the top 5 of the Global YouTube charts. On 31 August 2020, he officially launched his record label, 5911 Records.In September 2020, he released "Game" with Shooter Kahlon. It was his first song to appear on the Canadian Hot 100 chart by Billboard. Also, "Game" is the most commented Indian song on YouTube with over 5 million comments.
In May 2021, Moose Wala released his third studio album, Moosetape. The album charted on the New Zealand Top 40 Albums chart by Recorded Music NZ. Singles from the album charted on various international charts including the Billboard Global 200, Canadian Hot 100, and New Zealand Hot Singles charts. On 12 September 2021, he performed at the Wireless Festival in London with Mist. Moose Wala was the first Indian singer to perform at this festival.
In April 2022, Moose Wala released the EP No Name featuring AR Paisley, Mr. Capone-E and Sunny Malton, The EP performed well on various music charts. It reached number 50 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and the song "Never Fold" debuted at number 92 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. The songs also charted internationally. In New Zealand, "Never Fold" peaked at number 19, while "0 to 100" and "Love Sick" reached numbers 34 and 39, respectively. In the UK, "Never Fold" topped the Punjabi chart at number 4, followed by "0-100" at number 9 and "Everybody Hurts" at number 10.
Before his death, Sidhu Moose Wala released two songs, "The Last Ride" and "Levels". "Levels" was his last song, released in May 2022. These songs made it to the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart. "The Last Ride" reached number 26 and "Levels" reached number 32. Additionally, both songs appeared on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart, with "The Last Ride" at number 103 and "Levels" at number 195.
Posthumous Releases
In June 2022, his single "SYL" posthumously peaked at 27 on the Canadian Hot 100, 81 in Australia, 3 in India, and 200 on the Global Excl. US chart.In April 2023, Sidhu's unreleased song "Mera Na", a collaboration with Burna Boy, was released posthumously. The song charted on several international music charts. In Canada, it peaked at number 14 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart on 22 April 2023. Globally, the song reached number 102 on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart. In New Zealand, it peaked at number 2 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart. In the UK, the song reached number 87 on the UK Singles Chart and number 27 on the UK Indie Singles Chart.
"Chorni", a collaboration with Divine, was released in July 2023 and went on to chart on several international music charts. The song achieved notable success, peaking at number 27 on the Canada Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart. Another song, "Watch Out", a collaboration with Sikander Kahlon, was released in November 2023, which also gained significant traction, reaching number 33 on the Canada Hot 100 chart, number 11 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart, and number 3 on the UK Asian Chart.
Sidhu's song "Drippy", a collaboration with AR Paisley, was released in February 2024. The song charted on several international music charts. In Canada, it peaked at number 9 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. Globally, the song reached number 152 on the Billboard Global Excluding US chart. In New Zealand, it peaked at number 11 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart and number 1 on the UK Asian Singles Chart.
Sidhu released another titled "410" in collaboration with Sunny Malton in April 2024. He also collaborated with Fredo and Steel Banglez on a song released in August 2023. Both songs charted on the Canada Hot 100, New Zealand, and UK music charts.