Devi Sri Prasad (born 2 August 1979) is an Indian music composer, playback singer and lyricist in Telugu and Tamil films, currently residing in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.


Early life:
Sri Prasad was born in Vedurupaka, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India. His family later moved to Chennai where he completed his schooling and BBA graduation. Music fascinated him since an early age and he won several prizes in light music and dance competitions in his childhood. At school, he used to learn Kabir dohas and other such stuff and compose his own tune for them. His father G.Satya Murthy is an accomplished script writer and his grandmother Devi Meenakshi is a classical musician.

He is a disciple of renowned mandolinist U. Srinivas and he learnt Carnatic music from him. He was heavily inspired by the works of Maestro Ilaiyaraaja and Michael Jackson.

Career:
He started off by composing tunes for college functions. He gave music to '50-50', a serial on Gemini TV and lent his voice to its title song. He got the big break when Magnasound featured his song ‘Ey Unnoda’ in the their collection of Tamil pop songs called ‘Dance Party’. This song, along with the video, catapulted his music career into a new dimension. Later on, the company asked him to do his own album, and it was eventually released as 'Mr.Devi'.

Producer M.S. Raju was impressed with his talent and asked him to compose for his mythological movie 'Devi'. DSP, the 17-year-old debutant surprised everyone with his songs and meticulous re-recording involving vedic chants and choral hymns. Both soundtrack and background score were highly appreciated with the song "Nee Navve" still being very popular. He then composed a single song "Konte Baapu" for popular Telugu director Srinu Vaitla's directorial debut venture Nee Kosam. His next venture was 'Navvuthu Bratakalira' and the songs "Dhinana Thom Thakita" and "Konaseema Kurradanni Ro" became popular and earned him more opportunities.

His big breakthrough came with Anandam in 2001 and the album went on to become a colossal hit and changed his life as a composer. Songs like "Kanulu Therichina" and "Evaraina Epudaina" had a huge impact and DSP's career took an upswing from here. The peppy "Udayinchina" from Kalusukovalani is still popular and is performed in many dance shows. Krishna Vamsi's patriotic film Khadgam followed and became a big hit musically due to "Nuvvu Nuvvu", "Govinda" and "Aha Allari".

His first major venture was the romantic comedy Manmadhudu, starring Tollywood biggie Nagarjuna. The songs were appreciated for their freshness and melody. Even his background score for the film was highly appreciated.

Varsham earned him stardom as a composer with all songs becoming huge hits. The songs "Nuvvostanante" and "Mellaga" are still popular among the youth. The album is another landmark in DSP's career after 'Anandam' and he was soon flooded with offers. It fetched him his first Filmfare Best Telugu Music Director Award. Venky was extremely popular, thanks to dance numbers like "Silakemo" and "Gongura Thotakada".

He composed music for Sukumar's directorial debut Arya. The whole album became hugely popular, especially among the youth. He then composed music for Megastar Chiranjeevi starrer Shankar Dada MBBS and Nagarjuna starrer Mass. They became huge hits and catapulted DSP to the top league of music directors. These albums also cemented his place in the industry and he proved his versatility in composing mass as well as melodious songs Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, Sachien and Bunny fared really well among his next few albums. "Kanmoodi" and "Vaadi Vaadi" from 'Sachien' were instant hits and DSP's success streak extended to Tamil Industry too.

He started off 2006 by composing Prabhu Deva's periodic drama Pournami. The album was well received, but it was overshadowed by the tremendous musical success of Bommarillu. Consequently Devi Sri Prasad won his second Filmfare Best Telugu Music Director Award for his highly acclaimed work in 'Bommarillu'. After Jagadam and Shankar Dada Zindabad, he got special recognition for composing item numbers.

The music of Pawan Kalyan starrer Jalsa became a stupendous success and fetched him his third Filmfare Best Telugu Music Director Award. Kamal Haasan chose Devi Sri Prasad for the background score of his magnum opus Dasavathaaram and his dream of working with the legendary actor came true. His ability to compose, sing, write and set the stage afire during live shows made Kamal Haasan call him 'The Showman'. "Daddy Mummy" from Villu and "Excuse Me" from Kanthaswamy became very popular and enhanced his reputation.