Dinesh Kanagaratnam

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Dinesh Kanagaratnam is an Indian rapper, who is known for working in the Tamil music industry. He has worked with many musicians including A. R. Rahman, Santhosh Narayanan, Anirudh Ravichander, Harris Jayaraj, and more.He chose ADK as his stage name as A is the initial of his first name Aaryan, D is the initial of his middle name Dinesh, and K is the initial of his last name Kanagaratnam.After studying information technology in Tamil Nadu, he worked as a web application developer in IT companies and taught IT courses in Sri Lanka. While working as a developer, he began to perform with local musicians as a part-time job.In an interview, he shared how he developed an interest in music while working in an IT company in Colombo, Sri Lanka, he said, At 23, I was working in an IT company in Colombo, and there was a musician called Shri, whom I got to know. He was close to a big Sri Lankan musician called Bathiya Jayakody. I got an opportunity to do some design work for their CD cover, as I was a designer too. It was interesting, there I was, this guy with zero musical knowledge, no training, nor any background in the field. It took me about 2 years to groom myself before I began my career as a singer. I used to just sing hooks and choruses for my friends’ rap songs, but I wasn’t doing a good job.” [5]Varnam.In an interview, he talked about how he got influenced to write his own raps in Tamil after seeing Malaysian rappers rapping in Tamil fluently, he said, My friends and I used to hang out in a saloon called Raja Saloon in Colombo. There, for the first time, I heard Yogi B and Natchatra’s tunes. This was my first time hearing these Malaysian rappers rapping in proper Tamil, and I was blown away. Instantly, I wanted to try my hand at it. My hurdle was that I didn’t know how to read and write Tamil at the time. But I persisted, and began writing what I felt, and it developed from there.” [6]Varnam.In 2008, he rapped in the song ‘Aathichudi’ from the 2009 Tamil film ‘TN 07 AL 4777.’ In 2014, he lent his voice to the song ‘Oh Nanba’ from the Rajinikanth starrer Tamil film “Lingaa.” Some other songs that he has worked on are ‘Showkali’ (2016), ‘Thalli Pogadhey’ (2016), ‘Vellipomaakey’ (2016), ‘Rockstar Robber’ (2019), and more.In 2012, he got a chance to work with A.R. Rahman for the first time, when he rapped in the song ‘Magudi Magudi’ from the 2012 Tamil film ‘Kadal.’ Dinesh became so popular after the release of this song that his Instagram and Facebook accounts got verified.On 3 July 2012, he released his second Tamil hip-hop album titled ‘Thamila;’ the album consisted of 13 tracks. Cover of the 2012 album ‘Thamila’.On 14 July 2012, he released his third album titled ‘Aaryan.’ Multiple singers and music artists, including Benny Dayal, Jacki B, Rabbit Mac, and Archana Sellathurai, were featured in his album. Cover of the 2012 album ‘Aaryan’.In 2019, he launched his own record label with rapper Sri Rascol ‘Rap Machines.’ He has released many single songs under his label including ‘Roar’ (2021), ‘Patchai’ (2021), ‘Rider Fighter’, (2022), ‘Thuppuran’ (2022), and ‘Paddapan’ (2022). Poster of the song ‘Paddapan’ released in 2022.