Hirandas Murali (born 25 October 1994), known professionally as Vedan, is an Indian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

from Kerala, India. He is best known for his tracks, "Kuthanthram" (from " ''Manjummel Boys''"), "Kondal Vedan Song" (from "

Kondal ''Kondal'' is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Ajith Mampally, who co-wrote with Roylin Robert and Satheesh Thonakkal, and produced by Weekend Blockbusters. The film stars Antony Varghese, alongside Raj B. Shetty, Shab ...

"), "La Vida", "Muana Loa", and "Voice of Voiceless". His songs often address themes of caste, class, and resistance, and spans both independent releases and contributions to Malayalam cinema.

Personal life

Vedan was born in

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

, Kerala. His mother is an Eelam Tamil from

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, who later migrated to

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, during the

Eelam War "Eelam War" is the name given to several phases of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE: * Sri Lankan civil war, between 1983 and 2009 * Eelam War I, between 1983 and 1987 *Eelam War II, between 1990 and 1995 *Eelam ...

. She was granted asylum by

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 subsequently given Indian citizenship by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Vedan's father, Murali, belongs to the Panaya community and is a Malayali native of Thrissur, Kerala. Vedan grew up in a Residency called Swapnabhoomi, near the Thrissur railway station.

Career

2020: Debut with “Voice of the Voiceless”

Vedan began his career in 2020 with the release of his debut music video “Voice of the Voiceless,” which addressed caste-based discrimination,

marginalization Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

, and social injustice. The video, released on YouTube, received attention for its political themes and direct lyricism, and has garnered over 17 million views. He followed it the same year with "Bhoomi", a song reflecting on global humanitarian issues, including the Syrian civil war, the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

, and the death of Aylan Kurdi.

2021–2023: Film Debut, Label deals

In 2021, Vedan made his debut in film music with the track "Narabali" from the Malayalam film “'' Nayattu''”. Later that year, he released the music video for “Vaa”, which addressed themes of caste-based oppression and the societal position of marginalized communities. The video garnered over seven million views on YouTube. He continued to grow his presence with "Social Criminal", released in 2023, a track that challenged systems of oppression on both local and global levels. That same year, Vedan signed a non-exclusive deal with the music label Mass Appeal India. He collaborated with

KSHMR Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American musician, DJ, songwriter, record producer, former rapper, and singer. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 20 ...

and Dabzee on “La Vida” featured on the album “''Karam'',” released through Mass Appeal India and Dharma Worldwide.

2024 - present: Mainstream Recognition with Manjummel Boys, Launching "Karupp Records"

In 2024, Vedan gained mainstream recognition with the track ''"Kuthanthram"'', which he co-wrote and performed for the Malayalam film ''"

Manjummel Boys ''Manjummel Boys'' is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language Survival film, survival thriller film written and directed by Chidambaram S. Poduval, Chidambaram. It is produced by Soubin Shahir, Babu Shahir and Shawn Antony under Parava Films. The film ...

''", composed by Sushin Shyam. The song received widespread attention alongside the success of the film and accumulated over 50 million streams. He followed this with ''Kondal'' (2024) for the film ''Kondal'', ''Veeran'' for the film ''"

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

"'' and ''Maranathin Niram'' for the film '' "No Way Out". '' His most recent film contribution is ''Va Veda'' (2025) for the movie "'' Narivetta".'' He was also featured in the song ''Kisses in the Clouds'' from the critically acclaimed movie ''All We Imagine as Light'' (2024). In May 2024, Vedan launched Karupp Records, an independent record label aimed at promoting and supporting underrepresented artists. Since its beginning, the label has signed several talents. Alongside his film works, Vedan continued to release independent tracks that explored a range of themes. Later In 2024, he released ''Theruvinte Mon,'' a song rooted in street life and resistance. In 2025, he surprised his listeners with ''Mauna Loa'', a love themed song that was widely appreciated and showed a new side to his music. Released through Mass Appeal India, it became his fastest track to surpass 10 million streams.

Controversies

Sexual abuse

In 2021, Vedan was allegedly accused of sexual misconduct by a few women via a post that was shared on a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page as part of the

MeToo movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

. However, there were no formal legal cases that progressed.

Drug activities and the possession of protected wildlife assets

On 28 April 2025, Vedan and eight others were arrested by the Kerala Excise Department for alleged possession of approximately six grams of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

at a flat in Kochi. During a search of his residence, authorities discovered a tiger tooth pendant, which had been gifted to him by a Sri Lankan national he met through Instagram. Following this, the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department took him into custody under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act. After a case was registered against Vedan for alleged possession of a tiger tooth, a resident of

filed a separate complaint against actor and politician

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Minister of Tourism since June 2024. He was ele ...

, alleging that he was also in possession of a pendant featuring a

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

tooth. Possession of such items is considered a non-bailable offense under the Wildlife Protection Act. Vedan was later released on bail.

Discography

Singles

Film songs

References

{{authority control Year of birth missing (living people) Indian rappers Rappers from Kerala Living people

External links

Vedan
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...