Yo Yo Honey Singh

Hirdesh Singh (born 15 March 1983), known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh, or simply Honey Singh, is an Indian rapper, singer, music producer and actor. He started in 2003 as a session and recording artist, and became a bhangra, hip hop, and Punjabi music producer. Honey Singh played a significant role in popularizing hip hop in India through his catchy beats, rap style, and fusion of Hindi, Punjabi and English lyrics, appealing to a wide audience. His music brought hip hop into the mainstream and paved the way for other artists to explore the genre.

Early life
Hirdesh Singh was born in Hoshiapur, Punjab  on 15 March 1983.

Music
Singh prefers to sing in his native language Punjabi and Hindi rather than English.

Honey Singh's Punjabi album International Villager was released on 11 November 2011. The track "Gabru" from the album, featuring singer J-Star, topped the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts.

He has performed at many college festivals, including Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College, Delhi.

Singh and Diljit Dosanjh's song "Lak 28 Kudi Da" reached number one in the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011. The song was released as a promotional track for Dosanjh's film Lion of Punjab.

It was reported that he was paid the highest fee ever for a Bollywood song (as of 2012) of inr 7000000 for a song in the films Cocktail and Mastan.

Singh had two of the top-trending videos on YouTube in 2012, with "Brown Rang" in first place, and "High Heels", in collaboration with Jaz Dhami, in fourth spot.

Bollywood
His debut song in Bollywood films was "Shakal Pe Mat Ja", featuring Gagan Sidhu. Singh charged Rs. 7 million for a song in the film Mastan. This was the largest amount paid to a song artist in Bollywood to date, making Singh one of the highest-paid musical artists in Bollywood.

In February 2015 he released the songs "Birthday Bash", followed by songs in films including Gabbar is Back and Bhaag Johnny.

Mumbai Saga's first song "Shor Machega", was released on 28 February 2021. It was composed by Yo Yo Honey Singh, with lyrics and vocals by Singh and Hommie Dilliwala.

Acting
Singh made his acting debut with Baljit Singh Deo's Punjabi film Mirza - The Untold Story (2012), performing the role of Deesha, a mad gangster. Despite only being a cameo appearance, the role went on to win Singh the PTC Punjabi Film Award for Best Male Debut. The following year, Singh appeared in another Punjabi film, this time a comedy by Amit Prasher, Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22, as Rolly, a childish and spoilt brat, alongside Amrinder Gill. This was Singh's first main role in a film.

In 2016, Singh starred in the Punjabi action film Zorawar, directed by Vinnil Markan, which was marketed as one of the most expensive Punjabi films to date. The film was critically acclaimed.

Personal life
Singh married Shalini Talwar on 23 January 2011. In 2021, Talwar accused Singh of multiple offenses under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. Delhi's Tis Hazari Court issued notice to Singh and sought his response.

On 10 September 2022, the couple filed for divorce, and Singh reportedly paid Rs. 1 crore as alimony.

Awards

 * 2010 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2010 for the song "Desi Daroo"
 * 2011 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2011 for album The Folkstar
 * 2012 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2012 for album I.V. (International Villager)
 * 2012 BritAsia TV Music Awards 2012 – Best International Act
 * 2012 UK Asian Music Awards Best International Album 2012 for Album album I.V. (International Villager)
 * 2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Music Director 2012 for Mirza – The Untold Story
 * 2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Debut (Male) for Mirza – The Untold Story
 * 2013 MTV VMAI Awards – Best Indie Artist (male) 2013 for the song "Brown Rang"
 * 2013 MTV EMA Awards – Best India Act 2013 for "Bring me Back"
 * 2013 BIG Star Entertainment Awards – Singh was co-winner of Most Entertaining Singer (Male), and "Lungi Dance" was nominated as Most Entertaining Song.
 * 2014 Zee Cine Awards 2014 for International Icon Male
 * 2014 Stardust Awards – Best Music Director for Yaariyan
 * 2016 Hindustan Times India's Most Stylish Awards – Most Stylish Singer
 * 2018 Mirchi Music Awards – Listener's Choice Album of the Year for Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and Listener's Choice Song of the Year for "Dil Chori"
 * 2019 IIFA Award for Best Music Director for Best Performance by a music director for Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety

Controversies
In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, the lyrics to some of his songs, which depict violence against women and rape positively, have caused controversy. A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Singh for his offensive lyrics, and a group of social activists filed an online petition demanding cancellation of his New Year performance at a Gurgaon hotel. After the campaign, Singh's New Year concert was cancelled by the hotel. Singh denies writing these offensive lyrics.

Singh's song "Party All Night" in Akshay Kumar's film Boss was at the centre of a controversy. Producers of the movie had to submit a petition in Delhi High Court claiming that they had 'muted' an alleged vulgar word in Singh's song. The court heard a petition filed by lawyer Sanjay Bhatnagar seeking a stay on the film, contending that without the censor board's approval, the song could not be released with such a vulgar word. The petitioner had sought a stay on the release of the film until either the word or the song was deleted from the film.

His work has been perceived as being vulgar, misogynist, promoting violence against women and a bad influence on youth. There have been reactions in print to Singh, such as from Annie Zaidi, who wrote "An Open Letter to Honey Singh" in January 2013, and Sandipan Sharma, who wrote "Thanks for the crassness: An open letter to Honey Singh from a parent" in July 2014.

In 2014, Singh and fellow rapper Raftaar were in dispute over whether Raftaar should receive credit for the lyrics of the song "Yeh Fugly Fugly Kya Hai".

In 2015, a student of St. Stephen's College went viral for a rap that parodied Singh's problematic songs from a feminist perspective.