Prateek Kuhad Songs: 10 Essential Tracks and Albums

The essential Prateek Kuhad songs, from cold/mess and Kasoor to his Elektra-era albums, with the story behind each track.

Key facts

Background: Born 3 March 1990 in Jaipur, Rajasthan; studied maths and economics at New York University before moving to Delhi to pursue music full time.
Releases: Releases include the EPs Prateek Kuhad (2011) and Raat Raazi (2013), the album In Tokens & Charms (2015), the cold/mess EP, the Shehron Ke Raaz EP (2021), The Way That Lovers Do (20 May 2022) and Full Moon Chamber (2026).
Awards: He won Best India Act at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Profile: Barack Obama named cold/mess in his favourite music of 2019 list.
Label: He was the first Indian artist signed by the American label Elektra Records, in 2020.

Prateek Kuhad songs span more than a decade of bilingual singer-songwriter writing, and the essential ones are cold/mess, Kasoor, Co2, Raat Raazi, Oh Love, with you/for you, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Kadam, Shehron Ke Raaz and Blush. The Jaipur-born artist writes in both Hindi and English, broke out through self-released EPs, won the Best India Act award at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards, landed cold/mess on Barack Obama's favourite music of 2019 list and became the first Indian artist signed to Elektra Records in 2020, according to his Wikipedia biography. This guide walks through his best-known songs in release order, the records they come from, and where to start.

More facts about Prateek Kuhad

Born 3 March 1990 in Jaipur, Rajasthan; studied maths and economics at New York University before moving to Delhi to pursue music full time (Wikipedia).
Releases include the EPs Prateek Kuhad (2011) and Raat Raazi (2013), the album In Tokens & Charms (2015), the cold/mess EP, the Shehron Ke Raaz EP (2021), The Way That Lovers Do (20 May 2022) and Full Moon Chamber (2026) (Wikipedia; Billboard India).
He won Best India Act at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards (The Times of India).
Barack Obama named cold/mess in his favourite music of 2019 list (India Today).
He was the first Indian artist signed by the American label Elektra Records, in 2020 (Wikipedia).

Who is Prateek Kuhad

Prateek Kuhad is an Indian singer-songwriter who makes independent-minded music in Hindi and English. He learnt guitar at 16, started writing songs in his late teens, and discovered Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Laura Marling and Fleet Foxes while studying at NYU, influences that still shape his acoustic, folk-leaning sound (Wikipedia). He has also cited Lucky Ali as an inspiration, and he mostly writes about love, relationships and personal experience in deliberately open lyrics.

His primary instrument is the acoustic guitar, though he also plays piano and electric guitar. That pairing of plain-spoken melody and close-miked guitar is why his songs sit so naturally next to other quiet bilingual writers covered in our guide to Indian indie folk and acoustic artists.

What are Prateek Kuhad's most famous songs

His Wikipedia biography singles out Kasoor and Co2 as the tracks he is best known for, and cold/mess became his most widely reported international moment after the Obama list. The ten songs below cover every phase of his catalogue, from home-recorded EPs to the 2026 album.

1. Raat Raazi (2013)

The title track of his second EP, Raat Raazi, is the clearest early example of Kuhad writing in Hindi. The five-song EP also includes Ab Hoga Kya, Chahe Ya Na Chahe, Voh and Yeh Pal (Wikipedia). It arrived after his self-titled 2011 EP, which was in English, and showed early on that he would move between the two languages rather than pick one.

2. Oh Love (2015)

Oh Love opens In Tokens & Charms, his debut album, released in 2015. The ten-track record also includes Holding On, Flames, Into the Night, Go, Fire, Held You Tight, Be At Ease, Cold Shoulders and Artist, and a 2017 deluxe edition added Tonight, Big Surprise, Just To Be With You and a piano version of Flames (Wikipedia). If you want the English-language Kuhad of the early 2010s club and college circuit, start here.

3. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2016)

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan was his first big film placement. Released on the soundtrack of Baar Baar Dekho, it was composed by Jasleen Royal and sung by Royal and Kuhad, who also wrote the lyrics (Wikipedia). It introduced his voice to a much wider Hindi film audience in the same year as his EMA win.

4. Kadam (2018)

Kuhad contributed two songs, Saansein and Kadam, to the 2018 road film Karwaan. Kadam is the one most fans pair with his own releases, as it keeps his finger-picked guitar at the centre. Both are listed as Karwaan soundtrack songs in his discography (Wikipedia).

5. cold/mess (2018)

cold/mess is the song that pushed Kuhad beyond India. It is the title track of the cold/mess EP, whose tracklist is with you/for you, did you/fall apart, cold/mess, for your time, fighter and 100 words (Wikipedia). The song appeared on Barack Obama's favourite music of 2019 list, which India Today reported left the singer "flipping out".

