The past few years have been questionable as a South Asian. From the sudden rise of Scandinavian-branded boho tunics to the infamous Prada Kolhapuri episode, it feels like every day gets harder to preserve our culture. Talking about desi representation in mainstream Hollywood media has always been tricky. Yes, we’ve moved on from Kelly from The Office to Kate Sharma from Bridgerton, and that progress is worth celebrating. But what about pop music? What about a desi pop star who isn’t afraid to embrace her culture, talk about her lineage, and wear her pride on the global stage? That’s where Lara Raj comes in.
Who is KATSEYE’s Lara Raj?
KATSEYE’s Lara Raj is a 19-year-old pop star born in Connecticut and raised in New York. Of Tamil heritage, she first gained recognition through HYBE’s reality survival show The Debut: Dream Academy. From the moment she stepped onto the stage, it was clear she was born to sell out stadiums. Her career skyrocketed after debuting as a member of the global girl group KATSEYE, a two-year-old act already being mentioned in the same conversations as legendary girl groups like Fifth Harmony, Spice Girls, and BLACKPINK.
Representation Beyond Recognition
As Lara’s popularity grows, so does the importance of what she represents. She has always been vocal about her culture, about wanting it to be celebrated, not just tokenized. For many young desi girls, Lara isn’t just an idol; she is what millions of desi girls who look just like her dream to be.
Desi presence in global pop music is minimal, and KATSEYE’s Lara Raj is carving out a space that has rarely existed before. Recently, beauty entrepreneur Megha Rao posted on Instagram, writing about Lara, she talked about how her seven-year-old self could only dream of seeing someone like her in the spotlight. Critics often question why representation matters for people they “can’t relate to,” but that’s missing the point. Lara’s victories are every little South Asian girl’s victories. For those growing up in the diaspora, constantly exoticized or reduced to a costume, seeing someone unapologetically embrace their heritage feels radical.
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Watching a brown-skinned woman take center stage, flaunting her maang tikka and mehendi while still being so much more than just symbols, changes the narrative. It tells young desi girls everywhere that they, too, have a place in the big, daunting Western world.
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