Police said 28-year-old Sidhu Moose Wala was driving a jeep in India with his friends when he was attacked by assailants.Handout
Punjabi rap star Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was shot dead in India on Sunday morning, shocking many in Canada, where Mr. Sidhu found stardom after moving to the country in 2016 as an international student.
The 28-year-old Mr. Sidhu, police in India said, was driving a jeep with his friends when he was attacked by assailants.
Police in India said the singer was killed in a gang rivalry, which may have ties to Canada. The assailants fired 30 rounds at the vehicle and Mr. Sidhu was declared dead on arrival after being taken to the hospital.
Mr. Sidhu, who spent much of the past six years in Brampton, Ont., recently joined the political fray in India and unsuccessfully contested elections as a candidate for India’s principal opposition, the Congress party. The attack on him came a day after the state government withdrew his security detail.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the gruesome murder of Siddhu Moose Wala. Nobody involved will be spared. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his fans across the world. I appeal everyone to stay calm,” said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Twitter.
“It appears to be a case of intergang rivalry,” Punjab’s director general of police, VK Bhawra told the media on Sunday evening. “Two out of four commandos were withdrawn from Sidhu Moose Wala’s security temporarily. But when he left home that afternoon, he did not take the commandos along. He also did not take his private bulletproof car.
“On the orders of the Chief Minister, we are forming a special investigation team … we are making efforts to solve this case as soon as possible.”
Fans of Sidhu Moose Wala in Canada, which he considered his second home, woke up to the news on Sunday morning. Musicians across the country, including superstar Drake, paid tribute to Mr. Sidhu.
In 2016, Mr. Sidhu came to Canada on a student visa and found meteoric success. In his brief but successful career, he gained millions of fans all over the world. Each of his videos have racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube.
Gursewak Dhillon, a Punjabi rapper based in Abbotsford, B.C., said he “revolutionized Punjabi music in Canada.”
“Before Sidhu, people used to look to India and the U.K. for the freshest Punjabi music. After his rise, Canada became the centre of the industry. There are many young kids in Canada for whom he is a trailblazer,” said Mr. Dhillon.
Sidhu Moose Wala is credited with pushing the envelope of Punjabi hip-hop, by combining conventional Punjabi pop music with trap. One of his biggest influences was 90s rap star Tupac Shakur, who was also shot to death.
Vancouver-based radio host and musician Nick Chowlia said Sidhu Moose Wala’s impact will be felt for years to come. “He was our Tupac. You may or may not have liked his music, but you cannot deny the impact that he had on the Punjabi music industry. He will be missed by his fans all over the world, but especially so in Canada.”
Critics have called out Mr. Sidhu’s lyrics for glorifying gun culture and gang violence. Many of his videos depicted him dominating police officers and toting guns. In 2019, the City of Surrey, B.C., asked the organizers of a music festival to drop Sidhu Moose Wala’s performance based on an RCMP public-safety assessment.
But many believe it was precisely this bravado that struck a chord with some of his younger listeners. Mr. Chowlia said the rapper “was speaking to this young generation. He was an entertainer, he was writing what appealed to them. His true impact was giving voice to a new generation.”
Mr. Dhillon says it was his life’s story that resonated with younger immigrants. “He came from nothing. Many young kids on student visas look at people like him and think if he can come from a village in Punjab and become successful in Canada, we can too.”
In his videos, Mr. Sidhu acknowledged his identity as a Punjabi Sikh immigrant in Canada. His 2018 song B-Town, which has close to 40 million hits on YouTube, is an homage to the town of Brampton. He regularly sported Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs insignia as a nod to his Canadian fan base.
Mr. Chowlia said Canada’s Punjabi music industry is in shock. “We in the West Coast woke up to this horrible news. For many, it still hasn’t sunk in. This one is going to take a long time to process.”
With reports from Neha Bhatt in New Delhi
Uday Rana