Introduction

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu (11 June 1993 – 29 May 2022), better known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was an Indian singer, rapper, actor and politician associated with Punjabi music and Punjabi cinema. He started his career as a songwriter for the song "License" by Ninja, and began his singing career on a duet song titled "G Wagon". Following his debut, he collaborated with Brown Boyz for various tracks which were released by Humble Music.

Moose Wala gained wide attention with his track "So High". In 2018, he released his debut album PBX 1, which peaked at 66th on Billboard Canadian Albums chart. Following the album, he started releasing his songs independently. His 2019 single "47" was ranked on the UK Singles Chart. In 2020, Moose Wala was named by The Guardian among 50 up and coming artists. Ten of his songs have peaked on UK Asian chart, two of which have topped the chart. His song "Bambiha Bole" was among the top five on Global YouTube music chart. In 2021, he released Moosetape, tracks from which charted globally including Canadian Hot 100, UK Asian, and New Zealand Hot charts.

Moose Wala was known for his controversial lyrical style, often promoting gun cultures, while also challenging religious sentiments as was the case related to Mai Bhago, a revered figure in Sikhism. He had faced legal challenges for promoting gun culture and using inflammatory and inciting lyrics in his songs. As of 2022, there were four ongoing criminal cases against him. Moose Wala was a member of the Indian National Congress, and unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Mansa. He was shot dead by unidentified assailants on 29 May 2022.

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Early life

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu hailed from the village of Moosa in Mansa district of Punjab, India. He was born in a Sikh family, to father Bhola Singh and mother Charan Kaur. He studied at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana and graduated in electrical engineering in 2016. Moose Wala admired and was influenced by rapper Tupac Shakur. He started listening to hip-hop music from the 6th grade, and learned musical skills from Harvinder Bittu in Ludhiana.

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Career

After graduation, Moose Wala moved to Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He released his first song "G Wagon" while living there. He started to perform live shows in India from 2018. He had also performed shows in Canada. Moose Wala had his breakthrough with the song "So High" in 2017, a gangster rap collaboration with Byg Byrd. The song won him the 2017 Best Lyricist award at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards. He continued his success with singles like "Issa Jatt", "Tochan", "Selfmade", "Famous" and "Warning Shots". At the 2018 PTC Punjabi Music Awards he was nominated for the Best New Age Sensation award for "Issa Jatt". In August 2018, he launched his first film soundtrack song titled "Dollar", for the film Dakuaan Da Munda. In October 2018, Moose Wala released his debut album PBX 1 in the pop music genre with a touch of hip-hop. The album charted on the Canadian Albums Chart. It won him the Best Album Award at the 2019 Brit Asia TV Music Awards, where Moose Wala also won Track of the Year for "Legend", Best International Male Act and Best Lyricist.

In 2019, Moose Wala founded a record label of his name and released numerous tracks on the record label. Releases include "Sidhu's Anthem", "Mafia Style", "Poison" (a collaboration with R Nait), "Sohne Lagde", and "Homicide". Also, he released "Boot Cut", by Prem Dhillon as a producer. In June 2019, his concert at the Surrey Music Festival was cancelled due to violent activities that had happened in Moose Wala's past performances. His single "47", featuring Mist and Stefflon Don entered the top 20 on UK Singles Chart. The song also charted on the New Zealand Hot 40 singles chart. Moose Wala concluded the year with single "Dhakka". In 2019, Spotify included him in the list of the most popular artists in Punjab, along with Maninder Buttar and Karan Aujla.

In 2020, he featured in "Old Skool", sung by Prem Dhillon. The song was followed by "Tibeyan Da Putt", which topped the iTunes charts and was ranked at number 8 on the Apple Music charts in India. The song was followed by various singles, including "911" and "8 Cylinder". In May 2020, Moose Wala announced his second studio album, Snitches Get Stitches on his Instagram handle, which was released on the same day. In the same month, he released his single "Dear Mama" on the occasion of his mother's birthday. In June 2020, he collaborated with Amrit Maan on the song "Bambiha Bole", which debuted at number 25 in India and 81 in Canada on the Apple Music chart. Its music video was viewed over ten million times within twenty-four hours. The song topped in India, and entered the top 50 in Canada and New Zealand on the Apple Music chart. It topped the UK Asian charts, and also entered the top 5 of the Global YouTube charts. In September 2020, Moose Wala released "Game" with Shooter Kahlon, which became his first song to chart on the Canadian Hot 100 by Billboard.

In May 2021, Moose Wala released his third studio album, Moosetape, which contains 32 tracks. On 12 September 2021, he performed at the Wireless Festival in London with British rapper Mist. Moose Wala was the first Indian singer to perform at this festival.

In April 2022, Moose Wala released his debut Ep No Name featuring AR Paisley, Mr. Capone-E and Sunny Malton. which debuted at No. 73 on Billboard Top Canadian Albums.

Glorification of Khalistani movement

In December 2020, Moose Wala released the single "Panjab: My Motherland", in which he glorified Khalistani separatist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The song also includes visuals from a speech made by Khalistani supporter Bharpur Singh Balbir in the late 1980s.

Music production

Following the various successful songs with Humble Music, Moose Wala started releasing songs independently in 2018. He released the first song "Warning Shots", which was a diss track attacking Karan Aujla's track "Lafaafe". In the same year, his debut album PBX 1 was released under T-Series, followed by the release of most of his tracks under his own label, as well as tracks from other artists. In 2020, Moose Wala released his second studio album Snitches Get Stitches under his own label. On 31 August 2020, Moose Wala officially launched his record label, 5911 Records.

