Shreya was born in Odisha’s Rourkela district in 2003. She is one of three siblings and her father, Avinash Lenka, works for a private company in Jharsuguda.

Growing up, Shreya was always interested in music and dance, which she started participating in when she was only in kindergarten. While she won many awards and practised heavily, she only started taking it more seriously in 2016. 

Despite being interested in Korean pop, Shreya has over the years mastered multiple dance forms such as Odissi classical form, freestyle, hip-hop and contemporary dance.

The passionate artist also wanted to learn music but struggled to get a good music teacher because she has a deeper voice. It was her grandmother who found her a Hindustani classical music teacher for her to train under. She attended his classes twice a week but only really learned Western vocals by herself through watching online videos. 

In 2020, one of Shreya’s friends started taking an interest in Korean pop and introduced her to the group Exo. As Shreya began exploring the world of K-pop, she started learning their dance moves and attempting them herself. 

In 2021, the young star began applying for online K-pop auditions. It was also during this time that she decided to take a break from her studies to focus on her vocals, on her auditions and learning to speak Korean. This was also when she decided to start a YouTube channel where she began posting videos of herself dancing. The channel blew up and today, it has over 25,000 subscribers. 

She was rejected multiple times by many companies until she came across DR Music’s global auditions for Blackswan. After progressing through multiple rounds of auditions, Shreya was invited to South Korea in December 2021 for a six-month-long training programme at DR Music. 

During her six-month-long training at DR Music, Shreya brushed up on her vocal training, her dancing and more. As part of the programme, she was also given lessons in speaking Korean and understanding the culture. 

She watched Korean dramas to brush up on her speaking skills and can speak the language quite fluently now. 

Shreya is not the only newbie to the girl group. Rather, she will be joining the team with Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil, who will make up the sixth member of the group. 

Dalcin was selected to join the band after participating in the global auditions alongside Shreya. It was reported that the pair had great energy and worked so well together that the production company did not want to split them up. 

NOW READ

Blackpink’s Jisoo Makes Powerful Debut as Cartier Ambassador

Will Blackpink’s Rose Be Next to Wear the Rare Tiffany Diamond?

Best Fashion #Tatlergrams of the Week: Coachella Looks From Blackpink’s Jennie, Irene Kim and More