Badshah is the latest guest on Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent, along with Haarsh Limbachiyaa, YouTuber Saurav Joshi and comedian Rajat Sood. During a segment of the show, Badshah was asked about his stage name, as per a clip from the show posted by a fan page. Honey Singh, who was allegedly given Badshah his stage name, reacted to the same.
The episode is now out; however, available only to subscribed members of Samay’s YouTube channel.
Who gave Badshah his stage name?
Born Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, Badshah came to be known by his stage name in the late 90s after he started performing publicly. During India’s Got Latent, host Samay Raina asked the rapper who gave his stage name ‘Badshah?’ He replied that he gave his own stage name.
Samay prodded him further, playfully, and asked him. He then said that he had heard some other story. “Galat story hain”, Badshah replied. The fan page that posted the clip attached a throwback interview of Badshah to PTC Punjabi, where he is seen clearly mentioning that it was rapper Honey Singh who chose the name for him since he lives his life like a badshah (king).
Now, Honey Singh took to the comment box of the fan page and reacted to Badshah’s video. He wrote, “Meri nalayak aulaad”, with a laughter emoji. He also reposted the clip on his Instagram story and posted, “Meri gandi aulaad”, with a similar emoji. Take a look:
There are several theories around Badshah’s stage name. One of the most popular ones has to be that he himself changed his stage name to Badshah around 1999 because he is a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan and was inspired by the latter’s movie Badshah. One of the additional reasons was also that it was catchy for the music industry.
For those unversed, prior to Badshah, his stage name was ‘Cool Equal’.
What is the Badshah and Honey Singh feud?
Badshah and Honey Singh were once members of the hip-hop collective Mafia Mundeer, but their professional association eventually came to an end. Their fallout was followed by disagreements over credits for several songs, particularly regarding lyrics and beats.
One of the most notable disputes involved Brown Rang. Badshah has claimed that he wrote the lyrics, while Honey Singh composed the beats. The controversy resurfaced in July 2025 when Badshah commented “Credits” on a social media post related to Honey Singh.
