Aalaap Raju (born 6 June 1979) is a playback singer and a bass player from Chennai, India. His rendition of Enamo Aedho from the movie KO composed by Harris Jayaraj topped the music charts for several months in 2011 and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer - 2011.
Background
Music was something that was natural to him since he hails from a musical family. His parents, J.M.Raju and Latha Raju, are playback singers in Malayalam while his grandmother, late Smt.Shantha P. Nair, was a very well known name in the Malayalam music industry in 60s and 70s. A self-taught musician, Aalaap's name spread through the most prestigious cutural event in India - 'Saarang' hosted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) where he was awarded 'Best Instrumentalist' for his bass playing. And that was the starting point of numerous recording sessions and live performances in India and abroad. His singing took more prominence once Enamo Aedho released. Aalaap now concentrates on singing and bass playing equally in Studios and Live.
Career
As a Singer and Bass Player, Aalaap has performed with several prominent artists such as Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan, Dr.L.Subramaniam, Frank Dubier etc. and has recorded with noticeable composers such as Ilayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Mani Sarma, G.V Prakash, Thaman, Deepak Dev etc. He has more than 300 concerts to his credit.
He has formed a duo multi-genre band called Rahlaap (www.rahlaap.com) along with playback singer Rahul Nambiar. Rahlaap is out with their maiden self-titled multi-genre album. Available in his website www.rahlaap.com and other music portals like iTunes, Amazon, Hummaa etc. He has also sung for several Christian and Hindu albums.
His latest Malayalam song 'Nenjodu Cherthu' for Yuvvh has become an instant hit in the YouTube world, crossing 1.4 million views in just 4 months of release.