Women in the country have been influencing the way we hear music for a while now, and it’s high time they got some reppin’. It’s hard to make your own creative mark in the brutalist airwaves of India, but fuck the bucks, these ladies have done it.
Tune in!
1. Dot
Aditi Saigal has a spectacularly keen sense of songwriting. The fact that she’s so young is makes it all the more commendable. She’s been putting up her own songs on YouTube. Heads up, they’re super charming and impossible to forget.
2. Aditi Ramesh
Aditi’s music oozes mojo. She’s a highly accomplished singer and musician who’s making the kind of music this country desperately needs – fresh, funky, and full bodied.
3. Meba Ofilia
Shillong’s really got the goods. Meba – a talented singer and burgeoning rapper – is proof. Her work with the Khasi Bloodz is raw and inspiring, and I’m itching to hear more.
4. Komorebi
Tarana Marwah can sing, play the keys and do all those strange electronic things that I thought only DJs could do. Basically, she’s a wizard.
5. Saba Azad
One half of Madboy Mink – the electro funk duo that tore this country a new one – Saba Azad was born to entertain. She can sing, dance, and she’s even acted in a few cool things.
6. Mohini Dey
A bass prodigy who’s really hit the big time, and rightly so. Mohini Dey’s been killing it since she was 11, and YouTube videos of her have garnered the kind of praise you only see for virtuosos.
7. Gowri Jayakumar
Gowri has donned several musical hats and monikers, all of them different, and all of them great. She infuses an eclectic style into her music, all unto its own. Check out her latest jazz-fusion track below – pretty fuckin’ cool.
8. Sandunes
Sanaya Ardeshir, also known as Sandunes, is one of the better known musicians on this list, but still criminally underrated by the masses. Her early piano chops evolved into an eclectic electronic sound that’s truly the music of the future.
9. Naari
Neeraja a.k.a. Naari makes magic out of sound. She’s a young singer with a powerful voice and a moreish quality to her tunes – the perfect combo.
10. Ramya Pothuri
As dreamy and calming as an opiod, without any of the ill effects, this singer is currently based in Mumbai. If you get a chance to watch her live, do it.
11. Tipriti Kharbangar
Arguably the most powerful singer in India, Tipriti is the frontwoman of Shillong-based blues revivalists Soulmate. Comparisons to Janis Joplin are frequent and well-deserved – this woman is a star.
12. Suman Sridhar
This woman is an avalanche of talent – she dabbles in all kinds of music, from scoring films to avant-garde experimental rock to her own machinations with a drum machine. Suman Sridhar isn’t just a musician, she’s an experience.
13. Ditty
Aditi Veena’s music is earthy and soulful. It focuses on the acoustic, invoking soundscapes without trying to be overbearing, and it works perfectly.
14. Chochung Dema Thungon
Chochung has been steadily becoming more active in the live music circuit in India, and we’re all the better for it. She sings with a natural passion that’s pretty rare to see these days. I think I’ve also got to make an obligatory mention that she was on The Stage, and she killed it.
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