Dawning upon a new age of Singhala pop

Ranidu Lankage is the undisputed icon of Sinhalese RnB and hip hop who has captured the imagination of the Sri Lankan masses with his breathtaking voice and enigmatic compositions.

He is also the individual who has single handedly taken the genre of Sinhalese RnB/ pop to new and never before seen heights in the international arena. Ranidu is the first Sinhalese artist to be played on the venerated Radio1 of the BBC and also the creator of the first Sinhalese single to be played on MTV, channel V and Z music India.

In the past four years Ranidu has produced an incessant array of hits that has revolutionized the Sri Lankan music industry and has left his competition behind in a cloud of dust.

Lankage's first single Oba magemai set the standard in new age Sinhalese pop and became an instant hit on the radio charts scoring no1's on all Sinhalese radio and Video charts which included Hiru top 40, Rasa risi gee, Sithgath gee etc .

With the release of the album Oba magemai in 2003 Ranidu also became the youngest Sri Lankan artist to be signed by an international record label. (Sony music India).

Ranidu followed the success of his first single with 4 top 20 hits, namely Obe ath allagena, Sinasenna, Kandulen midee and Sadaa. Although the album became wildly popular and was one of the top selling albums in Sri Lanka, Ranidu was not going to stop there.

He went back in the studio in the summer of 2003 to create one of the masterpieces of New age Sri Lankan music, namely, the album "Diviyapura/ All my life" which included the monster hit "Ahankara Nagare".

With its release in the summer of 2004 the single "Ahankara Nagare" became an instant mega phenomenon. The song captivated the hearts and minds of young and old alike in Sri Lanka and became undoubtedly the biggest original Sri Lankan single to come out in the past decade.

The song climbed to the top of the charts within days and gave Ranidu unprecedented fame and recognition within Sri Lanka. However, one of the biggest breaks in Ranidu's career came when Ahankara Nagare charted on the BBC's official Asian Music chart.

This led to many astonishing achievements in the following year which included Ahankara nagare becoming the first Sinhalese single to be included in an internationally distributed compilation, namely, Essential Asian RnB, which included songs by Asian music titans such as Raghav, Jay Sean, Rishi Rish, Punjabi Hit squad and Beenie man.

Following this achievement Ranidu headed to Australia to perform at the world renowned Sydney opera house in March of 2005 and galvanized the Australian audience with an electric performance.

Next came the inclusion of Ahankara on the 'Asian Flavas' compilation on HOM records in India.

This also resulted in the track becoming the fist song to be played on MTV India, Zee music and Channel V. In fact, Ahankara went to top the weekly video chart on Zee music. Ranidu followed up this unprecedented success with another banging single titled "Kelle" which once again charted on the BBC Asian Chart and received rave reviews and world wide airplay. With this Ranidu's album Diyiyapura became one of the most successful albums by a Sri Lankan artist of all time.

Capping off a phenomenal year was the astonishing success of the Album 'Iraj', a project which featured 3 tracks by Ranidu, namely, "Ninda noyana handawe", "Madumathiye" and "Playas lounge". Ninda noyana which was composed and sung by Ranidu was the most popular love ballad to come out in 2005 and will be a song that lives on in the hearts of the people for many years to come.

Ranidu also embarked on his first major tour in Sri Lanka in the summer of 2005 and as expected all shows were a massive success.

This was not an end point for Ranidu as he once again collaborated with Iraj to come up with what is currently Sri Lanka's top selling Single " Mata Aloke Genadevi Sansaraye". Once again this track resulted in international success for Ranidu with the song airing on the BBC radio1, Asian network and 1 Xtra and also being aired on all Sri Lankan and Indian music TV channels.

Aloke was also included in the Bombay Bronx compilation by the BBC's superstar DJ and Ranidu and Iraj's mentor DJ Nihal. Ranidu also appeared on the Adil Ray show of the BBC's Asian network to promote the singles inclusion in the main play list of the station.

After all this success one might think what next for Ranidu?

Being a true musician committed to his art Ranidu has kept his hunger for improving himself and creating better music going. His self titled 3rd album will undoubtedly once again push the musical envelope and revolutionize Sri Lankan music especially through the introduction of Sinhalese Neo Soul, Asian hip hop and raga music.

It is also the first time that Sri Lankan music has been blended with American and Carribian style Rap. Ranidu as always sang all vocals on this album and produced all tracks.

This once again showcases how amazingly talented this young artist is in all aspects of the music industry. Ranidu is collaborating with many artists on this album including Iraj, West coast Rapper Delon, Anson of the DID Crew from Trinidad, Holee Smokez and the MDT crew from New york, Yohan Rakapakse, Yauwanan, Ranga D (The god) and many more.

A song from the 3rd album, dubbed "Herde Keniththuwa" produced by iraj, was the theme for the movie Anjalika which, was released in April of 2006.

The first official single Paa salamba sala- ft Anson was released on Radio1 and BBC Asian network in December 2006 and was the first Sinhalese single to be on the "A" list of the Asian network.

Lyrics for the album were provided by the usual suspects Bandula Nanayakkarawasam, Chanaka Jayasekera, Kelum Shreemal, Vasantha Dukgannarala and a childhood friend of Ranidu's Anuradha Uduwage.

Ranidu along with Iraj and the crew are planning a tour of the US, Canada, Australia, Dubai, Cyprus and the UK. With all this activity 2007 seems to be another record breaking year for Sri Lanka's biggest RnB pop sensation.

Other Facts about Ranidu- the Role Model for young Sri Lankans

1. Student of Royal College Colombo.

2. Achieved 9 Distinctions at G.C.E O/L Examination 1997.

3. Ranked 4th in the whole of Sri Lanka, No 3 Colombo District and No1 at Royal College in the G.C.E A/L Examination 2000.

4. Only the 7th Sri Lankan ever to attend Yale University (Top 3 University in the world) on a full scholarship.

5. Represented Sri Lanka in Squash at the Asian Junior Championships and Represented Royal College in Cricket, Swimming and Rugby.

6. One of 12 students selected by a leading Wall Street firm into their Capital Markets program from the whole of the USA.

7. Member of an Elite Senior Society at Yale that inducts only 8 male Students based on their achievements and contribution to student life at Yale.

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The above facts are only a snippet of what Ranidu has achieved in such a short period of time. Most people in the world let alone Sri Lankans have not come close to achieving such amazing feats in their entire lifespan. It has been included to showcase the versatility and brilliance of an individual that has largely remained unknown due to his modesty.