Last year, Badshah became the First Indian-born musician to own a Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II. With this purchase, he joined Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn, an elite club of people who own the vehicle. In a recent interaction, Badshah admitted that buying the car, whose on-road price in Mumbai starts at around Rs 12.45 crore, was an impulsive decision and the thrill of owning such a luxury vehicle lasted only 10-15 minutes.
Badshah on purchasing Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II
Speaking to Curly Tales, he said, “I think buying the car was very impulsive. Jaldi decides kar liya ki aaj lena hai (I quickly decided that I will buy it today). Badshah Wali feels hai. It’s a good car. 10-15 minutes of raha tha uska high (the high of buying the car lasted 10-15 minutes) and then you think what’s next?”
Badshah shared that he wants to make and buy everything on his wish list, like Rolls-Royce. He said, “Mera mann karta hai ki jo bhi best hai technologically wo mere paas ho (I wish to have all the best things technologically). Log kehte hai naa ki best gadi hai (when people say it is the best car). So I want to have all those things.”
When asked which luxury item he would take first if his house caught fire, Badshah replied: “I would save the car. Then I will have to live in the car.” He was also asked to choose between Rs 5 million and a limited edition watch and the rapper, without hesitation, chose watches. “Each limited watch would be worth more than Rs 5 million.”
Badshah always checks price tags
Despite spending millions of dollars on luxury items, the rapper admitted that still check the price tag before making any purchase. “I have to look at the price tag first. I hope it never gets to the point of not checking the price tag.”
Badshah is often branded as a materialist. He defended himself and said, “I don’t feel anything when people say I’m materialistic. What is it to be materialistic? It’s that you love things. I value my relationships more than material things. But I also love my material things. I love wearing good clothes, driving good cars, wearing good shoes… I like it.”
However, he explained that material possessions would never dominate his real relationships. “Agar koi mera bahut achchha dost hai, usne meri gaadi thok di to main pehle poochunga si ok (If my good friend ever hits my car, I will first ask him if he is ok). Only when I am sure of his well-being will I take his class.”
Badshah admits hiding cost of watches from parents
Badshah also admitted that although he spends a lot on luxury items, he hides his costs from his parents. He said: “I never tell my parents how much my watches cost. I don’t think they even believe a watch can cost that much.”
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Before gaining fame as a rapper, Badshah worked as a civil engineer. During the interaction, he shared an incident from his previous work when he asked a question to an IAS officer that surprised his colleagues. “The social ecosystem is like rich people are not nice. When I was working as a government official, I was posted in Mount Sundar Nagar in Himachal Pradesh. There, the financial commissioner is basically the administrative head and he is an IAS officer. So, he was retiring and he asked me if we had any questions for him. I asked him, ‘When a businessman or an athlete drives a Mercedes, people give credit to his hard work, but when a government employee does that, they call him a thief.’ To which he replied very beautifully. He said it depends on what your Mercedes is in your life. Matlab aapki vida mi aapki Mercedes kya hai. Everyone around me was asking me to sit down, saying what kind of question you are asking, I was very young.