Whats gwanin peeps, ya boy is back reviewing the latest hot joint to hit the street! Right, Scotland…… yeah, yeah that cold place up north, how many Indians live there?? Well at first I thought just Tigerstyle, then came DJ VIPS, then Northern Lights and the latest Scot to hit the bhangra industry is Ryan Singh! Bloody hell, it will be as bad as Ilford soon! Anyways, Ryan Singh is the latest artist off the ever expanding VIP label and this is the review of his debut album Dholicious!

Before I start this review, I must mention the CD case for this album, it is SICK! It's an ejector case, so you press this trigger and the CD pops out! Unique and innovative…lets hope the album is the same!

Why oh why do you bother putting an intro on an album if it's full of nothingness! This intro is pointless and a waste of time!

First track is called Kuriye and Ryan kicks us off with quite an old skool vibe with a very prominent Tumbhi and Dholki, but nothing that really gets me sit up and take notice. When the beat drops, yeah it does sound better, but still is lacking that edge that many artists find hard to achieve. An average start.

This next song will grow on you like anything! It's called Nasha Jawani Da, and it's a really catchy song! It's got a nice up-tempo beat, but most importantly it's got that unforgettable hook! This perhaps won't be a song that you will rave hard to, rather when you're in the shower or walking down the street you will find yourself singing "tenu nasha jawani da…." Good track!

If you thought track 1 was old skool, wait till you hear this tune! Akh Teri Largayi is the kinda song you skip when in the car and your dad gives you a slap around the head and tells you to change it back! The intro to the song sounds very similar to 'Ni Umiye' on Northern Lights album. Seems like VIP Records doin some good old recycling.

The club banger has come, Margaye Kuriye is that track you skip to find when you by a CD. Again it certainly has a very Northern Lights feel about, the start sounds similar to Billo Tere Nakhrey. This is nang tune; it has everything you would expect from a floor filler, heavy beat and melody, great hook and vocals…..and an MC. But to call MC Special an MC would give so much disrespect to all the good MC's out. I can't be bothered to rinse him, listen to the track yourself and you will know what I mean. Other then that, yeah top tune, but this style seems to becoming the norm now.

An auntie favourite next! Boliyan! And talking about auntie's, Kiran Preet (the vocalist) sounds bare like my Chachee! Weird! Anyways, these boliyan are different from your standard ones for two reasons; firstly they are sung by a lady and secondly the beat to the tune is quite a bit faster. Rather then making the track really good, it makes it very unique, but hey at least they are trying to push barriers!

This track is described as a "wedding song"…. Sack that, you play this tune at a bhangra gig and be damned if you don't have the whole place on the dance floor! Bottlan De Dutt is the7th track and is the king you can't just listen to, you have to dance to it as well! Big fan of this tune, love the intro and the way the dhol drops, excellent vocals and they are 100% correct is describing this as a wedding song. Trust me when you have a few glassy's down you, you will want this tune on repeat! Simple but good.

Ishq Da Kedha is the next tune and is of a reasonably high standard, perhaps not in the same league as Margaye Kuriye, but none the less one of the better tunes on the album. The hook isn't quite there but generally not a bad beat and instrumental support.

We have the club banger, had the wedding song…whats left?? The ballad! And what a shit ballad this is! Sorry everything has to be compared to Kawan now, as that is the ultimate modern day bhangra "love" song. This is a poor effort and this sounds…..well you know what I mean. Sajan Hasde Da is the name of the song in case you wondered.

Do bhangra record labels think we, the consumers are completely thick and stupid that we can't tell when you put the same song on 2 different albums? And then they wonder why we download! Well if your going to put a song that was Pure Desi Vol 1 on the debut album of your latest artist what do you expect. Dil Koke Vich has been recycled. For info on this track please see the Pure Desi Vol 1 review.

Ending the album with the best song? That's a first! They normally they get worse as the album gets on. This track is easy to describe, take track 5 minus MC Special and what do you have….voila! A better version of Margaye Kuriye!

Respect to Ryan as he played almost all the Indian percussion on the album which makes me think he is a musician rather then a producer and I do believe there is a difference. This album wasn't bad for a debut at all, Margaye Kuriye will be doing the club rounds and there were a few other decent tunes, but this is far from a classic.

VIP records are a new and innovative label, and have the potential of being huge but they are being sucked into the mediocrity and standardness of the bhangra industry. DJ VIPS's album 'Partytime' was good, Northern Lights was better followed by Bikram Singh's American Jugni which was even better still… but Pure Desi Vol 1 and Dholicious have failed to live up to expectation and the label is in danger of falling into the group of the "usual suspects."

Overall, not a bad offering, the talent is there and there are some decent tracks, bit nothing too get over excited about so it gets 6.5/10.