‘Coke Studio Tamil’ Season 2 Brings Star Power with Vijay Sethupathi, Aditi Rao Hydari and More

The upcoming second season of Coke Studio Tamil expands its horizons for an even more massy and global curation, with actors, diaspora artists, composers, internet-famous singers and more in the mix.

Announced last week with a teaser that unveiled all the artists involved for Coke Studio Tamil season 2, actors Vijay Sethupathi and Aditi Rao Hydari were among the biggest surprises, who are singing alongside the likes of actor-musician Andrea Jeremiah, singer-composer and actor G.V. Prakash Kumar, composer Girishh Gopalakrishnan, vocalist-actor Sivaangi Krishnakumar, singer-composer Vidya Vox, rappers like Asal Kolaar and Navz-47, beatsmith Yanchan and more.

The mainstays who are returning this season include Coke Studio Tamil curator Sean Roldan, Carnatic artist Sanjay Subrahmanyan, rapper-composer and lyricist Arivu with The AmbassA band and Benny Dayal. Other top artists enlisted include singer-lyricist Arunraja, singer Rajalakshmi, composer Justin Prabhakaran, singer and fusion artist Sithara Krishnakumar, artist Kapil Kapilan, singer R.K. Adithya and singer-producer Sathyaprakash Dharmar.

At the launch event for season 2, Roldan summed up what was different between the inaugural curation of songs and the upcoming edition of the globally-run series. “In the first season we tried to take Tamil music to the world, now we have brought the world into Tamil music,” he tells Rolling Stone India. Among the key considerations this season was to understand how much change the music industry had undergone, especially in terms of what kind of stories were discovered through song and what that discovery process was like. He says, “When I was growing up, I used to go looking for music. So I had the time to do it radio and other things. Today, I’m not sure if we have the time to do it, because people have lot of a lot more things to do. So how does music fit in?”

He terms this season’s songs as “more palatable in terms of the modern lives we are living,” plus one that slightly moves away from the rock and guitar-focused sound of season one (which was, according to Roldan, trying to stay true to Coke Studio’s live band format). He also points to how they shifted from a perceived bias that only independent artists should be part of Coke Studio. “We tried to break it a little. There are some artists like Aditi Rao Hydari. She’s a great singer, but she hasn’t done a lot of singing. And even if she’s done it, she’s done it in a film space, maybe. Vijay Sethupathi apparently started learning music recently. And I looked into it and I thought, ‘Okay, I didn’t expect this.’ But he has a very interesting sense with which he perceives music and we have used that also,” Roldan adds.

Arivu too changed things up after being front and center for Coke Studio Tamil season 1. This time, he’s not only bringing in his folk-rock band AmbassA, but also focused on being a composer rather than a lyricist for the one track that’s a part of the second season. “The requirement this time was to deal with only one song, that was really helpful for me as an artist. We can also handle many things, but when they particularly asked only one song, it gave us so much time to focus on our own song and it came out really well,” he says. Taking from the ancient texts penned by Valluvar in Tirukkuraḷ, the song acts as a tribute to the Tamil language and the culture’s ancestors. With AmbassA members like Gana Bala and more, Arivu says he’s been experimenting more with genres that have taken him beyond hip-hop. “We consume a lot and on the way, I have heard so many different songs, it’s definitely reflected when I get into the studio. I want to keep it real, rather than do something wannabe,” Arivu says. Guitarist Chris Jason, who has been part of the band since mid-2022, says that their Coke Studio Tamil song reflects Arivu’s love for the Tamil language and will make people “appreciate the glory of Tamil as a language and as a culture.”

Andrea Jeremiah, who previously released her English album Flavors in September 2022, joins Coke Studio Tamil for a song with Sanjay Subrahmanyan and Navz-47. “I think it might be the coolest track this season,” she says with a laugh. Joined by Sathyaprakash Dharmar on vocals on the song composed by Girishh Gopalakrishnan, Jeremiah says the production is “international” with folk melodies intact. Often an actor and singer in Tamil films and their soundtracks, Jeremiah feels the empowering part about Coke Studio Tamil is that it’s not led by a script, hero, audience or song situation. “Over here for a change, you just get to really have some fun with your craft, which is amazing,” she adds. Taking more creative control, Jeremiah’s appearance on Coke Studio Tamil will happen just as she preps to release her own Tamil independent songs in 2024 as well.

Arunraja, a prolific lyricist, singer, actor and director in the Tamil film world, has contributed a song about cricket as a unifying force in his life. The mind behind songs like “Neruppu Da” from Kabali, “Ding Dong” from Jigarthanda and most recently, “Kaavaalaa” from Jailer says, “Cricket is not just a sport, it’s been a great emotion for me from childhood. I’ve got friends through cricket and continue to make friends because of cricket. The song is all about cricket and the role of the sport.”

Roldan, who worked with Arunraja on the song, also counts the inclusion of artists like Gopalakrishnan as key to Coke Studio Tamil. “He was an immediate choice,” the composer adds. Elsewhere, Roldan is looking forward to see how composer Justin Prabhakaran’s work on the series will be received. “He often keeps breaking new ground, but not announcing it. He is silently doing revolutions that people are noticing now,” Roldan adds.

Watch the trailer for ‘Coke Studio Tamil Season 2 – Idhu Semma Vibe’ below