@yolk pup

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Romantic balladry and folksy love anthems are a staple of Telugu film music. The revered S. P. Balasubrahmanyam is the silvery voice behind a few decades' worth of hits, but his mantle has now deservedly passed to modern troubadours such as Nikhil D'Souza, Sagar and Rahul Nambiar. This playlist is updated regularly, so if you like a song, add it to your library.

Romantic balladry and folksy love anthems are a staple of Telugu film music. The revered S. P. Balasubrahmanyam is the silvery voice behind a few decades' worth of hits, but his mantle has now deservedly passed to modern troubadours such as Nikhil D'Souza, Sagar and Rahul Nambiar. This playlist is updated regularly, so if you like a song, add it to your library.

Composers such as Harris Jayaraj and Mani Sharma shaped the sound of Telugu music in the 2000s, while a broader trend saw Bollywood voices such as Udit Narayan and Shreya Ghoshal singing in Telugu. The music blurred boundaries with genres as well, with high-energy songs being paired with memorable dance sequences as visuals.

If anything elevates a vibrant Telugu wedding, or kalyanam, it’s the music and dance. Raucous rhythms and folky jigs get the whole sangeet party on their feet before heartfelt ballads bring on the tears. Moving moments of reverence and rituals that signify prosperity and happiness are also set to poignant numbers by South India’s top composers and vocalists. Play these timeless songs during a wedding and make the happy couple’s day a memorable one.

Multi-talented performer Chiranjeevi has appeared in more than 150 films since 1978, establishing himself as an icon of Indian—and especially Telugu—cinema. Acclaimed playback singers such as S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Shankar Mahadevan and K. K. voice most tracks in the award-winning actor's catalogue, bringing their unique flavour to each. In classics like Indra (2002), Hariharan's agile voice soars over heavy percussive beats to form infectious dance rhythms, while in in Choodalani Undi (1998), acoustic guitar pairs with tender vocals in surprising melodic turns.

Nadamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr., known to his fans as Jr. NTR is one of India's biggest Telugu action movie stars. His films have spawned playback hits like "Ninnu Choosthey", where Shankar Mahadeven and Gopika Poornima flirt playfully over a boisterous bump-and-grind beat. Jr. NTR has recorded a few playback cuts, too: "Rakaasi Rakaasi" is a joyful, clubby party track where he chants the chorus and sings in Auto-Tune over a foot-stomping number augmented with rock guitar.

Action hero Prabhas is an unstoppable force in Telugu cinema, and the high-octane music of his films help bring his sterling roles to life. Composer Devi Sri Prasad orchestrates action-packed drama with raging horns and scintillating chimes for "Darlingey", while "Ek Niranjan" finds Mani Sharma marrying traditional Indian instruments with a bhangra rhythm to great effect as Ranjith croons slyly. On "Oororo Yogi", composer Ramana Gogula creates a throbbing dance-pop club banger with a driving backbeat and hypnotic vocals from Karthik and Sunitha.

If you’re after just the hits, this is where you’ll find them: a handpicked selection of Telugu music's biggest songs of the past few years. Our editors update this playlist regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

With more cross-genre experiments than ever before, Telugu music in the 1990s surged with refreshing energy. Fluid basslines that borrowed from jazz, galloping and sometimes easy-going Indian rhythms, plus sublime vocals on songs about love—and changing worldviews—gave these songs a distinctive fingerprint.