Who was Sidhu Moose Wala? Looking at late singer's life
Congress leader and popular rapper-singer Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead on Sunday evening in Punjab's Mansa district. This came just a day after the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government rolled back his security cover. In the wake of his tragic and untimely death, the deceased singer has left behind a legion of grieving, shock-ridden fans. Here's a look at his life and career.
This was inspiration behind his stage name
The deceased 28-year-old singer's real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu and he modeled his stage name after his native village Moosa in Mansa, Punjab. An alumnus of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, he moved to Ontario, Canada after his graduation. There, he laid the foundation of his music career with the duet song G Wagon (2017), co-featuring singers Deep Jandu and Gurlez Akhtar.
He had short but astronomically successful career
The late singer's popularity wasn't restricted to Punjab and in his short but astronomically successful career, he gradually rose to prominence in several parts of the country. Moose Wala was especially famous in parts of northern India owing to multiple hit songs released in rapid succession. These included So High (2017), Selfmade (2018), Dollar (2018), Famous (2018), Devil (2018), and The Last Ride (2022).
Moose Wala entered Canadian, UK music charts
So High, which provided Moose Wala with his first major career headway and catapulted him to success, bagged him the Best Lyricist Award at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards in 2017. In 2018, his maiden album PBX1 made it to the Canadian Albums Chart. Another stupendous accomplishment to his name was entering the Top 20 on UK Singles Chart for his song 47.
Gun culture, violence were ruling themes in his songs
Gun culture and violence happened to be a recurring motif across the majority of Moose Wala's songs and often shipped him to controversy's door. Not only did he spark regular debates among the masses and had legal cases registered against him, but he also invited the ire of religious authorities quite often. He regularly came under the scanner for writing "inciting" and "provocative" lyrics.
Singer was booked under Arms Act
In May 2020, the Chosen singer found himself mired in a big dispute, which involved the use of firearms. Videos of him with five police officers began doing rounds on social media, where he was reportedly learning how to use the AK-47 rifle. Soon after, he was booked under two sections of the Arms Act and at least six officers were suspended from duty.
A look at his political stint
The singer-rapper was inducted into the Indian National Congress in December 2021 and he contested in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections from Mansa. However, he lost to Aam Aadmi Party's Vijay Singla and was also booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code for violating the model code of conduct. Previously, in December 2018, he campaigned for his mother during Moosa's sarpanch elections.
Last controversy
As mentioned above, the youth sensation was no stranger to controversies and stayed in news as much for altercations as he did for his numerous chartbusters. In April 2022, he found himself entangled in another complication due to his new song Scapegoat. The Aam Aadmi Party had alleged the singer was taking digs at Punjabi voters, labeling them as gaddar (traitors) in the song.
