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Priya Ragu

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Priya Ragu
Born
Priya Ragupathylingam

1985 (age 38–39)
Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Musical career
GenresPop
LabelsWarner
Websitewww.priya-ragu.com

Priya Ragupathylingam (born 1985), better known by the stage name Priya Ragu, is a Swiss singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence in 2020 for her debut single, "Good Love 2.0".[1]

Biography

Priya was born in 1985[2] to Sri Lankan-Tamil parents in Switzerland. Her parents fled Sri Lanka in 1980s during the civil war. She was raised in Bazenheid, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.[3]

Her parents hosted jam sessions with others from the Swiss Tamil community with the intention of making Priya aware of her Tamil heritage as a young child. Her father formed a small band performing songs which featured in Kollywood films.[4] In her father's band, she performed as a singer, her father played tabla and her brother (Japhna Gold) played keyboard. Her father also encouraged her and her brother to sing Tamil songs at cultural events and weddings in order to raise funds to help those who lived in Tamil Nadu.

Career

After completing her secondary education, she became an accountant for Swiss International Air Lines and moved to Zürich. Although she became a technical buyer for the airline, she continued recording songs in her spare time.[3] Despite her childhood experiences as a singer, her parents did not want her to become a full-fledged professional musician due to their strict and conservative attitudes. Her parents were strictly against western music, MTV videos and pop songs which they considered to be obscene. She however practiced pop songs secretly at her room against her parents' wishes.[5]

She moved to New York in 2017 for a period of 6 months in order to pursue her dream career in music. However, she did not meet any music artists during her brief stay in the United States and instead only found herself collaborating with her music producer-brother, Japhna Gold. During her temporary stay in the US, she collaborated with her brother via Skype as the latter was staying in Switzerland. Priya's brother encouraged her to record songs in Tamil and the duo named their album titled Ragu Wayy.[5]

Her debut mixtape titled damnshestamil consists of 10 tracks include the singles "Good Love 2.0", "Chicken Lemon Rice", "Kamali", "Forgot About", and "Lockdown". "Good Love 2.0" was the first track off of damnshestamil to be released as it was unveiled on 2 October 2020.[6] It was also played on popular BBC radio show Future Sounds and she consequently signed a record deal with Warner Music in October 2020.[7][8] damnshestamil was produced in collaboration with her brother, Japhna Gold, included backing vocals from her father, and its closing track, "Santhosam" (transl. Happiness), was written by her mother.[9]

She has appeared in British Vogue, on BBC Radio 1 and on the FIFA 21 soundtrack. Vogue India named her as one of the 6 musicians who are about to blow up in 2021.[10]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
Santhosam
  • Released: 20 October 2023
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, vinyl

Mixtapes

Title Details Peak chart positions
SWI
[11]
damnshestamil
  • Released: 3 September 2021
  • Label: Warner
  • Format: Digital download, streaming, vinyl
Track listing
  1. "Leaf High"
  2. "Good Love 2.0"
  3. "Lockdown"
  4. "Lighthouse"
  5. "Anything"
  6. "Chicken Lemon Rice"
  7. "Deli"
  8. "Kamali"
  9. "Forgot About"
  10. "Santhosam" (Bonus Track)
 46

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[12] 		UK
Asian
[13]
"Good Love 2.0" 2020 — 8 damnshestamil
"Chicken Lemon Rice" 2021 — 2
"Forgot About" — 16
"Kamali" — 15
"Lockdown" — —
"Illuminous" 2022 — — Non-album single
"Adalam Va!" — — Santhosam
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" 49 — Non-album single
"Easy" 2023 — — Santhosam
"Vacation" — —
"Black Goose" — —

Music videos

Title Year Director(s)
"Good Love 2.0" 2020 Aneesh (Melting Clock)
"Chicken Lemon Rice" 2021 Dumas Haddad
"Forgot About" Official Lyric Video Jasper Cable Alexander
"Kamali" Sasha Rainbow[14]
"Lockdown" Dumas Haddad
"Illuminous" 2022 Silence
"Adalam Va!" Sasha Nathwani

Awards and nominations

Year Organization Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2021 UK Music Video Awards Best Wardrobe Styling in a Video "Chicken Lemon Rice" Nominated [15]
BBC Sound of 2022 Herself Nominated [16]
2022 MTV UK Push One to Watch Nominated [17]
Swiss Music Awards Best Talent Nominated [18]
MTV Europe Music Awards Best Swiss Act Nominated [19]

References

  1. ^ "On the Rise: Priya Ragu". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  2. ^ Christof Gertsch: Du sollst in der Schweiz nicht auffallen, mahnte ihr tamilischer Vater. In: Das Magazin (Tages-Anzeiger), 6 January 2023 (German).
  3. ^ a b "Priya Ragu: 'Tamil is the language I speak. Why not put it in my songs?'". the Guardian. 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  4. ^ "For Priya Ragu, 'Tamil Comes First' | Tamil Guardian". www.tamilguardian.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  5. ^ a b ""I trained hard to become more self-determined."". Swiss Life Group. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  6. ^ Priya Ragu - Good Love 2.0 (Official Video), retrieved 2021-08-27
  7. ^ "Tamil-Swiss Artist Priya Ragu Signs to Warner Music U.K., Drops 'Good Love 2.0' Video -". My Site. 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  8. ^ "Sri Lankan-Swiss singer Priya Ragu on her record deal with Warner Music UK". 22 November 2020.
  9. ^ "BBC Sound of 2022's Priya Ragu: 'My parents still don't know I quit my job'". BBC News. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  10. ^ "6 new musicians who are set to go stratospheric in 2021". Vogue India. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  11. ^ "Priya Ragu – Damnshestamil". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Priya Ragu | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  13. ^ Singles on UK Asian Music Chart:
  14. ^ Priya Ragu 'Kamali', retrieved 2021-09-09
  15. ^ "UK Music Video Awards 2021: all the nominations for this year's UKMVAs | News | Promonews". Promonewstv. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  16. ^ "BBC - Sound of 2022". BBC. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  17. ^ "Meet Our MTV PUSH UK & IRE 2022 Shortlist..." www.mtv.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  18. ^ "Swiss Music Awards - Joya Marleen, Kings Elliot oder Priya Ragu: Wer gewinnt den SMA?". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  19. ^ "MTV EMA 2022: Checkt hier alle Nominees". MTV Germany (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-15.
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