Sid Sriram

Chennai-born, California-raised singer and songwriter Sid Sriram has deftly balanced his craft as a Carnatic vocalist, experimental R&B-indie artist and playback singer to become a prominent global voice. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Sriram shot to fame in 2013 when his powerful, bluesy vocals on the Tamil song “Adiye”, composed by A.R. Rahman for the film Kadal, breathed fresh air into South Indian film music. Sriram had already started exploring his own R&B-inflected pop sound inspired by artists such as Frank Ocean, even as his inimitable, gospel-informed vocals were in demand by film composers such as Anirudh Ravichander, Thaman S. (“Samajavaragamana”), Gopi Sundar (“Inkem Inkem”, “Adiga Adiga”) and Devi Sri Prasad (“Srivalli”). In 2019, Sriram released the solo album Entropy, showcasing a wholly different side to his artistry in sampling Bon Iver and exploring hip-hop and pop shades with songs like “It Isn’t True” and “Eyes Open”. In 2023, Sriram’s second English-language album—simply titled Sidharth—was a return to his measured, philosophising songwriting, offering soul-searching songs like “The Hard Way”, “Dear Sahana” and “Quiet Storm”.