Concert-goers have alleged fraud against Indian rapper-musician Badshah and his Singapore-based promoter VZ Solutionz Pte Ltd, following a show in the city-state earlier this month. The 38-year-old performed in a single show, titled Ek Tha Raja, on May 11 at the Singapore Expo Hall 5. Attendees, who shelled out SGD 250, on an average, for tickets, however, were left with a bitter experience.
Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, renowned as Badshah, dishes out chart toppers almost every few months in India. So, when his show was announced, the organisers expected a huge turnout, owing to his popularity. But that did not happen. The turnout was rather low, and the event was allegedly mismanaged. Following the show, allegations of ‘cheating’ and ‘fraud’ were raised by concert-goers, who ranted about their experiences online.
What are the allegations?
Badshah allegedly arrived late. Opting to remain anonymous, an attendee told Connected to India that the show was supposed to start at 5 pm (local time), but the musician did not start performing till 9 pm. “Badshah came by 9pm, he was singing his last song when they cut the speakers and lights off,” the person said.
Another alleged that Badshah was “not already in Singapore on the day of the performance”. The person shared on Facebook that Badshah performed for 50 minutes and then took a 30-minute break, during which the stage remained empty. He resumed at 10:25 pm and performed till 11:15 pm. “It ended on a very sour note,” the attendee complained.
An X user took to the platform to share their view, noting, “Badshah cheated us in singapore. Waited for 4 hrs listening to unknown singers with still no sign of him.”
While questions about the Indian musician’s attitude are bound to rise, people are also holding the organisers accountable for the lacklustre event. When Connected to India reached out to people, several said they were not aware that a Badshah concert was happening in the town. This shows that the organisers failed to promote the show.
“Probably the most unorganized concert ever for me! I wish I knew the actual concert would start at 9pm with a ’30 mins’ intermission and really be advertised as a 1.5 hours concert by Badshah! Very sad ending too, the show may not run on time –though it is SG and will end on time including if the mic needs to be turned off and lights on🔥!! #heartbroken,” an Instagram user, who attended the event, commented on the post where the organiser promoted the show.
Just weeks ago, singer Taylor Swift played to thousands every night during her six-show Eras Tour. While a comparison between the two is far-fetched, one would expect the venue to be nearly full for someone as popular as the Indian rapper. Sadly, only about 3,000 people turned up for the show. The tickets for the same varied between SGD 148 (for category E) and SGD 498 (VIP).
Some even alleged that tickets were also distributed free of cost, and people from the back row received upgrades as they were asked to fill the area in front — reserved for higher categories and VIPs — to make the concert look full.
As per sources, Badshah charges a whooping INR 1.35 crore (SGD 217,487). With such a low turnout, did the promoter recover the money? Sources also said that Badshah was unhappy with the crowd number and refused to come out to a half-filled venue. Whether he was right to do so is a topic for debate, but Indian artistes like Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal in the recent past have managed to keep the audience spellbound in a four-hour show. So, did Badshah shoot himself in the foot? We’ll have to wait for the rapper to return to the Lion City to find an answer to that question.