Xperience Sessions With Shashaa Tirupati

RJ Rohit from Indigomusic.com caught up with Shashaa Tirupati who is a National award-winning Canadian playback vocalist, composer, and music producer of Indian descent. Tirupati was born in Srinagar and spent her childhood in both Canada and India.

At the age of six, Tirupati began singing on local radio stations in Vancouver, Canada. She first performed on stage at the age of eight, and began studying Hindustani classical music at the age of ten. Kamala Bose in Allahabad provided her with the majority of her early musical training. Padmashri and Padmabhushan Girija Devi of the Benaras Gharana also taught her. In 2005, Tirupati was the first RedFM Idol, a talent search hosted by Vancouver radio stations REDFM 93.1.

Tirupati continued to sing at festivals and solo gigs while earning her undergraduate degree. She later left school to pursue a career as a playback singer in Bollywood in Mumbai. She plays the kazoo, a traditional African instrument, as well as western classical guitar, keyboards, and harmonium.

With over 3500 songs to her credit as a vocalist, Tirupati has recorded songs in over 20 languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Konkani, Arabic, and English. Sashaa is the recipient of multiple awards. In 2018, she received the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer as well as the Filmfare Award for the Tamil song “Vaan Varuvaan” from Kaatru Veliyidai, earning her the nickname “The Humma Girl.” A. R. Rahman noticed Tirupati during Coke Studio Season 3, after which she delivered a solo for him from Kochadaiiyaan called “Vaada Vaada.”

As part of AR Rahman’s Entourage, Tirupati performed at the Men’s Hockey World Cup Opening Ceremony. She appeared on MTV Unplugged Season 4 with Mithoon, a Hindi music director. Tirupati performed alongside Clinton Cerejo at the BRICS SUMMIT in Goa.

She is currently venturing into Independent Music, and releasing original content written and sung by herself. “String of Air” is her first independently released single. In January 2022, Tirupati released her first single, ‘In My Skin,’ from her debut Independent EP (I’m Sorry, Heart), which featured renowned guitarist Keba Jeremiah. She also released the title track ‘I’m Sorry, Heart’.          

Watch Shashaa Tirupati having a chat with RJ Rohit about her newly released singles in the video below.

–Silviya.Y