Artist of the Week - Randhir Witana
Written by Administrator    Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:00    PDF Print E-mail

Artist of the Week - Randhir WitanaRandhir Witana is a popular Sri Lankan Hip-Hop / RnB musician signed to Universal Music & M Entertainment. Randhir's style of music blends together RnB vocals with ethnic Sri Lankan instrumentation and heavy Hip Hop back beats.

Randhir began his professional music career as Hip Hop front man for Sri Lankan pop super group Bathiya & Santhush, featuring on their first Hip Hop/Fusion song ‘Siri Sangabodhi’. In the early years of his career Randhir collaborated with many popular young Sri Lankan artists, notably Bathiya & Santhush featuring as a Rap Artist on many of the group's 'club tracks'.
In 2006, Randhir released his debut single 'Namal Mitak'. 'Namal Mitak' was composed by Randhir and produced by Sachith Peiris. The release of 'Namal Mitak' marked Randhir's entry into the Sri Lankan music industry as a solo artist and won him much acclaim among music lovers of all ages. The song topped many Sri Lankan radio charts while video recordings of his live performances were given heavy rotation on many Sri Lankan TV channels.
Randhir released his next single 'Upuli' in early 2007 which featured a guest appearance by Sri Lankan RnB artist Umara Sinhawansa. The song received a fairly lukewarm response in comparison to 'Namal Mitak' but still managed to enter the Sri Lankan radio charts that year. In 2008, Randhir released his third single 'Ojaye' on the 30th of April i.e. his birthday. Randhir's 'Ojaye' was a remix of an old Sri Lankan folk composed originally by 'The Gypsies', a legendary Sri Lankan folk band. As did 'Namal Mitak', 'Ojaye' was an overnight success on Sri Lankan radio.
Randhir released his debut solo album 'Namal Mitak' on 23 September 2008. The album was released in Sri Lanka through Universal Music & M Entertainment. Randhir chose to title his album 'Namal Mitak' in memory of his first major hit single. The release of a music video for 'Ojaye' followed soon after the released of the 'Namal Mitak' album.

In August 2008 Randhir represented Sri Lanka as the country’s Dance & Electronic Music Ambassador at the C/O POP Music Festival. C/O POP is one of the world’s biggest dance music festivals and is held in the city of Cologne, Germany. Randhir was the first representative from Sri Lanka to ever represent his country C/O POP.
In Nov/December 2008 Randhir volunteered to be the spokesperson for an AIDS Awareness Campaign by the National STD & AIDS Control Program [NSACP] of Sri Lanka. On 10 December 2008, Randhir received an award from the NSACP in recognition of his contribution towards AIDS prevention in Sri Lanka.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 16 May 2009 13:23 )