Illustration: Henry Gilham
Swiss-Sri Lankan vocalist Priya Ragu is not confined by borders, and nor is her genre-transcending sound.
Working alongside her producer, and brother, Roshaan AKA Japhna Gold, Priya Ragu has drip-fed singles to an ever-growing international audience. Her latest offering, ‘Good Love 2.0’ draws heavily on cues from Kaytranada and MIA, but Ragu is keen to ensure that her own sound, her own identity, emanates throughout her work: “you’ll still know it’s me – it’s always my style.” This style constitutes an amalgamation of mainstream soul, RnB and Hip-hop influences, yet maintains a residual Indian influence which helps break the sonic boundaries which often pigeon-hole artists. Currently based in Zurich, Ragu is not working to a set goal. She and her brother “just go with the flow and see what comes out,” but in doing so, they are quickly developing their own musical brand.
Though Ragu used to hack into her brother’s computer to trawl through the music library for new tunes and artists, their musical relationship was only founded relatively recently: “it’s not something we always wanted to do, work together… it just kind of happened.” The realisation of their collaborative ability has, however, been “a dream come true” for Ragu. Like in any sibling relationship, there are sometimes tensions between the pair, occasions when Ragu has thought “this is not going to work, fuck you,” but their sonic partnership has ultimately made their relationship far stronger. The clashing of their different tastes and influences has been instrumental in crafting Priya Ragu’s unique sound: “He’s more into hip-hop and Boom-bap and I’m more into Soul-jazz,” she explains. In blending motifs and ideas characteristic of these genres with those of their shared Indian influences, Priya Ragu and Japhna Gold have managed to create their eclectic new sound.
Ragu was born in Switzerland, and though her family originate from Sri-Lanka, her connection with the Indian sub-continent is through the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Civil war had prevented the Ragu family from getting back to their roots and visiting relatives, and so South India became the closest they could get to their Sri-Lankan heritage. As a “world person,” Ragu claims that she feels “at home in any place” as long as she feels comfortable in her body and with who she is. Whilst her close ties with South India and its culture clearly impact her sound, the Bollywood breakdown in “Good Love 2.0’ the clearest example of this, Ragu draws on a variety of auditory influences.
Priya Ragu wasn’t raised on the likes of Stevie Wonder and The Roots, artists who greatly influence her sound. Throughout her childhood traditional Tamil and Kollywood music (from Tamil cinema) had ruled her family’s stereos. In fact, Ragu’s entrance into the world of music was as a singer in her father’s Tamil band. At this, the earliest stage in her musical career, she “really didn’t enjoy singing.” Her low register wasn’t best suited to the high vocal range characteristic of the Tamil genre, and, aside from that, more traditional music “just wasn’t [her] thing.” It was only at 11 or 12 that Priya Ragu made her neo-soul discovery, encountering the works of Ms. Lauryn Hill and Donny Hathaway which provided her the satisfaction that singing in her father’s band had not. Singing along to neo-soul and RnB legends became a hobby, and although she “never really wanted to become a singer,” combining her talents with those of her brother has quickly taken things to a new level. Though her sound is more characteristic of her soul and RnB inspirations, Ragu continues to mobilise Tamil and Kollywood motifs which epitomised her early childhood.
The visuals for Ragu’s output thus far have also been distinctly Indian-influenced. The video for 2019s genre-bending ‘Lighthouse’ was shot on colourful side streets of Mumbai, whilst visuals for latest single, ‘Good Love 2.0’ were filmed on the beaches of Goa. Priya Ragu is keen to highlight the extent of the Indian influence in every aspect of her artistic existence, from video direction down to styling, and calls upon creatives based in India to maintain the authenticity that makes her visuals so enamouring. Starting from scratch, with a zero-dollar budget, Ragu explained how she used Instagram to contact artists she admired. “I just happened to contact the right people,” she modestly recalled, “and I was so lucky they agreed to work with me.” Ragu has “a clear vision” when it comes to styling and artistic direction, and this vision is clearly grounded in Indian culture.
This “clear vision” seems to have been clouded somewhat by the transcendent global crisis which currently restricts most of our lives. People have dealt with periods of long-term isolation in different ways. Whilst she acknowledges and admires those artists who have found a new lease of productivity whilst trapped inside, Priya Ragu has found herself appreciating her downtime: “I got really comfortable not doing anything, just sleeping and eating.” Though her rate of productivity may have fallen off over the past few months, her work prior to lockdown had resulted in a debut album, due for release in late March. There was a release party planned, alongside a coinciding festival appearance, but Covid-19 dashed any hopes of such an impressive rollout. Ragu was still eager to release the record, the product of two years of work, but she was convinced by Roshaan to hold off; the pair coming to see the emergence of the devastating pandemic as “a sign” to bide their time.
That sign, it seems, has come to propitious fruition. In this period of relative quiet from Ragu’s camp, labels and management have come a-knocking. Postponing the release of her debut LP in the light of a Coronavirus could well have been a sizeable roadblock in the fledgling stages of Priya Ragu’s career. However, the strength of her singles alone has garnered the executive interest which promises to take Ragu to the next level.
Ragu’s debut record, like her previous singles, was going to be released independently and “without a plan.” “Sooner or later,” she mused, “it would’ve been amazing to work with a label, but we were never going to force it.” Though she asserts that, for now, nothing is official, it seems her music has spoken for itself and drawn the interest it deserves. The dark and ominous cloud of Covid has then, for Priya Ragu at least, been lined with silver.
Swiss music hasn’t typically been spoiled for success overseas: prolific, ear-bludgeoning, EDM producer, DJ Antoine, is the the most successful swiss export of the all-time. However, Priya Ragu is leading the way for a talented group of contemporary Helvetian artists who are threatening to buck the trend of Swiss disappointment on the global stage. Laskaar, Naomi Lauriene, and JAS CRW all possess the potential to achieve largescale success, but Ragu has already infiltrated the international market. In February, Ragu appeared as a guest on Kan D Man’s BBC Asian Network show, and whilst she appreciates her Swiss fanbase, she ackowledges that she generally “gets more love from outside the country.”
This being said, Priya Ragu does not have any overwhelming musical ambitions. Admittedly, she’s slid into the DMs of dream collaborator and musical idol, MIA, on numerous occasions, but her humble character is reflected in her perceptions of success. Ragu is doing what she wants, and people are appreciating that. In her eyes, she’s already ‘living the dream:’ “If I can stay on this path, create more cool stuff, and work with cool artists then I’m happy.”
Priya Ragu was ready to make 2020 her year. Though she’s happiest “going with the flow,” her schedule for this year, including the release of her debut LP and her largest show to date at Swiss festival OpenAir St. Gallen, seemed indicative of an artist on the cusp of major success. Covid-19 has thwarted the potential of these events to hoist Priya Ragu further into the limelight, yet the lull of lockdown has brought with it new opportunities. On the back of her previous releases, an eclectic mix of tracks which refuse to be boxed in by genre, Ragu has deservedly drawn label interest. Whilst ongoing negotiations (and a global pandemic) mean that we are unlikely to hear the finished album any time soon, she promises that “music will come.” If previous performance is anything to go by, it will be worth the wait.