Rahul Kumar Velpula (born 26 Jan 1992), known professionally as Roll Rida, is an Indian rapper, songwriter and actor in Telugu films and music.
He became popular with his YouTube rap song on Sankranthi, Patang, was a huge hit with over 17 million views. His other popular songs are Kirana rap, Breaking news Kattif, Shankar Ka Beta, Ivvalane Dilkush, Ignite, Arupu etc. In 2018, he appeared as a contestant for Bigg Boss 2 and successfully reached the 15th week of the show and finished in 6th place.
Early life Roll Rida was born in Karimnagar, Telangana, India. He did his schooling at Johnson Grammar School in Hyderabad; intermediate at Narayana Junior College, Tarnaka and completed his BTech in computer science from CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad. He was popular for his singing in school and started a band in college with Syed Kamran.
Career Roll Rida initially worked at Google, Hyderabad and as Quality Analyst at Tech Mahindra.
He picked his professional name, Roll Rida, upon a friend's suggestion, after popular American rapper, Flo Rida, of Low song fame. He quit his job to pursue his successful singing career in 2017. His rap song ‘Arupu’ with Syed Kamran became popular. He was the first to do a rap song in Telugu language from Telangana State. In 2013, he debuted on Sankranthi with a single, Patang, on YouTube became a huge hit, with over 14 million views. His songs Patang, Kirana song, Dilkush are popular among young listeners. He toured USA in 2015 and 2016 to promote his Telugu rap and Hip Hop songs. Roll Rida was featured on VH1 in 2010.
He worked with Telugu music directors like M. M. Keeravani, S. S. Thaman and Anoop Rubens. He also performed with Divine. He worked as a voice artist for Akhil Akkineni in the film Manam, and Jr. NTR in Temper. He acted in a short film, Hello!, an urban rom com. It was released on YouTube. He was selected for Bigg Boss 2 for his popularity. He stayed in the house till the week before the finale of that season.
Artistry Roll Rida's rapping is a combination of Hyderabadi Telugu and Deccani slang spoken in Hyderabad old city.
Discography Singles/Music Videos
Year Track Lyrics Artist 2013 Patang Roll Rida Roll Rida The Kirana Roll Rida Roll Rida 2015 Dilkush Roll Rida Roll Rida Kattif Roll Rida Roll Rida Ivvalane Roll Rida Roll Rida 2017 Shankar ka Beta Roll Rida Roll Rida Baitikochi Chuste (RAP Version) Shree Mani Roll Rida & Dan Madhireddy 2018 Saava Kottethadi Roll Rida Roll Rida O Pilla Roll Rida Roll Rida KTR Birthday song Roll Rida Roll Rida Arupu Roll Rida Roll Rida Raadhu Roll Rida Roll Rida 2020 Don't ride rude Roll Rida Roll Rida Nagali Roll Rida Roll Rida2021Allu Arjun Rap SongRoll Rida, The Hyderabad Nawabs Roll Rida & Harika Narayan S. Thaman (composer)Thaggede LeRoll RidaRoll Rida & Praveen Lakkaraju (composer)ChinnaRoll RidaRoll Rida2024kakinada KajaRoll Rida & SameeraRoll Rida & SameeraFake FriendsRoll Rida & Manoj JulooriRoll RidaReady GoRoll RidaRoll Rida2025Hello ChittammaRoll Rida & SameeraRoll Rida
Film songs Year Work Song Composer Notes 2015 Bruce Lee Chiranjeevi Entry Rap Thaman Gopala Gopala Pawan Kalyan Intro Rap Anup Rubens 2016 A Aa "Anasuya Kosam" Rap Pieces Mickey J. Meyer 2018 Kumari 21F"Lets Party in Bangkok"Mahati Swara SagarHusharu "Kaboom", "Bad Boys" (Rap portions) Sunny M.R. 2019 Suryakantham "Friday Night Baby" (Rap) Mark K Robin 2020 Ala Vaikunthapurramloo "OMG Daddy" Rap Pieces Thaman2021Cinema Bandi"Cinema Teesinam"Varun ReddyAlso lyricistVeyishubamulukaluginku"Hey Senorita"GyaaniAnubhavinchu Raja"Kaki Nemali Ke Votu"Gopi Sundar2022Hero"Donal Daggu"GhibranAlso lyricistRowdy Boys"Date Night "Devi Sri PrasadOnly lyricist"Rowdy Boys Title Song"Also lyricistBheemla Nayak"Bheemla Back On Duty"ThamanOnly lyricistLucky Lakshman"College Song"Anup Rubens2023Leo (Dubbed Version)"Ney Ready"Anirudh Ravichander"Naa Ready""Njan Ready""Ready Chal"Waltair Veerayya"Poonakaalu Loading"Devi Sri Prasad2025War 2 "Shaitan"Sanchit and Ankit BalharaHindi film; Also lyricistTelugu versionTamil versionChaurya Paatham"Kanne Kaane"DavzandAlso lyricistBakasura Restaurant"Bakasura"Vikas Badisa
Other songs +YearWorkSongComposer Notes2023Nijam With Smita"Episode 4 Closing Song"Saketh KomanduriTelevision talk show
Filmography 90ML (2019) as Kishore
References
External links