Prithika Pathmanathan, known professionally as Pritt, is a Danish-born, UK-based Tamil singer songwriter and radio show presenter on BBC Asian Network. [1] Pritt is the first Tamil woman to have been named as one of 8 Future Sounds artists for BBC Asian Network. [2]
Pritt describes herself as an "Eelam Tamil" girl based in South London, and her style as "East meets West." Her songs combine western R&B elements with traditional Tamil carnatic elements and South Asian musical styles. [3] Throughout the early 2020s Pritt's cover of a 2007 hit Tamil song by Rohini, Bombay Jayashri and Harris Jayaraj called Unakkul Naane went viral on social media, most notably on the online video sharing platform TikTok. She had decided to cover Unakkul Naane in celebration of her parents' 25 year wedding anniversary. Her cover of Unakkul Naane, released in 2021 in colabboration with producer and fellow UK-based Tamil artist Dilush Selva (also stylised dilushselva). It quickly went viral after release, and then again in 2025, amassing over 22 million views on YouTube alone, and over 93 million streams. [4] [5]
Prithika was born in Denmark by Sri Lankan Tamil parents. She first started performing at age 2, when her mum noticed her singing abilities. Despite this, she has mentioned having to overcome hurdles when it came to getting her parents' approval for a career in music. [6] During her childhood she and her family moved to the UK, and she is now based in South London. Pritt quit her job in retail to pursue music full-time amid the Covid-19 pandemic. [7] In 2021 Pritt became a radio show presenter on BBC Asian Network. [8]
Pritt has talked about the difficulties Tamil artists face in the Western world, with many people in the music industry not understanding her identity and wanting her to present herself as black or Indian. However, rather than bowing to their demands, Pritt has extensively drawn from her Tamil roots in her music. Her songs often feature the Tamil language, and music videos often involve both Tamil actors and crew.
Her womanhood and Tamil identity, and the intersection of those identities, are often explored in her music through releases like Identity (2020), and Pritt has strived to be a positive role model for young Tamil women worldwide. [6] Pritt blends elements of her personal life with music, using childhood photos or wedding pictures for album covers and music videos. Her motivation for recording her hit cover of Unakkul Naane came from a conversation with her dad a couple months before her parents' anniversary. His fondness of the songs in the film Pachaikili Muthucharam, most notably the original Unakkul Naane, led Pritt to decide to make a cover for their anniversary, to play in the car with her parents. [7]
Pritt's debut release is named Deja Vu and came out in 2017. Her first Album, Transparency, released in 2020. [9]
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