Ridi
Ridi’s love for music started when she was about 8 years old – Apart from the usual running around the house screaming melodies at the top of her lungs at that age, her formal training started in classical music/& jazz, later combining that with opera lessons when she was older, before finally turning to pop music. “I always enjoyed playing around with melodies, and when I had feelings to vent I wrote in a diary (like most teens). I suppose the hard injustices I felt recently, pushed me into using all my musical training to finally make my own lyrics & song for my debut Single ’Top Guy’. I don’t think I could ever sing somebody else’s lyrics now, as that would be like singing somebody else’s heart.”
Listening to her music, you’d be forgiven for thinking the European singer of Indian descent is older. Un-content with the superficial, the star uses her voice to tackle themes of inclusivity, in the belief that music should be for everyone, challenging traditional media’s catering to a “popular” audience. “Top Guy is an extremely personal song to me and I’m glad that it’s my debut single. I went through a difficult time when I was kicked out of the old school in which I had spent my past 6 years, because I stood up for myself and spoke out against the harassment I was facing. I guess the fact that I felt so much oppression and injustice pushed me to vent out my feelings in this song. Being young, sometimes it feels like everyone around you has a say in your life, and has a right to judge you (even if they’re not always correct) & make life changing judgements about your life…simply because they can. I hope that people that listen to Top Guy can feel that I stand with them through my music, and that the best thing you can do is not give a shit about what other people say and in the end, it’s still you who has full control! Just keep doing & being your best & shout back out even louder!”
Ridi’s experiences of studying at a Swiss boarding school during her junior and middle school years made her recognise the social pressures that teens feel, of fitting into a society which categorises generic themes of what is accepted as cool, disbarring all individuality to be looked upon as differences. “My next song, which follows more of a pop/rock dance feel talks about how you do not need to conform to any one else expectations, even though its normal to feel insecure at times & its hard to be yourself when everything you see tells you you’re not enough. Having music that talks about these emotions, I feel is really important, as most teens do feel this way. You don’t need to have a perfect body, or have a boy/girl friend to be happy, but everybody is made to believe, that they don’t ‘fit in’ if they don’t have that. But I think we are at the age where we are just discovering what ‘perfect’ is to us and a generic meaning of ‘happiness’ or ‘perfection’ should not be drilled into us. I mean the closest thing to perfect in my life is a bar of chocolate! It’s hard to speak all this when you are regarded as an outcast for simple things such as enjoying chemistry class haha!.”
It’s these unifying themes that puts Ridi directly amongst her fans, as she taps into the universal human experience with a fun, new sound. Themes as old as art, presented through a fresh, Gen Z perspective.
Beyond her music, Ridi has combated these troubles through the ‘Stop the B’ campaign, co-created with her sister Vasundhara. In this work, Ridi shines a spotlight on the the fact that it doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, anyone can face oppression. Through the campaign, she has promoted awareness around the issue, encouraging people to identify social & emotional bullying behaviours & become ‘active bystanders’ and to engage actively in combating the problem, alongside encouraging survivors to share their stories and come out of the negative stigma attached to talking about feeling victimized, or being afraid to be different. Her campaign has earned her the endorsements of footballer Ronaldinho, world renowned independent academics, and an invitation to speak at a UNESCO world anti-bullying forum in Sweden this November (Ridi being the youngest ever, of the speakers and peers).
When she’s not creating music or campaigning against the dangers of bullying, Ridi is an active and engaged student with a love for STEM and aspirations of engineering. While deriving a different sense of satisfaction from her creative work, Ridi’s academic pursuits challenge traditional female pop-star stereotypes. The artist lives her life in a way that shows you can be a glamorous, bold, pop star while still being yourself. Ridi makes music for everyone. Stay tuned as there is more in stall for Ridi’s music fans “We have lots planned later on in the year- I plan on releasing/doing an EP by this October, and can’t wait to show everyone more of my music. I would love to get my songs done before school term starts as let’s not forget, ultimately I’m still a student and university applications are just around the corner!”
Ridi continues her work to curate a space of inclusivity with her upcoming EP, and its accompanying music videos. With lyrics and melody written straight from her heart , the young singer and songwriter hopes her music will tackle some of humanity’s most unifying themes while moving through Pop Rock/ dance feel with all of Ridi’s distinct flair while still maintaining human-ness to her actions and words as she tells us with ease “I’m actually just a lil’ bit awkward ” – Ridi.