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Reign of the 'King': Arpan Kumar Chandel King dropped his first-ever music album 'Circumstances' in 2018 and ever since there has been no looking back for him

By Punita Sabharwal

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Arpan Kumar Chandel aka King

Regarded as India's fastest-growing artist and global music icon King hails from the capital city Delhi and comes from a humble family background. Having disrupted the Indian pop music scene with his craft, King made his career debut with a popular rap reality show named 'Hustle' where he participated as a contestant and finished among the top five. Later, the musician returned as a squad boss in 'Hustle 2.0'.

A game-changing journey for King, the musician has delivered multiple super-hit albums over the years. The hustler in him says, "I've always been curious about learning and doing things because whenever I would see a big story of someone I would always feel if this person can do this then how can I do what I love and succeed in life."

Prior to this, Arpan Kumar Chandel now known as King used to play football back then and wanted to build his career as an athlete. "I began saving for my music from my government job. And then I began dropping music on a weekly basis on YouTube. Whatever questions went unanswered I had as a child, I just put it in my songs. And I didn't know all of us had a similar story. I thought why not write something we all had in common? Then I started writing about love."

King dropped his first-ever music album 'Circumstances' in 2018 and ever since there has been no looking back for him. He has dropped multiple blockbuster albums including 'The Carnival' (2020), 'Khwabeeda' (2022), 'Champagne Talk' (2022) and the newly released 'New Life' (2023), which has opened to a thrilling response from fans worldwide. With hits like 'Maan Meri Jaan', 'Tu Aake Dekhle', 'Tu Jaana Na Piya', 'Crown' and others to his credit, King continues to make waves with his music globally.

Talking about his journey of becoming King, he says, "The only good thing I have done is that I write about feelings. I write what I feel. And I think this is it and that's why I am king. People have made me king only because of this reason. I think they might feel I am the right representative for their feelings."

In April 2023, King began his entrepreneurial journey and launched his fragrance brand named 'Blanko'. Co-founded by King and House of X, the brand marks an exciting new juncture in the musician's life. Being one of the country's most valuable brands, King holds esteemed brand associations as their ambassador for 'Sony Audio' and 'Campus Shoes'. Talking about the learnings he had in business, he says, "I've learnt how to be patient and be collaborative. I never studied music, but I did that for business." A growing phenomenon, King has joined forces with varied international artists including the American pop singer Nick Jonas for 'Maan Meri Jaan (Afterlife)', The Tanzanian artist Rayvanny 'Maan Meri Jaan' (Afterlife), American singersongwriter Julia Michaels and American rapper Gucci Mane for the 'New Life' album.

Punita Sabharwal

Entrepreneur Staff

Managing Editor, Entrepreneur India

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