Bollywood Rapper Sets Viewer Record YouTube Isn’t Talking About
Labels, artists use ads to stoke views. Don’t Badshah’s count?
Badshah
Photographer: Sujit Jaiswal/AFP via Getty Images
Within 24 hours of posting his video “Paagal” to YouTube, Indian rapper Badshah broke a record even Taylor Swift couldn’t touch. The clip, a dancehall romp, was seen 75 million times in one day, eclipsing a mark set by Korean boy band BTS in April.
But then a funny thing happened: YouTube declined to credit the Sony Music artist. Since introducing a new way to premiere videos last year, the Google-owned site has trumpeted the setting of every new record, from Ariana Grande’s “thank u next” to Blackpink’s “Kill This Love,” culminating in BTS’s “Boy With Luv.” It even said Swift’s “ME!” set a record for “most-viewed female solo debut.” But Badshah’s feat elicited no response from the world’s most popular online video hub.