While pursuing a double major and minor, senior Sarayu Srinivasan simultaneously pursues what she loves — writing music and singing.
This is a hobby she revisited her junior year, leading her to her first feature on the song “Ain’t Shxt” by hip hop artist Jrxy, which is now on Apple Music and Spotify. Sarayu is majoring in Communications and Public Health and minoring in Women and Gender Studies, all while working on writing lyrics and recording her music in a studio.
“I have always felt connected to music,” she said. This has been a passion of hers since she started singing at age 5, when she began singing lessons. Later, she joined an acapella group that toured in many states such as New Jersey, North Carolina, and Texas.
At 13, she auditioned for the X Factor. She made it to 3 rounds, right before making it to the TV round in front of the main judges. The producers of the show told her to come back when she was older.
She continued singing lessons and the a capella group until her senior year of high school. Her experiences in that group lead her to meet artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Sara Bareilles.
When she became busy settling into TCNJ as a freshmen, Sarayu became disconnected from her music. “It’s hard sometimes to maintain your hobbies while also trying to maintain good grades and making friendships,” she said.
During the summer of 2017, Sarayu studied in Florence, Italy which inspired her to return to music. “I always knew there was going to be a time in my life where music came back into it full force,” she said.
In her junior year, she began to write music again. Now a senior, Sarayu said she started working with people who have the same musical interests and passion as her.Since December 2018, she has been recording music in her friend’s studio. When asked, Sarayu could not categorize her music into one genre. She says there are a lot of R&B and jazz elements within it.
Out of the many music artists she loves, a few are SZA, Jorja Smith, IMDDB, DaniLeigh, and Lil Uzi Vert.
On campus, Sarayu is a part of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She is the daughter of Dr. Rao, the co-chair of the Special Education, Language & Literacy department. Sarayu plans to continue writing music and recording her songs, seeing where it leads her. After graduation, she want to teach English for a few months in Nepal or Thailand. She plans on moving to California and applying for different companies involved with music like Spotify or storytelling platforms like NBC or Ted Talks. After working for some time she would like to go to graduate school.