Lady Kash

Lady Kash
Lady Kash
Background information
Birth name	Kalaivani Nagaraj
Born	c. 1990
Origin	Singapore
Genres	Hip Hop, Rap, Film Soundtrack
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Songwriter, Record Executive, Creative Entrepreneur
Years active	2007 – present
Labels	AKASHIK
Website	www.ladykashonline.com

Lady Kash is a rapper-songwriter from Singapore.^[1] She has worked with composers such as A. R. Rahman to Yuvan Shankar Raja, Anirudh Ravichander, Santhosh Narayanan, Harris Jayaraj and Thaman S.

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In 2013, Lady Kash launched the independent label and creative company AKASHIK to provide indie-centric artiste and label services, as well as distribution and publishing. In 2018, she released the original bilingual hip-hop song "Villupaattu"^[2] that took the ancient art form to the world and elevated the once forgotten female Villupaattu artiste "Poongani Amma" to limelight.^[3]^[4]

In 2023, she became the first artist to take Tamizh rap to Hollywood when the hip-hop single “Two Cents” was chosen to be synchronized for Episode 9 of the fourth and final season of Netflix comedy-drama series ‘Never Have I Ever’,^[5] created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher.

Kalaivani Nagaraj was born in Singapore. When she was a teenager, she moved to India to pursue her studies.^[6] She began her journey as a rapper and songwriter in the entertainment industry in 2007.

In 2010, she wrote and recorded with A. R. Rahman in the debut soundtrack "Irumbile Oru Irudhaiyam^[7]" for the blockbuster movie Enthiran. The song went on to become the first Tamil soundtrack album to enter and top iTunes US/UK Charts.^[8]

In the anthem for World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, "Semmozhiyaana Thamizh Mozhiyaam",^[9] she became the youngest and the only female rapper to record for what became the modern-day anthem of the Tamizh language.

In January 2014, Lady Kash made her debut in Bollywood by writing and recording for the soundtrack "Wanna Mashup" composed by A. R. Rahman for the film Highway. The film directed by Imtiaz Ali starred Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda.^[10]

July 2016 saw two back-to-back releases for Lady Kash. The first is "Naam Hai Futsal" - the official Premier Futsal anthem composed by A. R. Rahman with vocals by A. R. R himself, Virat Kohli, Lady Kash, and Karthik. The second, her rendition of Kabali's "Neruppu Da," which went viral and amassed over 1 million views in two weeks, was released on 14 July. The track was powered by AKASHIK in conjunction with Think Music India.^[11]

On A. R. Rahman's 50th birthday in 2017, Lady Kash released a one-take video for a medley titled "Rap Smash" which featured rap hits from the composer. She also released a rework of Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" in support of the #MeToo movement. Currently focusing on original music, the rapper has been putting out singles including "I Told You So" in February 2018 and "Villupaattu" on March 29, 2018, which is also her birthday. The song was dedicated to the elderly dancer Poongani, whom Lady Kash visited.^[12]

In 2021, she was a participant in the Tamil edition of reality show Survivor, which was filmed and relayed from Tanzania, East Africa. The program was executed by TV Network Zee Tamil and producers Banijay Asia.^[13] She later admitted the executives did not pay attention to the contestants when some of them got sick with COVID.^[14]^[15]

She has performed in Canada, Switzerland, UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai, and India.^[16] In 2014's Infinite Love concert tour by Oscar Winner A. R. Rahman, she also performed "Irumbile Oru Irudhaiyam" with A.R. Rahman. More concert tours with A. R. Rahman include her 2016 performances of "Rap War" at A. R. Rahman's Nenje Ezhu concert tour series (Chennai, Coimbatore & Madurai) and "Rap War 2.0" at A. R. Rahman Live in Dubai 2017.

The "Rap War" performance was the first of its kind concert exclusive ever made in the Indian music industry, and quickly went on to garner much popularity when the video was uploaded around the world. In 2017, she performed at Canada's largest south-Asian music festival, desiFEST in Yonge-Dundas Square. She also performed twice with Anirudh Ravichander during his first concert in Singapore in 2014 and the 2016 edition.^[17]