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Iraj Weeraratne (born February 21, 1981) was an Sinhalese R&B and hip hop artist and music producer who raised the international profile of Sinhalese RnB/pop.

Early life

Educated at Royal College, Colombo and at Stafford International School, Iraj at the age of sixteen won the best keyboardist title in Sri Lanka awarded by the Guildhall Music School, UK, when he was a student at the Academy of Music. While at Royal College Iraj collaborated with Ranidu Lankage and Yauwanan Wigneswaran and formed ‘Zealots’, they also released their first original ‘Love You So’ in 1998 and received airplay on local radio stations. At Stafford he teamed with Ruki and Urban Sound to work on another original called ‘Sri Lanka 2030’.

Career

After studying Accounting and Finance at the University of Northumbria, he re-joined with Krishan and Ruki for the hit single ‘Roots’. This song revolutionized local music as it crossed borders and received airplay on all continents. This was featured in UK on BBC Radio 1. Following this he released his self-titled debut album – ‘Iraj’, which was co-produced by Ranga Dassanayake from Hit.

1. Derana Music Video 2007 Grand Finale
The Sri Lanka’s well known local TV channel Derana, organized a Best Music video award contest last year 2007. Over 200 artists submitted their music videos. The main object of this kind of award contest is to promote not only the artists but also the behind scene crew, in every spectacular music video. It’s also a great way to promot their videos.
You can just simply type MVA (space)(number of the track) and send it to 9900 from any other network. Tracks are followed by A hetha – 02 Mata sithanna be(06), Unamada dethol (09), Chanchala (14), Kalpana(35), Vaarayo(36) and Sara sadisi(38).
The winners will be announced in Derana Music Video Awards 2007 which will be on the 5th of April 2008 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. We gladly invite all of our fans to this historycal making event for the first time in Sri Lanka.

2. Adambarai – Sureni ft Iraj & Killer B (Bingumal)

3. IRAJ presents SHANI Iraj’s maldivian album will be released this month. (January 2008)

4. A Hetha New Video A Hetha ( Iraj ft Delon & Shani) has been released.

5. Oba Hinda (Kalpana) New Video , Oba Hinda (Kalpana) has been released.

6. Latest Shows Added:
Iraj Weeraratne and Ranidu Lankage will be playing at Long Beach, Los Angeles on Sept 1st 2007 and 22nd September in Korea.

5. Scheduled Video Releases Updated: Management has updated a list of New video release dates. This set of videos also includes ‘Unmada Dethol’ by Ranidu.

* Unmada Dethol by Ranidu Release – 21/07/2007
* Hituwakari Release Date – 01/11/2007
* Madesa Balannai by Nadini (Sirasa Super Star) Release – 15/10/2007
* Vaarayo Vennilavey (Remix) Release – 01/09/2007
* Oba Hinda (Kalpana) Release – 01/10/2007

Stay tuned and watch these videos first on Irajonline.com.

7. Catch ‘The Iraj Show’ on Irajonline.com:
Now you can watch ‘The Iraj Show’ on Irajonine.com. If you miss the show on Derana, login to Irajonline.com to watch the whole set up shows.

Following the phenomenal success of his debut album, the maestro of Sri Lankan hip hop and the undisputable king of the island’s music industry, returns with his fantastic second album – Aloke Chapter 2. Currently holding on to the record of fastest selling debut and fastest selling album in Sri Lanka’s history, the last few years has seen the structure of the island’s music industry radically altered into a course that has been termed nothing but phenomenal. Iraj has been in the forefront of this change, driving the industry from ‘small island’ to ‘big world’ – breaking record after record and shocking music analysts by his success.

Iraj has been the success story of modern Sri Lanka. Blending not just East with West, but the languages of all communities of our troubled island, to make music that can be nothing but truly international. His remix of best friend Ranidu’s Ahankara Nagare and Ran Ran Ran became the first Sri Lankan videos to debut on both MTV India and Channel V. Following their massive success, Ahankare Nagare became the island’s first single to be released world wide in both Essential Asian R n B and Asian Flavour: Volume 1 albums. His continuing success saw his next single, Aloke, hit the No.2 slot in the Asian Chart on BBC One Radio, where he remained for an entire four weeks. Aloke’s success led to its release in India through internationally renowned DJ Nihal’s Bombay Bronx album – another number one best seller.

These records are but a fraction of the phenomenal success of Iraj, who has developed over the years into a brand itself. Dubbed by analysts and critics as the Revolutionary of the Sri Lankan music industry, Iraj’s success saw him drawn into a record breaking series of merchandising and marketing campaigns. Today he hosts his own radio and television shows on two of the island’s most successful stations – Y FM and Derana. The Hip Hop Party recently broke ratings records as the most listened to teenage radio programme in the island, and his television breakthrough – The Iraj Show, continues to top viewer ratings in the entertainment category.

The change of Iraj’s image, from maestro to icon, has seen Sri Lanka experience technological breakthroughs in his many videos and the establishment of a truly household name. His sold out world tour over the last year has seen Iraj in venues all across the island and in some of the world’s most celebrated international platforms. The tour saw Iraj performing to packed audiences at the Sydney Opera House, London, New York, Cyprus and Dubai – strengthening his fan base and promoting Sri Lankan music the world over.

With fifteen No.1’s already under his belt, Aloke Chapter 2 will feature seven of his biggest and most recent hits, including Sirasa’s 2007 Song of the Year – Hitumate, and twelve other songs that have never been released to date. The long-awaited and highly anticipated second album is expected by analysts to surpass the records set by his debut – that sold over one hundred thousand copies within four weeks. Aloke will be the first album in music history to introduce Sinhala rap and will also set the stage for Iraj’s Maldivian venture with the archipelago’s biggest star Shani and his highly anticipated Tamil album. Other productions in the pipeline are a collaboration album with Ranidu and Killer Bee’s debut album, produced entirely by Iraj himself.
Aloke is a shining example of a true masterpiece of Asian hip hop that has so easily blended people, their cultures and languages. Featuring a huge chunk of the star’s number one hits, it will set the benchmark higher for a music industry that owes a lot to its beaming icon of modern hip hop.

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