A Culture in Transition: A Study of Gaana Singers in Chennai (PhD thesis). "A struggle to elevate the subaltern Chennai Gana".
Composer Deva was instrumental in bringing gaana to blockbusters like Kadhal Kottai his songs are still popular today. In the 1990s, Tamil film composers brought gaana-inspired songs to movies. With the arrival of recording technology, gaana artists have been able to record their songs for posterity and earn income from them. Other strands of influence come from migrants from rural Tamil Nadu. Kunangudi Masthan Sahib's songs are still sung by gaana singers today. The art form can trace its descent from the siddhars (tantric adepts) of ancient Tamilakam, to the compositions of early nineteenth-century Tamil Muslim Sufi mystic Kunangudi Masthan Sahib, to Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, popularly known as the first Tamil novelist. Gaana singers have performed in the city for the past two centuries. The genre arose in the slums and burial grounds of Chennai. The etymology of the term "gaana" is unclear, though it may have come from Tamil word Kaanam - கானம் - which means “tune”, or Hindi, where the word means "song". Contemporary gaana bands are bringing the genre to new audiences while using it for social activism, especially against caste discrimination. It's popularity rose when it was brought to the music of the mainstream Tamil film industry. It is rap-like "collection of rhythms, beats and sensibilities native to the Chennai people." It evolved over the past two centuries, with influences ranging from the siddhars (tantric adepts) of ancient Tamilakam to rural Tamil folk music to Tamil sufi mystics. Gaana (or Gana) is a style of Tamil music from Chennai, India. Tamil Sufi songs, siddhars of ancient Tamilakam, music of rural Tamil Nadu