As a South Asian pop fan, I’ve always felt like my experiences were not fully reflected in the music I listened to. The mention of “South Asian music” here in the west usually brings up memories of classic Bollywood’s melodramatic strings, or down-to-earth religious music. Conversely, until recently, western pop music has not included South Asian music artists, to the point where people don’t realize they exist. In the past year, South Asians have gained our moment in the spotlight. Between “Big Dawgs” by Hanumankind, “brat” by Charli xcx, there has been a general rise in interest in South Asian celebrities and culture. I think we can go further. Here are six more South Asian music artists in a variety of genres that showcase the importance of representation.

Cornershop

“This Western Oriental’s going full circle!” – W*g – Woman’s Gotta Have It

Any discussion of South Asian diaspora music is incomplete without a mention of this band. Cornershop began with brothers Avtar and Tijinder Singh and their friends in Leicester, England, in 1991. The name comes from a stereotype that South Asians run convenience stores (corner shops). 

Their music often touches on the racism experienced by South Asian Britons and takes pride in South Asian culture. Their hit single, “Brimful of Asha” mentions famous Hindi music artists like Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, and they have several songs that reference anti-immigrant sentiments. In their early days, the band even burnt photos of Morrissey in protest of his racist anti-immigrant stances. 

With their innovative combination of indie rock, South Asian music and EDM, the band quickly rose to mainstream success in Britain’s pop music industry. For a brief moment in 1998, Fatboy Slim’s remix of “Brimful of Asha” was more popular than Celine Dion. Their album, “When I Was Born for the 7th Time” went double platinum later that year. While Cornershop’s peak was in the ‘90s, the band remains an icon of South Asian representation in the alternative rock and indie scenes well into the 21st century. 

Favorite Song: 6 A.M. Jullandar Shere – Woman’s Gotta Have It

The Kominas

“I don’t want assimilation, I just wanna blow sh*t up!” – Blow Sh*t Up – Wild Nights at Guantanamo Bay

In 2004, Pakistani-American punk band, The Kominas, began making provocative, borderline-offensive head-bangers in response to the rising Islamophobia in the United States and the beginning of “forever-wars” in the Middle East. Their 2008 debut album, Wild Nights at Guantanamo Bay, endlessly satirizes racist white Americans and the Muslim-American community alike. 

Their music is diverse, spanning from more traditional ‘70s punk in their debut, to psychedelic rock, reggae, and surf rock by their final album.

While they eventually pivoted away from overtly Islamic references in their music, they never stopped being political, with their final studio album, “Stereotype”, released in 2015, returning to their satirical roots, and their final release, “The Systems are Down EP”, released on September 11, 2019, declaring “immigrants are welcome here!” 

The band is credited with spearheading the Taqwacore genre – Muslim punk – first conceptualized in a novel by Michael Muhammad Knight. Knight has said the genre “aims the middle finger in both directions”.

Favorite Song: No One Gonna Honor Kill My Baby (But Me) – Kominas 

SVDP

“Six million ways to die special / A life time of pain I can’t let go / With my demons, shit I still wrestle” – Die Iconic 2

Shan Vincent de Paul (SVDP) is a Eelam Tamil-Canadian rapper and director. Growing up on Outkast and DMX in Brampton, Vincent de Paul was no stranger to rap and released his debut album, “Saviours” in 2016, which garnered him a lot of attention. Vincent de Paul’s lightning-fast delivery is at first overwhelming, but then becomes endlessly fascinating as the listener is invited to share in the determination behind every carefully-crafted bar. His music has always been highly political, drawing from his experiences as a Sri Lankan Tamil genocide survivor, a Christian, and a brown immigrant. 

While it’s hard to pick just one, his most political track might be One Hundred Thousand Flowers, a powerful declaration of rage and grief over everything that was lost in the genocide. It appears on his most recent album, Made in Jaffna, a deeply personal project described as his “magnum opus”.  

Favorite Song: Die Iconic 2 – Made in Jaffna

Priya Ragu

“Never heard a Tamil like this, yeah, yeah / They never wanna see us godly / Devis and maharanis / ‘Bout to flip the script” – Kamali – damnshestamil

Priya Ragu is a Tamil-Swiss artist. Her “Raguwavy” style is super unique, employing elements of pop, R&B, rap/hip-hop, Carnatic classical, and Tamil folk. With her genre-bending, culture-mixing sound, I consider her the inheritor of M.I.A. ‘s title of the female Tamil English-language artist. What sets Priya Ragu apart from other musicians is the effortless nostalgic quality to her music. Primarily focusing on themes about childhood, family, love and with her soulful voice and soft R&B beats, she taps into both the South Asian and Western parts of our childhoods to make them one. 

Despite growing up surrounded by Tamil music, the 38-year-old artist did not pursue music until her debut album, damnshestamil, which was made in collaboration with her brother and parents. Also a descendant of Sri Lankan Tamil genocide survivors, she displays a deep commitment to political causes in her music, and performed her anti-police brutality singles, “Black Goose” and “Let Me Breathe”, at COLORS in 2023.

Favorite Song: Adalam Va! – Santhosham

Pinkshift

“Closing doors is what I’m used to / Shutting down is what I’m meant to do / Right in here we’re safe and sound / In a place that lasts forever” – to me, suraksha

When Ashrita Kumar, Paul Vallejo, and Myron Houngbedji began playing music together at Johns Hopkins University, they quickly realized what they had was special. Inspired by pop-punk legends My Chemical Romance and Paramore, they dropped out of university to pursue their new project, Pinkshift. After their pop-punk single, “i’m gonna tell my therapist on you” blew up in 2020, the band’s sound shifted to harder rock, with their debut album, Love Me Forever (2022), employing metal screams and harsher drums. Recently, Kumar, the vocalist has come out as nonbinary and the band has begun exploring Kumar’s Indian heritage through their music. Their 2023 EP, suraksha (what I consider their best work) begins with a rendition of the “Om Asatoma Sadgamaya” mantra in Sanskrit, and the rest of the album combines their usual emo rock with occasional Hindustani instrumentals to tell a story of alienation and homecoming. 

Favorite song: home – suraksha EP

Raja Kumari

“Daughter of the king American dream / fir bhi dil mein hai hindustani! (but in my heart I’m still Hindustani!)” – City Slums (feat. DIVINE)

When I watched Netflix’s “Arcane” and the fire hip hop track, “Renegade (We Never Run)” began playing over a fight scene, I sat up in my seat: somehow I could tell an Indian worked on it. It’s this uniquely diasporic blend of hip-hop and Hindustani that makes up Indian-American rapper Raja Kumari’s music. Being one of the top rappers in India, she often works on the soundtrack  on s for popular Bollywood movies such as “Jawan” (2023) and “Zero” (2018), rapping both in Hindi and English. Her solo work is mostly in English and explores her experiences as a member of the Indian American diaspora. Her early music pokes fun at the awkwardness of not fitting in, and her new indie album, “The Bridge” dives deeper into her dual identity and spirituality. 

Favorite Song: City Slums (feat. DIVINE) 

dhruv

“The coffee here’s better / Days smooth around their edges / A dream but I confess it isn’t mine” – California Winter – Private Blizzard

Certainly the most popular person on this list, indie pop sensation Dhruv Sharma (dhruv) broke out into popularity in 2022 through TikTok with his debut single, “double take”. His music is a nostalgic exploration of love and grief. With soft beats, varied instrumentals, and intimatevocals, dhruv brings his audience into his world, not quite masking the pain but learning to live with it. His debut studio album, “Private Blizzard”, named after a Margaret Atwood poem, explores these themes of turbulence and past heartbreak and ends by pulling us out of the darkness into a hopeful future. 

Growing up in Singapore with very little access to queer community, dhruv noted a feeling of loneliness that he channeled into his music.

In a time when queerness is still highly stigmatized around the world, it’s nice to see a South Asian queer man who writes about queer experiences grow so successful as a music artist. In multiple interviews, dhruv has expressed surprise at being celebrated in an industry that often erases people like him, and a desire to spotlight more marginalized artists in the future.  

Favorite Song: One and Only – Private Blizzard