The Extraordinary Story Of IKKA

How New Delhi rapper Ankit Singh Patyal built a hip-hop legacy with versatile talent, hustle and collaboration

- DAVID BRITTO

AIthough rapper Ankit Singh Patyal aka IKKA has added heat to Bollywood tracks and put out albums via major music labels 2022's sophomore album Nishu includes a star-studded cast of collaborators - it didn't always come this easy for him. The artist says, "I'm from a middle-class family; I had big dreams and throughout my childhood, there has been a rollercoaster ride with a lot of highs and lows."

With a host of singles that share space with the likes of Diljit Dosanjh, Badshah, Raftaar, MC Stan and DIVINE, IKKA put out his 2020 album, /, via Mass Appeal India, a part of Universal Music Group. In a previous interview with Rolling Stone India, he said, "While growing up, I was introduced to hip-hop and had a chance to listen to many albums by artists such as Nas, Eminem, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, etc. Because of this, over time, I understood the structure of an album in my mind and it became really easy for me to develop my debut hip-hop album /."

With IKKA now on his way to achieving further success and cementing his position as one of the top rappers in India, we caught up with him to discuss what he has in store in the coming year, his Jamnapar legacy, what success means to him and more. Read below:

This phase of your career seems to be IKKA 2.0 where you've built and achieved a lot of your wishes and dream projects, and are now scaling up. What does 2023 mean to you?