Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel (born 20 December 1983), better known by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

Aaradhna, is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, and musical recording artist. She made her musical debut in 2004 featuring on the single "Getting Stronger" with the group Adeaze which peaked at number one on the official

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), 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 M ...

Early years

Aaradhna is a New Zealander of Samoan and Indian descent. Her father Jayanti Patel is an Indian from

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, Gujarat,

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

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'', 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 ...

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 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 in late 2006 titled ''Love Declaration''. The song features on Mac's album '' Panic Room''. In Australia the single reached No. 31 on the local charts.

2008–present

Her album '' Sweet Soul Music'', a throw-back to the soul classics including

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

cover " I Want You Back" was released on

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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. 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 ...

, 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
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Samoan Bios: Aaradhna

Aaradhna
on

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{{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 21st-century New Zealand women singers People educated at Porirua College