Priya Ragu's cosmopolitan pop threads her Sri Lankan Tamil musical heritage through a modern mix of myriad genres and styles that include R&B, hip-hop, and Caribbean and African club sounds. The singer and songwriter first entered the U.K.'s Asian Music Chart Top 40 in 2020 with "Good Love 2.0," her debut commercial single. That and three additional chart entries were featured on her 2021 mixtape for Warner Records, damnshestamil.

Born and raised in Switzerland, Ragu (an abbreviation of Ragupathylingam) sang as a youngster in a band her father formed that also included her brother Roshaan. They performed Kollywood soundtrack material and other Tamil songs at informal and formal events alike, from communal sessions to weddings and benefits for Sri Lankans. Although she concentrated on her education and day job, she was compelled to develop her musical talent, inspired by contemporary R&B and hip-hop. A 2017 New York trip to pursue music didn't go as planned, but during her stay, she wrote and recorded songs via Skype with Roshaan, aka producer Japhna Gold.

It wasn't until a couple years later that Ragu's prospects brightened considerably with the independent release of "Lighthouse" and "Good Love." The Japhna Gold-produced tracks received a positive response and resulted in offers from a large number of labels. Ragu ultimately signed with Warner Records in the U.K. Shortly after a featured appearance on Oddisee's "Still Strange" and the finalization of the deal that August, "Good Love 2.0" was issued as Ragu's commercial debut and reached number eight on the U.K.'s Asian Music Chart Top 40. Follow-up "Chicken Lemon Rice" fared even better early in 2021, peaking at number two. "Forgot About" and "Kamali" likewise charted, and Ragu co-wrote and sang on Jungle's "Goodbye My Love" before the September release of damnshestamil. The mixtape was produced entirely by Japhna Gold, with the Ragus' parents, Chandrika and Nagalingam, co-writing the Tamil-language finale "Santhosam." ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi