{"id":1996931,"date":"2025-09-04T15:06:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T15:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1996931"},"modified":"2025-09-04T15:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T15:06:42","slug":"sid-sriram-on-reshaping-indian-playback-music-for-a-new-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/sid-sriram-on-reshaping-indian-playback-music-for-a-new-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sid Sriram on reshaping Indian playback music for a new generation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Sid Sriram isn\u2019t just a playback singer\u2014he\u2019s a phenomenon. Born in Chennai, raised in California, and trained in Carnatic music since the age of three (his mother was his first teacher), Sriram embodies what it means to live between worlds. He\u2019s been called the \u201cArijit Singh of the South,\u201d a tag he doesn\u2019t dismiss but prefers to expand beyond. His journey, as he puts it, has been \u201ckaleidoscopic\u201d\u2014a constant exploration of sound, culture, and emotion. In a conversation with <em>Cosmopolitan India<\/em>, Sriram opens up about reviving classical traditions, working with A R\u00a0Rahman, bringing Indian music to global stages, and why performing always feels like coming home.<\/p>\n<p>Sriram\u2019s career took off in 2016 when he spent six months in Chennai, forging a deep bond with the city and its people. Since then, he\u2019s lent his voice to Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam hits\u2014including the regional versions of &#8216;Kesariya&#8217;\u2014and built a reputation as one of the most soul-stirring voices of his generation. \u201cPlayback singing happened right after Berklee,\u201d he shares, reflecting on his leap from classical training to cinema.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com\/sites\/banners\/cosmopolitan\/preferred-source.html?v=1.2\" width=\"100%\" height=\"93\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"jsx-5d2898ff45f62bc6 preferred-source-banner\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Yet for Sriram, labels and comparisons are only part of the story. \u201cOne part of my pursuit growing up was spiritual\u2014the other was chasing stardom,\u201d he admits. \u201cAt some point, you lose ownership of your music, but that\u2019s also when you learn who you are as an artist.\u201d He credits Carnatic music as his foundation and his mother as his guru, saying it\u2019s his responsibility to carry the form forward with integrity. \u201cIf we take classical music into new contexts, we must do it intentionally\u2014not as a marketing gimmick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Influenced by Black gospel and jazz\u2014which he calls \u201caesthetic cousins of Carnatic music\u201d\u2014Sriram has shaped his sound into something entirely his own. He describes performing as entering a meditative state: \u201cI close my eyes on stage to tune inwards, to centre myself. My music demands hyperpresence.\u201d And when the stage lights go off? He\u2019s a cookie guy. \u201cMy go-to late-night studio snack is chocolate chip cookies,\u201d he laughs. If his voice were an ice cream flavour? \u201cRocky Road\u2014smooth, a little nutty, but with a surprise crunch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, Sid Sriram is more than just a singer; he\u2019s a bridge between cultures, languages, and generations. Whether he\u2019s performing in Hyderabad, preparing for a yet-to-be-revealed Bombay show, or dreaming of jazz concerts in Switzerland, Sriram remains committed to being a student of music\u2014always learning, always evolving. \u201cI feel like a vessel,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery day, I wake up knowing I\u2019ve just scratched the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Also read:\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.in\/fashion\/features\/photo\/midi-skirts-that-do-all-the-flirting-for-you-1269713-2025-08-30\">Midi skirts that do all the flirting for you<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Also read: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.in\/fashion\/features\/photo\/the-best-heels-flats-and-sneakers-to-wear-with-wide-leg-jeans-1272252-2025-09-04\">The best heels, flats, and sneakers to wear with wide-leg jeans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cosmopolitan.in \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sid Sriram isn\u2019t just a playback singer\u2014he\u2019s a phenomenon. Born in Chennai, raised in California, and trained in Carnatic music since the age of three (his mother was his first teacher), Sriram embodies what it means to live between worlds. He\u2019s been called the \u201cArijit Singh of the South,\u201d a tag he doesn\u2019t dismiss but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1996932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[362088,22367,362097,362095,362098,362096,362089,362093,22914,362090,362087,362086,21800,362092,362094,362085,22361,23681,362091],"class_list":["post-1996931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-carnatic","tag-celebrity","tag-cosmo","tag-cosmo-india","tag-cosmopolitan","tag-cosmopolitan-india","tag-global-stages","tag-influence","tag-interview","tag-labels","tag-mark","tag-meaning","tag-music","tag-patience","tag-santya-ahuja","tag-sid-sriram","tag-singer","tag-songs","tag-spiritual"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sid-Sriram-on-reshaping-Indian-playback-music-for-a-new.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1996931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1996932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1996931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1996931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1996931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}