BlaaZe (born Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopal Seshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman), a Tamilian born in Chennai on October 15, 1975, is a rapper, lyricist, producer and a playback singer in both Tamil and Hindi film industry. He grew up in Zambia and completed his education in UK and America. Currently signed to EMI/Virgin records, he has been active in the industry since 1991. At the age of 16 he produced and performed in his and Zambia’s first music video “Advice 4 Livin’”.
Ten years later, it was A. R. Rahman who offered him his first playback song “Baba Rap” for Rajnikanth’s 2002 hit “Baba”. He went on to sing many scores directed by Rahman including movies like “New” (2004), “Anbe Aaruyire” (2005), “Boys” (2003), “Enakku 20 Unakku 18” (2003) in Tamil and “Swades” (2004), “Saaathiya” (2002), “Yuva” (2004) and “Rang de Basanti” (2006) in Hindi.
He penned the lines for “Kisna” (2005), “Tehzeeb” (2003), the Chinese epic “Warriors of Heaven and Earth” (2003), “Gangsta Blues” and “Dreams on Fire” in “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), “Bunty Aur Bubli” (2005), co-wrote “Sajna” and “NaNa” for Vince Vaughn’s “Couples Retreat” (2009), the official UN anthem for alleviation of poverty “Pray For Me Brother” (2007) and more. Outside the film industry he has recorded songs like “Stand Up Unite” (2011) and “Ban the Crooked Police” (2007).
Moreover he has worked as the music director for the soundtrack of movies “Striker” (2008) and “Saas, Bahu Aur Sensex” (2008). He has recently released “Time for Gandhi” (2011), his debut album.
He was the MTV Youth Icon for the year 2008. He won the Star Vijay Music Award for Best Male Singer in 2010 for his rendition of “Hosana” in “Vinaithandi Varuvaaya” (2010).
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