Priya Ragu carries the weight and power of a musically inclined family, but has not always had the opportunity to fully express her own artistic abilities and identify, until now. Priya was born and raised in Switzerland, soon after her family left Sri Lanka for a safer life. She had the appetite and talent for performance from a young age, but due to her parent's cultural reservations and worries, Priya took the path of a traditional office job and let music be something she worked on personally without letting it get too much attention. It wasn't until 2017 that her and her big brother - producer Japhna Gold, officially joined forces to work on a sound for the world to hear. By combining elements of Tamil music, Hip Hop, R&B (Lauryn Hill being one of Priya's greatest influences), and Garage - Priya and Japhna Gold have been providing bridges for all types of music fans to explore.
In 2021 they released damnshestamil, a mixtape which had a bonus track entitled Santhosam. That bonus track was written by Priya and Japhna Gold's mom and contained vocals from the whole family. Her debut album is of the same name, Santhosam, is sure to be a milestone for Priya personally, her family, Tamil fans, and fans of good music.
Until its release on Oct 20th 2023, you can enjoy a couple of the tracks released so far like the feel good Easy and Vacation, and Episode 1 of "The Road To Santhosam" describing her journey to this album.
Cover photo by Amir Hossain.