Ranjani Ramadoss, going by her artist name RANJ, is an emerging artist in the Indian RnB, hip hop and indie scene. Fueled by bilingual lyrics in English and Tamil, RANJ’s music is a fierce and original female voice much needed in a male-centric space.
Her latest album is a 27-track mixtape titled 27 Club (2026), released by Azadi Records, following Antihero (2023) and other singles.
While the title nods to a romanticized and ‘dark’ trope of the troubled artist (several famous names have died at the age of 27), the artist behind this record is here to make some good trouble and turn heads.
“I feel like R&B is a kind of music that actually makes a lot of sense to Indians because something about it is really satisfying. It is kind of vocal-centric, but it's not so gimmicky. It's more subtle and emotional,” she says.
In her two studio albums, RANJ defies expectations and explores her identity. She is not just there to fill the ‘female artist’ slot on an app, but a versatile artist conveying many moods and ideas in her music, refusing to shrink for anyone.
“It's really exciting that I'm able to say the things that I really want to say, which are sometimes controversial, sometimes bold, or sometimes, yeah, just a deeper thought, which is still resonating. And I feel like it's resonating more than the fun and easy things I used to say.”
RANJ’s melodies and words, "married" as they are, present themselves as upbeat, sensual, moody, exciting, thoughtful and sometimes sad. This is a place she has arrived at after an initiation through Eminem, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj that branched out into alternative and experimental forms of hip hop.
RANJ foregrounds her identity in her music, which in itself is a statement in an Indian cultural context where women are often accessorized but seldom centred.
The reclamation of her body and sexuality is an expressive and provocative challenge, doing the essential artistic work of disrupting the consensus on what can and should be said.
Songs like ‘8 Oz. Of Pussy Juice’ and ‘Cheat Day’ are not simply titled for attention. Instead, they are performed with authenticity and delivery that asserts womanhood both personal and generational.
And then there is the smooth interplay of her bilingualism through English and Tamil lyrics, such as in the song ‘Uridhi Mozhigal,’ something that spills over into her aesthetic and fashion as an artist.
“I like to always dress like dress up like in a mixture of things. And whether it's in the jewellery or something [else], I always try to express and include Tamil elements to what I'm doing,” she says.
The vision and intention for her artistic brand is brought to life by carefully chosen collaborations: artists, stylists, photographers, and most importantly, producers.
Her latest album has an extensive track list and roster of talented producers, from Cliffr, Talal Qureshi and Fraape, to Dhanji, Tienas, Plvcebo, Raj and Pranay Parti, seeing them as “producers who I really care about and think their sound is something special that I can really add to it and make it something sick.”
Thus, the record is a collective voice, offering a slice of the Indian RnB scene that is musically solid and accessible. It draws on the jazz and blues roots of the genre while keeping it fresh yet familiar with strong echoes of SZA, Doechii, Doja Cat, Cardi B., Jhené Aiko and Kali Uchis, among others.
RANJ says her music is a homage to hip hop that also announces her presence in the fray.
"It's giving so many people a voice. It's giving us a place in international discussions in like universal pop culture, which we've always needed. So I think it's amazing because we have a lot, a lot of stories to tell. And hip hop is just the whole reason that I started rapping is that I'm a big fan of poetry, [which] is huge in India."
With earworms like ‘Both Ways,’ ‘People Like That,’ ‘Cheat Day,’ and ‘WWYD’ in her latest record and grittier tracks like ‘Gemini Type,’ ‘Therapy,’ and the title song of Antihero, Ranjani Ramadoss is an artist you can’t afford to sleep on. But right now, she is taking a break to get ready for her next moves.
“I'm taking a little bit of a break, just, you know, making sure that I have something good to say before I jump into the next release. But I've been working on a lot of Tamil music for a while, so I'm really excited to figure out what's the best way to release that, because it's a very unique sound, it's a very unique voice,” she says.
