Badshah weighs in on Masakali controversy, says AR Rahman liked his remix of Humma Humma

Rapper Badshah has offered his opinion on the ongoing controversy surrounding the Masakali remix.

Rapper Badshah has reacted to the ongoing controversy surrounding the remix of Masakali. Badshah in the past has remixed old classics, and has had his own songs remixed without his permission.

Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, the rapper said that it all boils down to audience reaction. “Comparisons are inevitable. I loved the Aankh Marey remix more than the original. My 2015 song Wakhra Swag was recently remixed for a film without my knowledge. It worked but I’m still asked to play my version wherever I go.” He added that AR Rahman praised his version of Humma Humma. “We were at an event and he called me from the other end of the room, to say that he really liked my remixed version of Humma Humma,” Badshah said.

But Rahman has minced no words in dismissing Masakali 2.0. In a recent social media post, the composer wrote, “No short cuts, properly commissioned, sleepless nights, writes and re-writes. Over 200 musicians, 365 days of creative brainstorming with the aim to produce music that can last generations. A team of a Director, a Composer and a Lyricist supported by actors, dance directors and a relentless film crew.”

The Masakali remix has been composed by Tanishk Bagchi, but filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who directed Delhi-6, the film in which the original song appeared, has said that one can’t blame Bagchi. “He has done it, but I won’t hang him for that. Someone thought about doing it, financed it, shot it, there are people who acted in it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Badshah was at the centre of his own controversy recently, when he was accused of using Ratan Kahar’s lyrics in the song Genda Phool. He said, “If it was a case of plagiarism, we would be facing the consequences by now. The original song has been recreated several times in the past, even in Bengali films, and Ratan ji has never been credited. It’s sad because royalties are an artiste’s only source of income. I want to share the royalty of this song with him.”