Three Tamil Canadian artists named to South Asian Music Accelerator's 2026 cohort

Supaveen press photo · Drishti Magazine

Supaveen press photo · Drishti Magazine · Image source

Source published Oct 26, 2026 · Toronto

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The South Asian Music Accelerator (SAMA) has named the 10 music creators in its 2026 cohort, a national artist-development program that ran October 18 to 24 at studios and ArtHaus spaces across Toronto, Drishti Magazine reports. The program combines workshops, mentorship, collaborative songwriting and production sessions, live-performance development, business education and industry relationship-building for South Asian artists, songwriters and producers.

Three of the ten have Tamil roots in the Greater Toronto Area. Scarborough's Luksimi Sivaneswaralingam blends Carnatic and Western classical training with pop and R&B; an award-winning playback vocalist, she has worked with composers including D. Imman and A.R. Rahman and is now expanding her independent Tamil Canadian catalogue. Scarborough-raised GETCHNAH, a multidisciplinary rapper, singer, songwriter, choreographer and director, released her 2026 debut album FEMME FOBIA, blending rap, EDM and South Asian influences. Toronto-based Supaveen blends Tamil musical identity with R&B, hip-hop and pop and reports more than 32 million catalogue streams, including the release 'Trippila'.

The rest of the cohort spans Vancouver, Surrey, Kitchener, Brampton, Milton and Ottawa, working across country, Punjabi music, R&B, soul, hip-hop, pop and electronic production. Toronto-based producer Seyon, whose credits include Central Cee's '6 for 6' and NAV's 'BURBS', also collaborates with fellow cohort member Supaveen.

Background: now in its second year, SAMA was created to give South Asian music creators a dedicated space to develop their craft and gain the knowledge, relationships and professional networks that support long-term careers, according to co-founder Sandy Pandya. Alumni of the inaugural year quoted in the announcement credit the program with one-on-one mentorship and connections that lasted beyond the program itself, including a sense of belonging as South Asian musicians in the industry.