Downtown Music Publishing signs Grammy-nominated Songwriter & Award-Winning Artist, Raja Kumari

​​Downtown Music Publishing (DMP) today announces a global music publishing agreement with US-based, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and award-winning rapper, Raja Kumari.

The partnership will cover administration for Raja Kumari’s acclaimed debut album, ‘The Bridge’, released on her own imprint, Godmother Records in April 2023 alongside her anthemic collaboration with John Legend for the Johnny Walker India campaign. The agreement also covers all future writing credits across the deal term.

Downtown Music Publishing will be working closely with Kumari and her management team, Charles Chavez of Latium Entertainment and Aroop Sanakkayala of Roopster Entertainment to maximize opportunities across her current and future catalog.

“As a writer, I want to focus on providing the soundtrack for more South Asian stories in film and television as well as bringing our cultural sounds to the mainstream,” shares Kumari. “Partnering with Downtown Publishing is an important part of my journey and I look forward to expanding my catalog not only as an artist and songwriter but also through my record label, Godmother Records.”

Born in California to Telugu parents, Raja Kumari has racked up a wealth of significant achievements since she burst onto the scene in 2016. With over 43 million combined Spotify streams, Kumari has co-written, featured on or performed in a number of hit songs including Fall Out Boy’s double-platinum single “Centuries” – for which she took home the BMI Pop Award in 2015 – ‘Change Your Life’’ feat. T.I., ‘Brave Enough’ by Lindsey Stirling and ‘Set Me Free’ for Baz Luhrmann’s original Netflix series The Get Down.

A passionate storyteller and fiercely proud of her Indian roots, Kumari has successfully bridged the gap between the East and West with her music, becoming the first female rapper to sign with heavyweight artist Nas’ record label, Mass Appeal India in 2020, and shortly after parted ways and launched Godmother Records. She has performed and headlined major tours and festivals including NH7 – the biggest music festival in India and one of the largest in South Asia.

Her impressive list of writing credits include contributions to albums from Gwen Stefani, Fifth Harmony (Reflection), Twin Shadow, Dirty South and Iggy Azalea’s 4x Grammy-nominated debut studio album, The New Classic, on which Kumari was both a songwriter and vocalist. Her 2022 track, ‘THE DON’ was recently featured in Season 4 of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever.

Bea Koramblyum, Global Head of Business Affairs, Downtown Music Publishing said this, ‘Raja Kumari is a ubiquitous voice in music and at the forefront of the global music industry. Partnering with such pioneering talent is a real testament to what Downtown Music Publishing can offer and we look forward to working alongside Raja and her team to maximize every opportunity for her music.’

The announcement follows the recent harmonizing of Downtown’s Publishing division – which includes Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust and Sheer Publishing Africa. With nearly 2 million songwriters and almost 5 million copyrights under management, Downtown Music Publishing has a renewed focus and commitment to the highest standards of client service and partnership.

Raja Kumari is currently planning a US tour for fall 2023 with her next performance on July 22nd at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn.