Prateek Kuhad’s Slow Build: From Jaipur Songwriter to a Global Indie Audience

Cover photo: Prateek Kuhad, photo by NabihaT via Wikimedia Commons, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. The locally stored version is resized for delivery.

Prateek Kuhad did not build his career by waiting for an instant breakout. He wrote and played while studying in New York, took a short-lived finance job after college, then returned to India and treated music as a serious one-year experiment. His 2013 EP Raat Raazi brought festival invitations and a small, committed audience; the larger audience arrived much later. Business Standard/IANS The Telegraph

That makes his story useful for musicians in India. The lesson is not “make a song go viral.” It is to build enough room for the work to develop: write in the language that feels true, release a project you can stand behind, learn what a small live audience needs, and make patient decisions when a career has not yet become obvious.

Key takeaways

• Kuhad grew up in Jaipur around art and music, began singing early, then actively pursued music while studying at New York University. Indulge
• His first serious release, the 2013 EP Raat Raazi, led to attention and festival slots—not an overnight finished career. Business Standard/IANS
• He has described Hindi and English writing as an organic part of his listening and speaking life, rather than a marketing calculation. The Telegraph
• His career later expanded internationally, but the foundations were songs, small shows and a long-running independent project. LA Phil

Vishal Dadlani’s career between Indian rock and film music

Jaipur, New York, and the decision to take songwriting seriously

Kuhad has said he grew up in Jaipur around art and music, although no one in his family was a professional musician. In a 2024 interview, he described loving to sing from an early age; learning guitar and writing songs made him want to test whether music could become his full-time work. He later said New York’s people, music and energy were a major creative influence during his undergraduate years. Indulge, “Striking chords and touching hearts”

The important detail is that the decision was gradual. A 2018 interview records Kuhad playing local shows in New York and Delhi for fun while college and a conventional career path remained open. After a short finance job, he returned to India in 2013 and gave music a defined period of serious attention. That is a more realistic starting point than a story in which a musician simply “takes the leap” with no plan at all. The Telegraph

For an early-career musician, a defined experiment can be better than a vague dream. Set a release date, a live-performance target, a modest recording budget and a review point. You do not need to copy Kuhad’s circumstances. You do need to give the work enough focused time to produce evidence: songs, recordings, live clips, collaborators and a clearer sense of what to continue.

The useful move was not abandoning every other possibility. It was replacing uncertainty with a real test. A musician who gives a project a clear window can learn from the result even if it does not become a breakthrough. That approach is easier to sustain than measuring every new song against someone else’s highlight reel.

Raat Raazi made a small audience visible

Kuhad told IANS in 2019 that his first serious release, Raat Raazi, came in 2013 after earlier music made while he was still in college. He said the release brought attention, festival slots and fans who kept appearing at shows. The result was encouragement to continue, not a guarantee of a finished business model. Business Standard/IANS, “I still don’t feel famous”

That sequence is worth noticing. An early release does not need to solve everything. It needs to give a listener, a promoter or another musician a reason to recognise what is distinct about the project. The first audience may be small, but a small audience that returns is more useful than an impressive number with no lasting relationship to the music.

Kuhad’s early catalogue also grew through a scene rather than in isolation. In his 2024 Indulge interview, he said “cold/mess” had first been tried live, and the audience response helped convince him to record it. That is a useful reminder that a set can be a listening room as well as a showcase. Indulge

For an artist now, continuity might live across two singles and a strong live set, not necessarily a full album. The point is that each release should help someone understand why the next one matters.

Our music EPK guide for Indian artists can help turn that early proof into a concise page for a booker, journalist or potential collaborator. Do not inflate the story. A truthful live clip and two strong songs are enough to start.

Hindi and English were part of one writing life

Kuhad has said that writing in Hindi and English happened organically because he spoke Hindi and grew up listening to Hindi music; he recalled that the first song he wrote in school was in Hindi. In the same 2018 interview, he connected a later interest in old Hindi film music to the way he wrote after college. The Telegraph, “A peek into the mind of Prateek Kuhad”

This matters because language is often treated as a reach decision before it is treated as a musical decision. It can be both, but a language that a writer uses naturally usually gives the lyric more texture, rhythm and specificity. Switching languages only because a platform trend says it will travel can leave a song sounding like a strategy instead of a voice.

For Indian songwriters, the better question is: which language carries this sentence, melody and emotional register most honestly? A verse can be bilingual. One release can differ from the next. What needs to remain consistent is the writer’s judgment about what belongs in the song.

