Humble The Poet (Kanwer Singh Mahl),

Some Lesser Known Facts About Humble The Poet

• Kanwer Singh Mahl, professionally known as “Humble The Poet” is a Canadian elementary school teacher-turned-creative. He is a YouTuber, MC/Spoken Word artist, author, public speaker, hip-hop artist, designer, filmmaker, and creative consultant.

• Humble was born to immigrant Indian Punjabi Sikh parents in Toronto, Ontario. His father has a Master’s degree in Economics who has been driving a cab for 30 years. ^[9]Instagram – Humble The Poet

• The Poet lives by the motto – ^[10]The Indian Express
  

  Shake your ass, shake your heart, and shake your mind.”

• Humble is also an influencer and has a massive following on social media. He has 527K followers on Instagram, 361.5K on Facebook, 115K on Twitter, and more than 10K members on Mighty Network. ^[11]Humble The Poet official website

• He also runs his own website called “brwnppl.com,” a clothing line, and a podcast titled “Humble The Poet Daily’ish.” ^[12]Humble The Poet official website

• The Canadian YouTuber has performed at several concerts and major international festivals in London, Delhi, and Pune including When Lions Roar, Lollapalooza, and Believe Me Music festival. He has also been featured in major media including The Huffington Post (Canada), The Times of India, VancouverDesi, Rolling Stone, Buzzfeed, MTV Iggy, MTV K, 24hr (Sun Media), Metro Morning (CBC), FHM, World Star Hip Hop, 2DOPEBOYZ, and twice on AllHipHop.com. ^[13]Waterloo Records

• Kanwer is a strong advocate of anti-racism and has revealed that he and his family have encountered racism multiple times since their immigration to Canada. ^[14]Humble The Poet official website

• Apart from racism, Humble has also rapped about a variety of social and political issues in his hit music videos, including domestic violence, the plight of immigrants in Canada, the prison system, Palestine, and the issues of the desi gay community in Canada. ^[15]Rolling Stone

• Singh started by reciting spoken word poetry as gigs in coffee shops. He joined the Toronto Spoken Word Club when he was working as a school teacher and high school tutor, and he started participating in various competitions. Humble eventually transformed his talent into a creative adventure. ^[16]Rolling Stone ^[17]Desi Today When asked about it in an interview, Humble said,
  

  I started going for open mic nights and poetry slams around Toronto. That is where I nailed my unique sense of identity. I am a Canadian Punjabi. I am not Indian, make no mistake.”

• Kanwer, who initially started his YouTube channel “Harman the Hater” with his friends, became a YouTube phenomenon in May 2008 after he posted his independently recorded track “Voice for the Voiceless” on his channel. ^[18]Sikhchic He said in an interview,
  

  I was very hesitant to put my work out there for a long time. I had that American Idol fear – you know, that you think you’re better than you are.”

• In early 2009, Kanwer adopted the stage name ‘Humble The Poet’ and launched “thepoetproject.com,” an online platform where he shares his work and of those who inspire him. ^[19]DesiHipHop

• In the same year, Singh released his first mixtape album titled -00.05. Since then, he has been dropping similarly titled albums in the countdown series. ^[20]Rolling Stone

• In 2010, Humble left his job as an elementary school teacher to pursue full-time poetry and Spoken Word.

• On 4 November 2010, Humble The Poet released a song “Baagi Music” of his album -0.003 that instantly went viral and attracted mass attention to the singer not only from his fans but also from music journalists and South-Asian culture magazines too.

• The hip-hop rapper did modelling in 2012 for designer Raji Aujla at The Fashion & Art’s Toronto CitySCAPE event. ^[21]Last.fm He has also featured (as himself) in the 2012 film Picture Day, which was selected for the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

• Humble released his first self-published e-book “UnLEARN – Butterflies and Lions” in 2013 and released a music video by the same name. He had crowdfunded the project through Indiegogo Campaign and had accumulated $26,129, surpassing his actual goal. ^[22]Indiegogo

• In 2014, Singh teamed up with fellow Canadian YouTuber Lilly Singh (a.k.a Superwoman), and they released their first track called “Leh,” which went on to have over 18 million views as of 2021. ^[23]Huffing Post

  

• In the same year, Singh’s first paperback “Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths For A Better Life” was published. It became a Heather’s Pick and has stayed on the Globe and Mail best-sellers list since its release. The book went on to become an international bestseller and was re-released with Harper Collins Publishers in April 2019.

• According to Kanwer, a quote by J.K Rowling inspired him, and he started writing ideas and things from his life experiences on Facebook, which laid the foundation for Singh’s debut motivational book. ^[24]The Ikonns

• In 2015, the author released volume 2 of his debut book titled “Beneath The Surface: 101 Honest Truths To Take Life Deeper (Unlearn) (Volume 2).”

  

• In the same year, Kanwer and Lilly Singh released their second track, “IVIVI,” on April 16, a date significant to the song. ^[25]Huffing Post

• Humble also featured as an artist in the film “Inland” directed by Deepa Mehta in 2015. ^[26]Waterloo Records

• On 25 July 2017, Humble released his debut self-directed video on YouTube titled H.A.I.R. with his YouTube collaborator Lilly Singh. The video has touched over 2.5 million views since its release – the highest number of views on YouTube during the rapper’s career.

• The Poet released his second international bestseller “Things No One Else Can Teach Us” in October 2019.

  

• Humble twice appeared on the show “A Little Late With Lilly,” first in April 2020 with Lilly Singh with Jay Shetty, and again by himself in May 2021.

• When asked about his future endeavours, Singh revealed that he planned to continue to work the way he has been doing – making all his music available for free and creating music with his friends. ^[27]Rolling Stone He said,
  

  I make money via gigs and merchandising, that is more than enough for me.”