Praveen Yadav, better known as LewdPrince, has spent more than 15 years building a career in Hip-Hop. From losing around 50 battles in his early years to winning on international stages, his story is one of persistence, self-belief and an unwillingness to stop.
There was no easy beginning for Praveen Yadav. Long before he represented India on international stages, the Bhopal-born Hip-Hop dancer was simply a young boy fascinated by a local dance competition during a Ganesh Chaturthi festival. That moment sparked something that would eventually become far more than a hobby.
Yadav, who performs under the name LewdPrince, started with school performances and competitions before taking his first serious step into dance. Financial limitations meant that even attending his first dance class required a sacrifice: he borrowed money from a friend to join Dance Former Academy, where his first teacher, Milind Sir, introduced him to the wider world of dance.
He experimented with choreography and Breaking before finding his real calling in Hip-Hop. In those early years, Hip-Hop was still a relatively uncommon focus in his local scene. Yadav recalls being one of the few dancers in Bhopal pursuing it seriously. The road was hardly smooth. He says he lost around 50 battles, had limited support and often had to keep going on his own.
The breakthrough eventually came around 2014–15, when he won his first major battle. That victory also helped him earn greater support from his family. From there, years of self-training, learning from international dancers and competing across India gradually opened the door to representing the country abroad.
Today, after more than 15 years in Hip-Hop, Yadav doesn’t describe dance merely as his profession. It has become his identity and way of life.
Consistency Over Motivation
Yadav’s approach to training is perhaps best understood through one simple idea: motivation comes and goes, but discipline has to remain. Having started largely on his own, he became comfortable training by himself. Even now, he prefers independent practice because his early experiences taught him that people can come and go, but personal commitment has to remain constant.
He draws inspiration from people and stories that remind him to keep working, including Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, The Karate Kid and the philosophy of Bruce Lee. One principle particularly resonates with him: rather than trying a thousand different things once, master one thing through repeated practice. For Yadav, consistency has ultimately proved more valuable than waiting for motivation to appear.
Finding KARDO
His introduction to KARDO came while watching promotional material for KARDO 8 online. Curiosity led to research, and what he discovered immediately caught his attention: a major international platform bringing together different forms of street culture and sports.
He submitted a video, cleared the first round and then qualified again in the second. Eventually, only four dancers from around the world were selected for the Hip-Hop Pro category—and Yadav was the only Indian dancer among them.
For him, KARDO’s appeal went beyond competition. What stood out was its effort to bring different styles, communities and elements of street culture together under one platform. His experience in Russia gave him a first-hand look at that international community.
The Experience That Changed His Perspective
One of Yadav’s most significant KARDO experiences came not on the competition floor, but during his invitation to Moscow to become a KARDO Ambassador.
Over five days, he had the opportunity to learn from internationally recognised artists and professionals, hearing about their careers, experiences and approaches to training. But what stayed with him most was the sense of community.
Participants shared meals, activities, parties and team-building challenges. For Yadav, those moments demonstrated that trust, communication and teamwork can create something far greater than an individual can build alone. That lesson has become an important part of how he views the culture around dance.
Carrying the Indian Flag
Yadav has represented India at events in Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. For him, that responsibility carries a meaning beyond competition.
He says that representing India is among the proudest achievements of his life. Since childhood, he wanted to do something for his country, and Hip-Hop gave him a way to pursue that ambition.
Every time he steps onto an international stage, he carries the Indian flag with him. Standing among dancers from different parts of the world, he sees his role as more than simply competing—he wants to demonstrate the talent and potential that exists within Indian Hip-Hop.
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A Title in Thailand
That belief received another boost at ThaiBuck 2025 in Thailand, where Yadav won the competition while representing India.
After years of work, defeating dancers from around the world gave him a significant sense of achievement. More importantly, the victory showed him that he could compete—and win—on the international stage. Rather than seeing the title as an endpoint, he describes it as motivation to take on bigger battles and continue representing India.
India’s Street Culture Is Growing—but Support Matters
Yadav sees enormous potential in India’s street-culture and sports communities. He believes the country has a huge pool of talent and that the number of competitions, platforms and opportunities is increasing. But he also sees a gap that still needs to be addressed.
Many talented dancers and athletes, he says, lack access to the right platforms, guidance and financial support needed to progress. Greater backing from sponsors, organisations and government institutions, in his view, could help India’s street culture and sports community make a stronger impact internationally.
What India Can Learn From the World
Having competed in different countries, Yadav has noticed clear differences in how dancers approach competition.
He feels Indian dancers can sometimes place enormous pressure on themselves because there are fewer major battles available. In international settings, he found many dancers more relaxed, allowing themselves to enjoy the music, express their individuality and concentrate on their own performance.
His experience in Japan particularly stayed with him. He was impressed by the natural movement of the dancers and the positive way they supported one another.
At the same time, Yadav believes India has something distinctive to offer: diversity.
Indian dancers can bring very different personalities and flavours to their movement. While international scenes may have strong structures and organisation, he believes Indian dancers are developing rapidly and becoming increasingly confident on the global stage.
Vladivostok: A Different Kind of Stage
The 2026 KARDO Grand Final in Vladivostok gave Yadav his first opportunity to experience Russia. He arrived early enough to explore the city and was struck by its architecture, art and the creativity of local artists.
But it was the atmosphere around the Grand Final that made the biggest impression. The crowd, energy and scale of the event made it an unforgettable experience, giving him the chance to be part of a major international street-culture gathering.
The Road Ahead
Yadav’s ambitions haven’t become smaller with success. If anything, the targets are getting bigger. He wants to compete at some of the world’s biggest battles, particularly across Europe, while continuing to represent India on international stages.
At the same time, there is a personal goal behind those ambitions: building a strong and sustainable career that allows him to support his family while continuing to travel, learn and develop as an artist.
His message to young dancers is equally personal. Know who you are, he says. Understand your art, your body, your movement, your music and your identity. Don’t become a copy of somebody else in an attempt to succeed.
The pressure of a major international battle can make a dancer believe they need to do more or become someone different. Yadav’s advice is to resist that instinct: trust the training, trust the style and trust yourself. And perhaps his most powerful lesson is that competition should ultimately be against one’s own limitations.
For Praveen Yadav, the goal isn’t simply to defeat another dancer. It is to overcome the boundaries within yourself.
When the focus shifts completely toward the art, he believes victory becomes a consequence rather than the reason for doing it. From a borrowed fee for his first dance class in Bhopal to carrying the Indian flag onto international stages, Yadav’s story has been built one practice session, one battle and one setback at a time.
And for LewdPrince, the next stage is already waiting.
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