Feuds

Moose Wala had a rivalry with Karan Aujla; both have replied to each other through songs, social media handles and live performances. Also, both the singers have been criticised for singing songs promoting violence. Elly Mangat, both Sidhu and Aujla's then-colleague, in an interview disclosed that the dispute between the two singers began when Sidhu's video targeting Aujla in his song was leaked to Aujla's management, and they threatened attacking Sidhu. Following the incident, both started targeting each other on social media. The rivalry was resolved temporarily till Aujla released a diss-track "Lafaafe", followed by Moose Wala's "Warning Shot". Aujla in an interview stated that he didn't write the track "Lafaafe", and didn't reveal anything about their rivalry, but praised Sidhu's work.

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Lawsuit

As of 2022, Moose Wala was facing four criminal cases. Two of the cases were related to obscene scenes.

In May 2020, two videos featuring Moose Wala went viral on social media: one showcased him training to use an AK-47 with assistance from police officers, and the other saw him use a personal pistol. The six officers who had assisted him were suspended following the incident. On 19 May, he was booked under two sections of the Arms Act. The police began conducting raids to find Moose Wala, but he absconded to evade arrest. On 2 June, the Barnala District Court rejected a plea for anticipatory bail for Moose Wala and five accused officers.

On 6 June, he was fined by police in Nabha for his car windows were tinted black beyond what was permissible, and was allowed to leave despite being under lookout; Moose Wala incorrectly told the officers that he was already on bail. In July, he joined the police investigation and was granted regular bail. That month, he released a single titled "Sanju", comparing himself to actor Sanjay Dutt, who was also arrested under the Arms Act. Indian sport shooter Avneet Sidhu criticised the song and called out Moosewala for promoting gun culture. The next day, a case was registered against him for releasing the song. In an interview, Moose Wala alleged that he was being deliberately targeted by some news channels and lawyers.

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Acting career

Moose Wala made his debut in Punjabi cinema in the film Yes I Am Student under his own production company Jatt Life Studios. The film was directed by Tarnvir Singh Jagpal and written by Gill Raunta. In 2019, Moose Wala appeared in Teri Meri Jodi. In June 2020, he announced another film titled Gunah. On 22 August, he released the teaser of his upcoming movie, Moosa Jatt, starring Sweetaj Brar and directed by Tru Makers. On 24 August, he announced his new film Jattan Da Munda Gaun Lagya, directed by Amberdeep Singh which was set for release on 18 March 2022.

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Politics

Moose Wala actively campaigned for his mother, Charan Kaur, who won the sarpanch election from Moosa village in December 2018.

On 3 December 2021, Moose Wala joined Congress for contesting the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. Obtaining only 20.52% votes from the Mansa constituency, Moose Wala lost to Aam Aadmi Party's Vijay Singla by a margin of 63,323 votes. During the 2022 election, a case under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, was filed against Moosewala for his violation of the election code of conduct. He had held door-to-door campaign in Mansa constituency, after the end of allowed duration of election campaign.

On 11 April 2022, Moose Wala released a song titled "Scapegoat", in which he laments his failure in the 2022 Punjab state assembly elections. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that Moose Wala through his song insinuated that the voters of Punjab were "gaddar" (transl. traitors) for electing AAP. They also claimed that Moose Wala's song perpetuates the Congress' “anti-Punjab" mentality and demanded an answer from the party's state unit president, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, on whether he endorsed Moose Wala's views.

Electoral performance

2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election: Mansa

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	AAP	Vijay Singla	100,023	57.57
	INC	Sidhu Moosewala	36,700	21.12
	SAD	Prem Arora	27,180	15.64
	SAD(M)	Rajinder Singh	4,089	2.35
	NOTA	None of the Above	1099	0.63
Majority			63323	36.45
Turnout			173756	79.25
Registered electors			219,264
	AAP hold

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Death

Moose Wala was shot dead in his car on 29 May 2022 in Jawaharke village of Mansa district, by unidentified assailants. He was travelling with two other men. 30 rounds were fired during the incident which also injured two other men. He was brought dead to the Civil Hospital in Mansa. A Canadian gangster of Punjabi origin, identified as Satinder Singh alias Goldy Brar, claimed responsibility for the murder. Brar, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi claimed that his "Punjab Module" (gang) carried out the shooting. Both Brar and Bishnoi have criminal cases against them in India. The Punjab police later confirmed Bishnoi's involvement.

Moose Wala was among the 424 people, whose police security was reduced or entirely removed the day before, in preparation for the anniversary of Operation Blue Star, leaving him with two commandos only, as compared to four earlier. At the time of the incident, Moose Wala was travelling in his private car accompanied by his private security guards instead of the state government provided bullet-proof vehicle and the police commandos.

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Discography

Studio albums

• PBX 1 (2018)
• Snitches Get Stitches (2020)
• Moosetape (2021)

Extended play

• No Name (2022)

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Filmography

Actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2019	Teri Meri Jodi	Jeona	Guest appearance
2021	Moosa Jatt	Moosa	Debut film
	Yes I Am Student	Jass
2022	Jattan Da Munda Gaun Lagya		Directed and written by Amberdeep Singh

Denotes films that have not yet been released

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Tours

• Brown Boys Tour/ PBX 1 Tour (2018–19)
• Solo New Zealand/Italy/India Live Shows (2019–20)
• Back To Business World Tour with Sunny Malton (2022–23)