Ishq Bector is an up and coming Asian artist from Canada who travelled all the way to Bombay to drop his debut album. Essentially, the record is hip-hop in Hindi and English with the Canadian MC fusing Bollywood into many of his tracks and Bombay is definitely the setting for this CD.

The hip-hop element of the album is definitely old skool, with big, strict beats dictating the tempo with simple, catchy choruses keeping the tune going. It is all well produced and with a variety of vocalists each track brings new input to each track. At times, you get the feeling that 'too many cooks spoiled the broth' as the album is so much of a variety. From the old skool hip-hop we hear a laid-back R&B track and then straight into the mock 80's disco track 'Dhuaan'.

It's different to hear an Asian artist rapping purely in national dialect, and you've got to rate Ishq for pulling it off, and he occasionally takes it to a next level by fusing both languages into his rhymes. However, I am the Desi Gorrah and I can't understand the Hindi flows so I can't comment on Hindi lyrical content, but the English raps are intelligent and work well.

The title track of the album opens up with a nice melody breaking into Ishq's Hinglish flows. 'Ishq De' looks set to be first single from the album and could be a hit. It combines the harsher raps with probing vocals from Ramona whispering 'Ishq…..Ishq….'.

'Freak Out' is track two and has a definitive New York feel with a cheeky sample of 'Mundian Tho Bach Ke' adding the Asian influence. The breaks between chorus and verse are brilliant, but surprisingly this is the only track that has a dhol on it.

The Bollywood inspired club remix of Sholay's 'Mehbooba' is track three, and sees Ishq teaming up with Shakwan, the UK-based dancehall MC. To be honest I wasn't feeling this tune, it seems to go on for a bit but I'm not a big fan of reggae so this might appeal to others.

Ishq then gets help from MTV on the next track, 'Got It Goin On'. VJs Ramona, Sofia and Vivan provide the singing on this cool city tune. I'm a big fan of the tune which in essence is very Western but it retains its Eastern roots through Hindi singing and its melodies. This will definitely appeal to the girls out there who will "boogie with this song on MTV."

The pace drops down for the Latin influenced hip-hop anti-ballad 'Changes'. The English rapping is a very sentimental piece with the chorus decreeing that "Love changes, life changes / Best friends become strangers". The retrospective lyrics are clever, especially the Zodiac verse.

'Mennu Ki?!' is track six, and is the album's Punjabi track. Again, Ishq deserves credit for performing with confidence in a variety of languages, but the groove in this track is somewhat lacking. The scratching is really cool and comes through at the right times but the ambience of the track gets at you.

'Dhuaan' is the next track and for me was a real turn off. It's a disco/80's house tune and is like Human League in Hindi. The tune is really out of place and nothing on the album is like it at all. Ishq is trying to reach as many crowds as possible but Ishq needs to sell records to graveyards if he wants to reach the 80's disco crowd. Nisha Harale's vocals are nice and dreamy, but when Ishq comes on the track it deteriorates even more. Even though the album isn't bhangra and is a pop record, it's just totally alien to the desi crowd.

'Boyz & Gurlz' is a remake of the Beastie Boyz classic of the same name, but Ishq adds an Eastern introduction and MTV's Anusha joins him to sing the hook. A thick b-line and another strict almost house beat keep the tune moving.

Ishq then has a dig at Bollywood in the diss fused 'Whateva'. Interestingly sampling the Egyptian dance melody (the proper name escapes me!!) and using some beat boxing, the tune is pretty cool with a typically solid and bouncy bass. Rapped predominantly in English, Ishq cusses Amitabh and Rekha and other big filmi personalities.

The tempo settles with 'Why As Why', a cool back street R&B jazz track with cool keys that make it very D'Angelo-esque. Needless To Say produces the track and Ishq's singing works well as a cabaret style, and the slow MC flows come through really well. Very original in the desi scene and I really liked this track as something to listen to.

The exotic and alluring 'Playboy' is the penultimate track with a stop-start beat that will make the Rass Malai look even better when they grind to this in the clubs. Ishq plays the playboy and instructs his girl(s?) what to do in a sexy track which has a commendable Hindi rap.

The album concludes with the ska-laced 'Mein Jaraa Hoon'. This tune does sum up the album with its ostinato chords and Ishq's chant-like hook.

With 12 tracks, Ishq has done it right by offering his fans value for money on this very musical album. Although it has the disses for Bollywood etc, they do not detract from the beats and melodies which are the make up and style of the album. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 with plaudits for its international appeal and back to basics approach, but the array of styles and some misplaced tracks, particularly 'Dhuaan.'