Priya Ragu

Tamil-Swiss singer-songwriter Priya Ragu, real name Priya Ragupathylingam (1986), was born and raised in Switzerland after her parents fled the civil war in Sri Lanka during the 1980s. She grew up in the village of Bazenheid, St. Gallen, and cut her teeth as a singer in her father's Kollywood-inspired band, also earning her keep as a singer at weddings and cultural events. She moved to New York in 2017 where she set her sights on pursuing a full-time career in music, much to the dismay of her parents who were opposed to the idea of her performing western music. During her stay in New York, she ended up collaborating online with her brother Japhna Gold, with whom she had grown up singing and encouraged the creation of a duet album in Tamil called Ragu Wayy. This lit the fire for her solo career, and in 2020 she leapt into the spotlight with her breakthrough tabla-infused R&B hit "Good Love 2.o", which featured samples from Kollywood films and charted in the UK's Asian Music Chart Top 10. The track was also remixed by dance and indie royalty Joe Goddard and Honey Dijon. She took her sound further on 2021’s debut mixtape Damnshetamil for Warner Music, which was recorded with her brother and featured the folky "Kamali" and highlight “Chicken Lemon Rice”, among other picks. She even forged a name for the mix of R&B, soul, and Tamil beats she developed with her brother: "raguwavy''. 2022 saw the release of the sassy new single "Illuminous" and grime-flecked follow-up "Adalam Va!". That same year, she also recorded a version of festive staple "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree" for the soundtrack to the Amazon Prime Video Christmas romcom Your Christmas Or Mine?.