The official cold/mess video is on his YouTube channel and is the best single entry point into his work.

6. with you/for you (2018)

The opener of the cold/mess EP is one of his gentlest songs and sits first in the EP's six-song running order (Wikipedia). It is a good choice if you liked the title track and want the EP's quieter side, and it flows straight into did you/fall apart, so it rewards a front-to-back listen.

7. Kasoor (2020)

Kasoor is a 2020 single and, with Co2, the song Kuhad is best known for (Wikipedia). It is sung in Hindi, and an acoustic version later appeared on the Shehron Ke Raaz EP and on the soundtrack of the 2021 film Dhamaka. The same year he also released Pause and Kahaan Ho Tum, the latter written for the Netflix series Mismatched.

8. Shehron Ke Raaz (2021)

The title track of his 2021 EP shows Kuhad's Hindi writing at its most polished. The four-song EP contains Shehron Ke Raaz, Khone Do, Tere Hi Hum and Kasoor (Acoustic) (Wikipedia). It came out after his signing to Elektra, but it stays close to the stripped-back sound of his earliest records.

9. Co2 (2022)

Co2 comes from The Way That Lovers Do, which Kuhad announced in March 2022, as reported by ThePrint, and released on 20 May 2022. The album runs All I Need, Hollow, Favorite Peeps, Co2, Face, Just A Word, Drown, The Last Time, Heartbroken, Bloom and Full Time Lover, and a 2023 deluxe edition added Hopelessly, I Never Knew, and a version of Bloom featuring Raveena (Wikipedia). Billboard India refers to him simply as the "Co2" singer, which says a lot about how far the song travelled.

10. Blush (2026)

Blush belongs to Full Moon Chamber, a 14-track album written and recorded largely in Los Angeles. Kuhad told Billboard India that Blush was his first time directing a music video, that producer Nick Ruth helped finish the album, and that Aaron Sterling played drums on the record. He also picked lines from You Make It Easy and If I Cannot Be Yours as his favourite lyrics on the album, so those two are the natural next listens.

Prateek Kuhad albums and EPs in order

His catalogue is easier to navigate in sequence. Converted from his discography (Wikipedia; Billboard India):

2011: Prateek Kuhad (EP), with Something Wrong, Rubber Bits and A Shot of Alcohol.
2013: Raat Raazi (EP), five Hindi songs.
2015: In Tokens & Charms (album), ten songs; deluxe edition in 2017.
2018 to 2019: cold/mess (EP), six songs plus an edit of the title track.
2021: Shehron Ke Raaz (EP), four songs.
2022: The Way That Lovers Do (album), eleven songs; deluxe edition in 2023.
2026: Full Moon Chamber (album), fourteen songs.

Which Prateek Kuhad song should you start with

Start with cold/mess if you want the song that made his name abroad, Kasoor if you want his best-known Hindi track, and Co2 if you prefer the fuller production of his Elektra years. Listeners who already know those three should go back to Raat Raazi and In Tokens & Charms to hear how much of the later style was already in place. If you enjoy him, Anuv Jain is the closest current peer; see our Anuv Jain profile and our list of Hindi indie songs.

Where Prateek Kuhad fits in Indian music

Kuhad came up through Delhi's live circuit after moving there from New York, and he is one of the clearest success stories of the city's songwriter scene, which we map in our Delhi indie scene guide. His label route is unusual: years of self-releases followed by a deal with a major US label, while his film songs for Baar Baar Dekho, Karwaan and Mismatched gave him a second audience in Hindi cinema and streaming television.

FAQ

Who is Prateek Kuhad

Prateek Kuhad is a Jaipur-born singer-songwriter, born on 3 March 1990, who writes and sings in Hindi and English. He studied at New York University, moved to Delhi to make music full time and became the first Indian artist signed to Elektra Records in 2020 (Wikipedia).

What is Prateek Kuhad's most famous song

His Wikipedia biography names Kasoor and Co2 as the songs he is best known for. cold/mess is his most famous internationally after Barack Obama included it in his favourite music of 2019 list (India Today).

Is Prateek Kuhad from Jaipur

Yes. He was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan, and finished school at Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya there before studying in New York (Wikipedia).

What genre is Prateek Kuhad

His music leans towards Americana and folk, built on acoustic guitar and unconventional song structures, with lyrics about love and relationships in Hindi and English (Wikipedia).

What is Prateek Kuhad's first song

His first release was the self-titled 2011 EP Prateek Kuhad, which opens with Something Wrong, followed by Rubber Bits and A Shot of Alcohol (Wikipedia).