Born and raised in Singapore, Lady Kash has been enamoured with poetry from a young age.

Drawn to rhythms, more than melodies, and desiring to create her own, Kash began writing them in Tamil by the age of 9.

Over the years poetry led her to rap and the award-winning artist has continued evolving her craft by immersing herself in its origins and traditions, from around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUXPeOiDnBE

She is especially driven by a desire to delve into little known, ancient Indian forms, and to create music inspired by them. Kash shared that she’s working on increasing how much she incorporates both Tamil and English into her songs, recognizing what’s gained when you use both languages, to convey all that they each can emotionally.

Much like languages, borders and boundaries are things she crosses with ease; Kash balances creating her own music, and sound, with taking on collaborations within the film industry, bringing to life the visions of the music directors she works with.

Fast forward to 2017 and she has now been in the music industry for 10 years, and will be hitting the stage at Toronto’s desiFEST for the very first time on June 3rd.

The first decade of her journey as a solo, independent artist, has been filled with many milestones including collaborating with world renowned Maestro, A.R. Rahman, who has become an invaluable mentor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR3PbDt5Q4Q

ARR’s immense faith in her has remained a constant source of inspiration and a reminder to take each opportunity like it’s her first, and give it everything she has.

Of course there are also challenges, but Kash is adept at transforming them into opportunities.

Lacking mentors and sounding boards in an industry that is male dominated and not always keen on taking risks with something new, she turns inward to push herself to stay motivated and focused on growing as an artist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIYiEBniMv8

Endlessly curious, Kash loves dabbling in photography and videography, following her instincts when it comes to songwriting and storytelling, across mediums; mediums which are increasingly disrupting the music industry.

With the possibility of reaching the masses, with or without the support of industry influencers, Kash is excited by how much is possible in this era of music. And she’s hoping to see more female rappers come up as a result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnEjD1nPir4

Looking forward to producing her own music one day, she’s steadily building up her skillset and experiences until she can take the reins completely.

One of those experiences to look forward to is a project about villu pattu, an ancient form of story-telling, set to the music of the villu, or bow, as the primary musical instrument.

Kash has created an original song for this project, which she’ll be debuting at desiFEST when she hits the stage. Be sure to be there by 8pm on June 3rd to catch her performance.

When she returns to Chennai, where she recently relocated, Kash will be working on the visual component of her villu pattu project, travelling to the parts of India where it originated to film.

You can follow Lady Kash's journey via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

This interview was completed courtesy of AKASHIK, founded by Lady Kash, to create without labels and limits, while fostering collaborations, arts and culture.

To connect with Lady Kash’s team to learn more about her future projects, opportunities to collaborate or support, reach out to [email protected].