Who Is Shreya Lenka: Kpop Star From India?

Shreya Lenka was selected by a programme organised by DR Music to discover and train budding singers from around the world.

Shreya Lenka is now the first-ever Indian to become a professional K-pop artist. Lenka, who goes by the stage name Sriya, has been selected as the fifth member of the popular South Korean pop band Blackswan. Shreya Lenka will be joining the original members of the girl group Youngheun, Fatou, Judy and Leia along with a Brazilian girl named Gabriela Dalcin. Blackswan’s music label, DR Music officially announced the news on social media while welcoming Lenka to the band.

The music label shared a photo of Sriya and Gabriela (or Gabi) together. The caption said the programme, called the Cygnus, helps the young musicians make their dream come true. “Sriya and Gabi are the first generations of Cygnus, will be introduced soon. Thank you for your interest and support. And the Cygnus project will be continues in the future,” the caption read. Shreya and Gabriela (or Gabi) were selected by a programme organised by DR Music to discover and train budding singers from around the world.

Cygnus originated because one of Blackswan’s members, Hyeme, left the group in November 2020. The current lineup of the band consists of Youngheun, Fatou, Judy, Leia, Gabi and Sriya. Meanwhile, in an email interaction with PTI, D R Music Entertainment Korea director Philip YJ Yoon said, “They showed us very positive energy when sticking together and achieving each of the assignments they needed to overcome. It was one of the reasons we decided not to separate them.” As part of the training, which started in December, both the artists had to work on their Korean language, dancing and vocal skills.

Who is Shreya Lenka?
Shreya Lenka, also known as Sriya, belongs to Odisha. The 18 years old Lenka has been dancing since she was in kindergarten but started training seriously at 12. She studied Indian classical dance, Odissi, and has been learning freestyle, hip-hop and contemporary dance to become ‘a versatile dancer,’ as she revealed in an interview with Talk Talk Korea.

Sriya Lenka wanted to learn singing since childhood. She also trains her vocal skills with a classical teacher and learns Western songs from tutorial videos online. At every stage, Lenka’s family has always been her support system. They sent her to Odissi classes when she first wanted to dance, but she had to quit after a year and a half because of the family’s financial instability. Shreya Lenka Kpop debut made her family proud.

However, after she joined the Black Swan’s audition programme and needed to train her voice, her grandmother looked for a classical music teacher for her. Shriya had to practice on the roof of her house and learn how to make audition videos on YouTube. She recorded the first audition videos in the yoga studio where her aunt teaches but these did not qualify. Lenka then improved herself and her effort was clearly worth it. She became the only Indian finalist selected from more than 4,000 applicants around the world in Black Swan’s audition programme.

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