I met with rising singer/songwriter Paravi Das to discuss the inspiration behind her covers, trending sounds, and her rise to TikTok stardom.
Breakthrough TikToker and bedroom artist Paravi Das (pronounced Par-oh-vee) has created a wave of trends and positivity spanning the platform. With her effortless speaking to singing transitions, she covers songs in a brand new style, gaining her 2.3 million followers in a matter of months.
Paravi’s hypnotizing covers and motivating pep talks from her under-construction bathroom have interchangeably blessed my TikTok feed ever since I liked the video that really shifted the spotlight onto her.
Her cover of Cloud 9 by Beach Bunny blew up when she started the song with the circulating phrase, “I hate all men.” Prefacing that the phrase is completely a joke, Paravi posted the cover and was overwhelmed with the response she received.
She said, “I thought it’d be cute to combine the two and make it this opposite ends type of thing, so I did it and then I posted it and woke up…”
Although the young overnight sensation hasn’t exactly felt the type of romantic love she sings about yet, she watches the videos under the viral sound with so much admiration for everyone supporting her cover.
Making covers solely on TikTok is one thing, but Paravi branched out into the world of recording and releasing music when she released her first single in 2020 - an original cover of "Electric Love" by BØRNS. Following a wave of positive feedback and praise from her followers, she released a second single in 2020, which was a cover of "Falling" by Harry Styles.
Her recent single, a cover of "Godspeed" by Frank Ocean, is a true testament to how much she’s progressing as an artist. It's hands down my favorite song rn. If you haven’t heard her singles yet, I would highly recommend listening. The soulful tone of her voice is indescribable and just the kind of talent this world needs.
"Fun fact: I have no experience with love once so ever so it’s kind of funny that I sing songs about that type of stuff," said Paravi.
For someone with no experience, the sound she produces and the emotion she holds in her voice says otherwise.
When deciding which songs she wants to release on streaming platforms, she focuses on what her fans (friends) love and want to hear from her. Usually, the short TikTok covers that receive a massive positive response are the ones that get turned into singles. I think it's really unique to see how much she considers what her fanbase wants to hear while also respecting her own wishes and desires when planning to release music.
Paravi mentioned that the recording and uploading process has been completely DIY, which just makes her up-and-coming music career that much more impressive.
“It’s literally me, Garage Band, and a microphone that I bought off of Amazon,” she said.
Go off DIY queen.
Although releasing music takes a lot of time and effort, she expressed how grateful she is to even have the opportunity and the support from everyone around her.
“I love every single thing I’m doing. There’s no complaints on my end.”
We are certainly not complaining on our end either!
Paravi brought up a point during the interview that particularly resonated with me. She said that although she consistently picks music relating to love, it’s only because she resonates so much with the concept.
“In my head, the way that I portray it is that it’s not about another person or being in that typical romantic relationship. It’s more about either self-love or love for my family and my friends. There are a lot of different types of love in the world that are not just about relationships and marriage.”
This shift in perspective is the perfect way to look at stereotypical love from an alternative viewpoint. She sparked the thought about how easy it is for us to solely focus on one version of love instead of the many that exist, and I appreciated her bringing this idea up because it’s something we should never forget.
When the pandemic hit, the UCLA student had plenty of time to branch off from singing covers to writing her own music. One of Paravi’s main sources of inspiration comes from being a person of color, as well as being a child to immigrants.
“I like writing about that type of stuff because honestly, I haven’t found a lot of songs that touch on those topics that impact a lot of people in America, especially children of immigrants.”
Talking with Paravi about these themes that people struggle with every day perfectly matches up with the type of content she promotes on her platforms.
She’s an advocate for her followers and for those around her, and she made it very clear that throughout her songwriting journey, she wants to represent that same type of advocacy in her lyrics.
“I want to make the spaces I have very positive and very uplifting; a safe space for people to be and for people to feel - especially because I didn’t have that a lot growing up in school and friend groups.”
This is such a beautiful thought from someone who practices exactly what she preaches.
As an avid music listener, I had to find out which artists she’d love to collab with one day.
Among her long list, she specified three names: Harry Styles, Adele, and Conan Grey. I about LOST MY MIND when I heard her mention Harry because come on, that would be iconic.
So we have the most wanted collabs, but what song do you believe describes you?
“Marry You by Bruno Mars. It’s not even about the lyrics, just about the feeling that song gives me. I just feel like I wanna get up and dance and feel like I’m in a coming of age movie.” (She would definitely be the main character.)
After having such a fun conversation with her over Zoom, I would say that this song matches her charismatic, bubbly self perfectly!
Also, who wouldn’t want to marry Paravi Das? She’s an icon.
(BTW - she proposed and I accepted. The wedding’s tomorrow.)
Within the short period of time that she’s really excelled in her music career, we talked about how important it is to occasionally look back in order to realize how far you’ve come as a person.
“One thing I would tell past Paravi is that it gets better. One thing I would tell future Paravi is to never forget where she came from.”
In the 23 minutes we talked, I feel like I'd known her my whole life. She's such a special person and she deserves everything coming her way. Seeing her grow has been especially exciting. Her entire fanbase of friends is giving her all the support in the world and Paravi expresses all intentions of supporting them right back.
As she continues to build a following on TikTok, she needs to celebrate those wins!
So I asked her what dessert she’ll pose with when she reaches 3 million followers (which will probably be happening very soon).
1 mil was presented on a small cake, 2 mil on a glazed donut, and she's planning on spelling 3 mil out with her favorite flavor of macrons.
Paravi always makes sure to write “Thank you for being here” under every video, and now we want to thank you for being here too <3
Remember the name Paravi Das because there’s going to be a billboard one day with her name on it.
Follow Paravi on TikTok @pxrxvi and check out her latest release on “Godspeed” available on all streaming platforms.