 "Raja Kumari accused of promoting caste hierarchy in 'Roots', her latest collaboration with DIVINE")
Indian American hip hop artist Raja Kumari is facing the heat for her latest collaboration with rapper DIVINE. Their song ‘ Roots’ dropped on Thursday and has since then garnered 1.8 million views on YouTube but that is not what is making news. [caption id=“attachment_4867111” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Raja Kumari in Roots. YouTube[/caption] Several people on social media have accused Raja Kumari of promoting caste hierarchy and endorsing Brahmin pride in her verse. There is one particular line from ‘Roots’ which has not gone down too well with the listeners. It goes like: “Untouchable with the Brahmin flow”. The rest of the song makes generic allusions to Indian society while the central thought emphasises agency and being your own boss. Although Kumari’s caste affiliation is still unknown, the intent behind the allegedly casteist lyrics gets even more ambiguous. A Twitter user summarised the conundrum aptly:
@TheRajaKumari If your caste affiliation is Brahmin, then saying "untouchable with the Brahmin flow" in your track is the daftest, horribly elitist, and politically blind thing to do. If you're not Brahmin, this would be clever and empowering. So which one is it?
— Anushree Majumdar (@CaptBackspace) July 27, 2018
Lyrics of Roots, the new song by DIVINE feat Raja Kumari. His bits are classic DIVINE but WTF is the first verse sung by Raja Kumari. "Untouchable with a Brahmin flow" is not something I expect to hear in a song, without any context or background. pic.twitter.com/422c1rwW4q
— Anushree Majumdar (@CaptBackspace) July 27, 2018
We reached out to the singer for a comment; the story will be updated as and when she responds. Watch the song here:
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