Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel (born 20 December 1983), better known by her stage name Aaradhna, is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musical recording artist. She made her musical debut in 2004 featuring on the single "Getting Stronger" with the group

Adeaze Adeaze are a New Zealand R&B/soul duo comprising brothers Nainz and Viiz Tupai. The group's debut album, ''Always and for Real'', was released in 2004 and topped the album chart in New Zealand. History Brought up playing music in the church, t ...

which peaked at number one on the official

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

Biography

Early years

Aaradhna is a New Zealander of Samoan and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent. Her father Jayanti Patel is an Indian from

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is situated between Surat & Mumbai. Navsari is a twin city of Surat. It is located 37 km south of Sura ...

, Gujarat,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and her mother Sia'a Patel is Samoan from the villages of PapaSataua, Falealupo-uta & Auala. Aaradhna is the eldest of five. She first showed singing aspirations at the young age of 11, singing along with her mother to traditional Samoan and country songs. She would try to imitate the songs she heard in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

movies that she and her father watched and also went to festivals that her father performed at. Aaradhna began writing her own music at the age of 11; she entered her first talent quest at the age of 13 making it into the finals. She joined the school choir at Porirua College had got kicked out for rebelling, but went on to form a five piece girl group called "Lovera".

Career

Her debut album ''

I Love You I Love You, I Love U, or I Luv U may refer to: Film and television Films * ''I Love You'' (1918 film), a silent drama written by Catherine Carr * ''I Love You'' (1925 film), a German silent drama film * ''I Love You'' (1938 film) a German ...

'', entered the top 20

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded M ...

and has various songs featured on feature films including the top 5 single " They Don't Know" featuring New Zealand hip-hop star Savage on

Sione's Wedding ''Sione's Wedding'' (also marketed outside New Zealand as ''Samoan Wedding'') is a 2006 New Zealand comedic film directed by Chris Graham and written by James Griffin and Oscar Kightley, and produced by South Pacific Pictures. Plot Set in Au ...

and had also had another feature on the movie ''It's a Free World'' with her original song "Faith". Aaradhna released a club-inspired song alongside Australian producer, DJ & artist

Paul Mac Paul Francis McDermott (born 17 September 1965), who performs as Paul Mac, is an Australian electropop musician, singer-songwriter, producer and music re-mixer. He was classically trained at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Mac has formed variou ...

in late 2006 titled ''Love Declaration''. The song features on Mac's album ''

Panic Room ''Panic Room'' is a 2002 American thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter whose new home is invaded by burglars, played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoaka ...

''. In Australia the single reached No. 31 on the local charts.

2008–present

Her album ''

Sweet Soul Music "Sweet Soul Music" is a soul song, first released by Arthur Conley in 1967. Written by Conley and Otis Redding, it is based on the Sam Cooke song "Yeah Man" from his posthumous album '' Shake''; the opening riff is a quote from Elmer Bernstein's ...

'', a throw-back to the soul classics including

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

cover "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

" was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

and various music stores in New Zealand on 14 February 2008 coinciding with Valentine's Day. In 2011 she began working on her third studio album under

Dawn Raid Entertainment Dawn Raid Entertainment is a record label based in Papatoetoe, South Auckland, in New Zealand. It has signed many New Zealand Hip-hop and R&B artists such as Savage, Adeaze, Aaradhna, The Deceptikonz, Devolo and Ill Semantics. The founders ...

. She released the single "Wake Up" in August 2012, and the album ''Treble & Reverb'' was later released in November. Patel's fourth studio album titled ''Brown Girl'' was released in July 2016. The album explored her own experience of casual racism in New Zealand. The album debuted at number one in New Zealand and also cracked the albums chart of Switzerland.AARADHNA – BROWN GIRL (ALBUM)- Charts.org.nz
/ref> In November 2016, the performer gave away her hip-hop award at the

2016 New Zealand Music Awards The 2016 New Zealand Music Awards was the 51st holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical recording artists based in or originating from New Zealand. It took place in November 2016 at Vector Arena in Auckland and was hosted by c ...

, believing that she had "been placed in this category, because I'm brown". She opined that "you can't give a singer an award for Best Hip Hop artist".

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Featured singles

Notes

References

External links

AudioCulture profile
* *
Samoan Bios: Aaradhna

Aaradhna
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaradhna 1983 births APRA Award winners New Zealand people of Indian descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand contemporary R&B singers Dawn Raid Entertainment Living people Pacific Music Award-winning artists

Aaradhna Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel (born 20 December 1983), better known by her stage name Aaradhna, is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musical recording artist. She made her musical debut in 2004 featuring on the single "Getting Stronger" with the g ...

21st-century New Zealand women singers