Priya Ragu, the Swiss-born Sri-Lankan Tamil, helped pave the way for singers of the South Asian diaspora through her eclectic range of grooves, from R&B to hip-hop to pop, all while paying homage to her Tamil heritage.
Ragu was born to Sri-Lankan Tamil parents who escaped to Switzerland from the civil war in Sri Lanka — a conflict between the native Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority in the early 1980s. Nevertheless, Ragu’s childhood was filled with Tamil music, especially from Kollywood, the southern Indian province of Tamil Nadu’s take on Hollywood. Although Western music was not allowed in her household while growing up, she enjoyed singing pop songs and pursued music in secret.
Released in 2021, her debut album “damnshestamil” is a warm combination of contemporary music and an ode to her heritage, incorporating audio clips of women speaking in Tamil overlayed with traditional South Indian beats. Ragu dons traditional South Indian attire in her album cover, complementing it with heavy jhumkas (intricate bell-shaped South Asian earrings), necklaces, and a garland of jasmine flowers in her hair.
The album starts with encouraging lyrics from “Leaf High.” “I never mind the rain before, as long as the sun lights up my soul.” She plays on the phrases “live high” and “leaf high.”
Her brother Roshaan Ragu raps on this song as well, mentioning “paper planes” in one of his verses, as a reference to Sri-Lankan and Tamil artist M.I.A.’s hit song of the same name and ending with a electrifying guitar riff wrapping up the track with intensity and energy, leaving the listener eager to hear the rest of the album. The first song showcases Ragu’s smooth voice and creativity that will be heard throughout her work. It also shows a glimpse of the collaboration between Ragu and her brother, who produced the album and sang on a few of its songs.
“Good Love 2.0” Ragu’s debut single, released in 2020 and was her most commercially successful song, entering the UK Asian Music Chart Top 40 in 2020. The song starts out as a funky love song with a flowing chorus. Towards the end, the tone switches to a more melodic sound, as she overlays her vocals, “fell in love with you,” with tabla instrumentals and raga, a traditional style of vocals seen in Indian classical music. Though the lyrics are in English, these traditional aspects woven masterfully throughout her songs are what sets Ragu’s discography apart from the rest.
The calm ending of “Good Love 2.0” is followed by the more upbeat “Lockdown,” inspired by the COVID pandemic — “isolation got me bored,” she sings throughout the track. The electronic production and syncopated percussion with an upbeat tempo is reminiscent of Caribbean music. With a lively and summery tropical feeling, this song serves as a stark contrast to lockdown itself.
In “Love is in the lighthouse,” Ragu used “light” to convey the imagery of the human spirit and “house” as the human body. Lighthouses also serve as beacons for lost ships, playing into the song’s use of the lighthouse as a guide for individuals who feel lost and disconnected when she says, “And if it’s dark outside baby, Your love is in the lighthouse.” The symbolism behind the lyricism in this song gives credit to Ragu’s artistry. Towards the end, she switches languages and the music shifts to a more traditional tone, akin to yet more intense than “Good Love 2.0.” Heavy rhythmic tabla and flutes accompany chants in Telugu “Nallathy mattum neenainga, Nallathu mattum nadakum,” which translates to “Think good and only good things will happen.”
“Anything” is one of the slower more R&B-inclined songs in the album. Her singing skills are clearly heard in this song and the beats with the utilization of her background vocals are a credit to her brother’s role in the album.
Ragu shows her love for her identity in “Chicken lemon rice.” The line, “Saraswathi force, win ting like that. Brown skin tone, peng ting like that,” references her Hindu religion and love for both her culture and herself. She combines Tamil instrumentals with African rhythms, mixing these styles together like ingredients, like chicken, lemon, and rice. The music video shows Ragu in different scenes with colorfully extravagant costumes. Shots move between dancers adorned with unique jewelry, some in traditional Indian attire and others in African clothing, which reflects the harmonious blend heard in the music itself.
“Deli” is one of my favorite songs on this album, with its compelling lyrics paired with a melodic and rhythmic beat. As the harmony and rhythm spins together a story, the tabla rings as a constant throughout the background. My favorite lyric is “Outside the corner deli. I love it when the neon lights hit your face,” the imagery painting the vivid scene of a brief yet meaningful encounter at a deli.
“Kamali” is another of my favorite songs on this album, even more potent when paired with its vibrant and heartwarming music video. It starts with a woman in Tamil saying, “Our daughters shouldn’t be raised like caged birds.” In the music video, Kamali is the name of a young girl who tries skateboarding. The song reflects Ragu’s story as a daughter of refugees, crossing the borders in the music industry to make an impact on Asian contemporary music. The portrayal of women of all ages is a key element in the video. From mothers to babies and children in schools, Ragu traces the lives of the women whose stories aren’t in the spotlight. The video’s backdrop of a small Indian village is once again a testament to Ragu’s roots.
Similar to “Anything,” “Forgot About,” is also a slow R&B song that showcases Ragu’s wide vocal range. The song highlights the struggles of forgetting someone and the uncertainty of whether they still think of you.
“Santhosam,” which means happiness in Tamil, is the bonus track and the album’s only song entirely in Tamil. Ragu really incorporates her identity in this, especially her religion, including devotional Hindu prayers. In the background, you hear children playing. The instrumentation on this track feels raw and invigorating through the variety of traditional instruments used. According to an interview with Apple Music, Ragu wrote this song with her parents, to commemorate a guru that changed their lives and inspired them to get more into spirituality.
The distinct sound of“damnshestamil”’ is a very distinctive album that incorporates Tamil into R&B and hip hop, showcasing Priya Ragu as a creative genius behind the album that strongly reflects her heritage and embodies her identity. While songs from her album vary across genres, from R&B to hip-hop to pop, she masterfully integrates South Indian culture into her work. From language, instrumentation, and her words themselves, the work conveys her strong emotions of melancholy, happiness, and pride.