Bilingual work does not need an explanation at the end of every line. It needs coherence. If a language change sharpens a phrase, a character or a rhythm, it is part of the craft. If it exists only to signal a market, listeners can usually hear that too.

Prateek Kuhad’s career widened because the catalogue had time to compound

Kuhad’s global recognition came after years of releases and touring. LA Phil’s artist biography notes that he played local New York shows in the early 2010s, found a larger wave of recognition in 2019 when “cold/mess” appeared on Barack Obama’s annual favourites list, and later released The Way That Lovers Do through Elektra Records. The order matters: the spotlight landed on an existing catalogue and working practice. LA Phil, “Prateek Kuhad”

It is tempting to reduce this phase to a platform moment. That misses the work underneath it. A song can introduce an artist to new listeners, but the listener stays only if there is a body of work, a live show and a next chapter worth following. Kuhad’s path suggests that a later opportunity works best when it amplifies a project that already knows itself.

That is also why credits and organised release records matter before attention arrives. Keep the names of writers, performers, producers, engineers and visual collaborators accurate from the first release. Our music-credit map for Indian releases separates the visible creative roles from decisions about shares and ownership.

What musicians can take from the slow build

Kuhad’s biography is not a template for every artist. He had particular opportunities, collaborators and timing. The transferable part is the way a project became more legible over time: an honest first release, a commitment to live work, language choices grounded in actual experience, and a growing catalogue rather than a frantic reset after every song.

Try a compact version of that process:

• Choose a workable release unit. A single, three-song project or carefully recorded live session can be enough.
• Give it a real audience test. Play it in a room, a campus show, a listening session or a small digital premiere where you can learn something concrete.
• Keep the next decision close. After release, decide whether the next step is another song, a better live recording, a collaborator or a pitch—not every possible task at once.
• Preserve the paper trail. Confirm names, credits, permissions and contact details before release assets spread across messages.

Kredl is built around visible work and collaborator-confirmed credits. Use a profile or project page to show what you made and who helped make it. It will not create an audience on demand, but it can make the work easier for the right collaborator or opportunity provider to evaluate.

For a different route between original work and commissioned practice, see Vishal Dadlani’s career story. His band-and-film path is not Kuhad’s, which is exactly the point: a durable music career can have more than one shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Prateek Kuhad begin pursuing music professionally?

Kuhad has said he actively pursued music during his undergraduate years in New York. In a 2019 IANS interview, he called Raat Raazi—released in 2013—his first serious release and said it brought attention and festival slots. His path developed over years, rather than beginning with one fully formed hit. Business Standard/IANS

Why does Prateek Kuhad write in both Hindi and English?

Kuhad told The Telegraph that the choice was organic: he speaks Hindi, grew up with Hindi music and wrote his first school song in Hindi. That makes his bilingual catalogue a useful example for writers choosing language from the needs of a song, rather than treating one language as automatically more legitimate. The Telegraph

Was “cold/mess” Prateek Kuhad’s first release?

No. Kuhad’s first serious release was Raat Raazi in 2013, according to his 2019 IANS interview. LA Phil’s biography says “cold/mess” created a later wave of global recognition in 2019 after it appeared on Barack Obama’s annual favourites list. The distinction matters: visible momentum often lands after earlier work. Business Standard/IANS LA Phil

What can an Indian independent musician learn from Prateek Kuhad’s career?

Build a clear body of work before chasing scale. Kuhad’s reported path moves from college-era songs and small shows to a serious 2013 release, festival opportunities and later international recognition. The practical takeaway is to test work honestly, protect the long-term catalogue and avoid treating one attention spike as the whole career. The Telegraph

Sources, methodology and image credits

This editorial profile is not an authorised biography. It uses published interviews and an official venue biography. Practical career takeaways are Kredl’s interpretation, not a claim that following the same route will produce the same result.

• Indulge, “Striking chords and touching hearts: An exclusive interview with Prateek Kuhad”, published 2024, retrieved 2026-11-04.
• The Telegraph, “A peek into the mind of Prateek Kuhad”, published 2018, retrieved 2026-11-04.
• Business Standard/IANS, “I still don’t feel famous: Singer Prateek Kuhad”, published 2019, retrieved 2026-11-04.
• LA Phil, “Prateek Kuhad”, retrieved 2026-11-04.
• Cover image: “Prateek Kuhad 4 (shot by Gorkey Patwal)”, depicts Prateek Kuhad; photo by NabihaT via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-11-04. The locally stored version is resized for delivery.