“The past is written on my body, the future is all in my mind.” 

In the music video for her latest single, ‘I Wear My Roots Like A Medal’, playback singer turned indie-pop artist Dhee stands at the centre of a small boat with bags in hand as she repeats these words. The scene recreates the haunting reality many Sri Lankan Tamils faced as they fled their war-torn home by smuggler boat. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Australia, Dhee reflects on her complex identity and generational trauma through song, only to emerge victorious as she finds pride in her roots despite the pain of the past. 

Chances are, you know Dhee for her iconic Kollywood songs like Maari 2’s ‘Rowdy Baby’ and Soorarai Pottru’s ‘Kaattu Payale’. The Sri Lankan and Aussie singer found her way to the Indian music industry through collaboration with her stepfather, the acclaimed composer Santhosh Narayanan. After achieving success there, Dhee is now moving into the Western pop sphere with her upcoming album, ‘Jackfruit’. 

‘I Wear My Roots Like a Medal’, the second single from this project, straddles her two worlds, allowing her to embrace a pop sound catered towards a global audience while honouring her background. As she sings in English, her rich alto voice drips like honey over a Tamil Folk beat, intermixing the cultures that compose her identity. In a time where many of us feel culturally isolated and ashamed to embrace ourselves in our entirety, Dhee’s full embrace of her multi-faceted identity is a triumph. 

Her frank lyricism almost feels like a look into her journal as she recalls her childhood in Sri Lanka. Images of warm nostalgia are juxtaposed with a constant presence of violence: from pigtails and bike rides to dodged bullets and camo. The music video does the same, as Dhee takes us through several vibrant scenes in her birthplace of Jhanna, Sri Lanka. Her history, like all of our own, is enriched by community while bogged down by strife; it’s filled with love yet tainted by violence. 

‘I Wear My Roots Like a Medal’  is honest about the weight our pasts hold. It can be difficult to cherish our origins when the lines drawn down our family trees, eventually leading to us, are laced with suffering. And yet, as Dhee emphasizes, the only way forward is to cherish our roots and look to the future. Our bodies, our upbringings, and our ways of life are products of the good and the bad in our histories. Instead of dwelling on the pains of our generational pasts, it is time to put a foot on the pedal, move forward, and take pride in our roots. 

You can listen to the single below:

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