Dinesh Kanagaratnam

Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam (born 31 August 1981), also known by his initials A. D. K. or simply Dinesh Kanagaratnam, is a Sri Lankan R&B and hip hop artist and music producer who has composed tracks in Tamil language. He also often collaborates with music directors in Tamil cinema as a playback singer.

Early life and career

Dinesh was born in Badulla and raised in Modara, Sri Lanka. He studied information technology (IT) in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India and started teaching IT courses in Sri Lanka. He began working with local musicians part-time to pursue his growing interest in music. In 2004, he was given a chance by Bathiya, an artist in Sri Lanka and started recording rap songs until he was discovered by Vijay Antony. He collaborated with him for the song "Aathichudi" for the soundtrack of the film TN 07 AL 4777 (2008) in 2009 which is a remake of Surangani, a song from his first independent album, Tamizha (2008). Back in Sri Lanka, he did a cross-culture album in 2005 which includes songs in Tamil, Sinhala and English.

His next throughout in cinema industry was "Magudi", which was his first collaboration with A. R. Rahman for the Mani Ratnam-directed film Kadal (2013). He was featured along with Anirudh Ravichander for the song "Mun Sellada" in the film Manithan (2016), composed by Santhosh Narayanan. Kanagaratnam and rapper Sri Rascol formed a record label called Rap Machines and have done other rap musics.

He continued to work in Tamil and Telugu cinema, writing and performing English language rap for soundtracks, including the title track "Maayon" in Mersal (2017) composed by A. R. Rahman, the song "Gala Gala" featured with Megha from Race Gurram composed by S. Thaman and also a background score (which had been deleted later) in Nerkonda Paarvai. He also worked in 2.0 (2018). Kanagaratnam has joined concert tours in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, India, Malaysia and Singapore. He is well known for his rap battles at every A. R. Rahman concert tours alongside Lady Kash and Blaaze. In January 2019, Kanagaratnam performed with Bathiya and Santhush at Oba Nisa in Sri Lanka. In March 2024, Kanagaratnam organized and performed at the "Rap Indie" concert held at the Indigo at The O2 in London, a major showcase for independent Tamil hip-hop artists. Around this time, he also established his own production company, Madhouse Production, and launched a merchandise line called Madhouse Drops.

Discography

Albums Year Album Song(s) Composer Ref 2005 Cross Culture "Naan Sonnal" Dinesh Kanagaratnam 2007 "Cross Culture" 2012 Aaryan "Goka Pearu" "Kuruvi" "Hollaback Muniamma" "You Ate My Money"

Independent tracks Year Song(s) Composer Ref 2009 "Nagara Vaytai" Shabir "Kuruvi" Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Charles Bosco 2015 "Uyir Poo" Deyo 2016–present "AYM Tribute" D Navigator "Vellai Poove" Deyo "Maayavi" Deyo "Pudhiya Era" D Navigator "Hollaback Muaniamma 2" 2017 "Yeanadi Penne" Chamath Sangeeth 2018 "Kannaley Kollathey" Puven 2019 "Poraali" Ash "2.0 X Petta Mashup" AllanPreetham

Playback singing

Composer 18 Vayasu (2012)

Television Year Show Role Channel Notes2022-2023 Bigg Boss (Tamil season 6) Contestant Star Vijay Sacrificed Day 98