Raf Saperra (real name Adeel Sardar Khan) is one of the most outlandish and original voices to emerge from London in recent years. Rooted in traditional Punjabi Bolivan singing, but equally shaped by Streatham’s rap culture and golden-era East Coast hip-hop, Raf exploded onto the scene with 2023’s Ruff Around The Edges – hailed by i-D, THE FACE, CULTED and THE GUARDIAN as one of the most talented and genre-bending debuts in the British underground. In 2024, he doubled down with the critically acclaimed 5 Deadly Venomz a hard-hitting, Bhangra-meets-hardcore rap project featuring some of the hottest US rap talent in the landscape in GRISELDA’s Conway the Machine, Dave East, and Big Body Bes. It proved Raf could go bar-for-bar with the most technically gifted rappers in the US whilst staying true to his own cultural identity.
A regular collaborator with DJ Yung Singh, Raf has helped define the UK’s new wave of British Asian artistry, delivering iconic live moments like a surprise Punjabi PA during Yung Singh’s Fabric set, and helping bring Bhangra back into club culture via the breaking cultural innovators like Diet Paratha, Dialled In and Daytimers. His influence expanded further when an unreleased collaboration with Skillex was teased at Portola Festival during his 2024 tour – an early hint of Raf’s musical evolution and ever-growing feature list now coming into full view.
From Paris Fashion Week (soundtracking KidSuper’s SS25 show) to sold-out global tours, Raf’s momentum has been utterly unique and unstoppable. With over 85M streams, a debut short film Tale of the Snake Charmer – which brought the legendary NY rap icon Nas to the Rio in Dalton – praise from BBC Future Sounds, VOGUE INDIA and THE FACE, Raf-Saperra is shaping up to be one of the most culturally impactful crossover artists to emerge from the UK this decade
“Renaissance is about rebirth — sonically and spiritually. Ikky and I wanted to explore how far Punjabi music could stretch without losing its core. We pulled from Dub, Swedish Pop, Bhangra and even a little Bollywood. The goal was to make pop music that still felt rooted and real.”
