Recently, Usman had the pleasure of interviewing one of the best groups the desi music scene, none other than the 'Panjabi Hit Squad.' The group consists of four members (Mark, Dee, Amo & Rav). The comments of each of them have been colour co-ordinated to help you distinguish who is saying what. The following key can be used as a guide to help you with this as well.

Usman: How did you get into the music industry and how did you, as a group, come about?

Mark: We all entered the DJ scene in the early 90's, me as part of DJ crew 'Maximum NRG' and us Dee, Rav and Amo as Asian DJ Culture, and we all came from the same area so knew each other. Together we played a big part in starting the whole Asian club scene with clubs like Bombay Jungle and Limelight, the first proper Asian club nights in the UK. We brought in some new flava and were the first in the UK to really mix underground Hip-Hop with Bhangra in the clubs. So we had been running things on the DJ scene for years before PHS and came up through the clubs.

Dee: Looking back we should have made the move into albums sooner, but it wasn't until '98 that we considered doing something. We produced 'Life After Death' in '99 under the name ADC and we got together with Markie Mark in 2001 to form Panjabi Hit Squad.

Usman: In an industry with many different artists what do you think separates you from all the other Bhangra artists, and in what way do you maintain this 'uniqueness' and identity?

Dee: We are different and we look different from other groups in Bhangra. In many ways we reflect what is going on out there in the streets at the moment, we are a multiracial crew and a reflection of multicultural Britain.

Amo: The fact that we are actually proper club DJ's is a big advantage. Out of all the UK Bhangra albums by supposed DJ/Producers there are only about 5 different crews really out there in the clubs. The clubbers out there who have seen us play know how we like to shake up venues!

Mark: Yeah our live DJ sets are important in showing people our identity and I don't think we're rivaled in the clubs. I think what makes us different is that we have always been 'urban', from back in the late 80's mixing Heera with NWA to this day we have grown up with that mix of music in our heads.

Rav: We're always fresh and we have a mainstream outlook rather than just looking at the Asian market. That's one of the reasons why we were snapped up by 1Xtra. When we did our auditions we played our normal DJ set, but they recognized that we had an urban style that fitted in with 1Xtra, from our mixing style down to the way we conversate.

Usman: Do you consider yourself to have a certain style, and if so how would you describe it?

Mark: We do have our own style, and it's definitely noticeable from 'The Streets'. Most

albums these days keep the same style all the way through, but we like to switch things up. One minute we're on the Garage tip with MC Catalyst, and the next we go folk with Sonia Panesar. But there's still that PHS vibe throughout, whichever style we are dropping. Rav: We spend a lot of time getting the beats and sound right. I think our PHS style comes through in 'The Streets' where it didn't on the first album. Now our fans are getting the full flavor.

Panjabi Hit Squad

Dee: This time around we show what we're really made of. The reaction to our first album was wicked but we felt it didn't show exactly who we are. This time we are hitting Bhangra fans from all angles, from the desi angle on tunes like 'Heere Heere' and 'Hai Hai' to R'n'B with me rapping on 'Dil Chura Liya'.

Usman: Bhangra music has evolved and become almost unrecognizable from the tracks released 2/3 years ago, becoming much more in parallel to mainstream music, do you think this will continue or will it take another direction?

Mark: UK Bhangra has grown up. Whether people think it's better for worse, UK Bhangra has matured in the way that all forms of music inevitably do and now has various sub-genres. If you look at Hip-Hop then you can say that Nelly has little in common with someone like Mobb Deep, and it's the same with Bhangra. But one thing is for sure; traditional Bhangra will always be around. You'll still be hearing straight dhol tracks in 2050.

Dee: Also UK Bhangra has now been accepted as 'Urban' music over here. You now get black and white kids requesting Bhangra tunes at Hip-Hop jams! But one good thing that we have found is that non-Asians really like and respect the traditional tracks more than the remix. The dhol has the same effect on everyone. Traditional Bhangra really appeals to Hip-Hop fans on an urban level, which is strange when you consider that our music descends from rural Panjab.

Rav: But our music should move away from reliance on sampling in order to get real respect in the mainstream. At the moment everyone is playing Bhangra tunes mixed with Dre and stuff but we need to follow up with something original. That's one of the reasons why there are no samples on 'The Streets'.

Amo: Like we say in interviews, Black and White kids now want the real sh*t from Asians. They don't want washed-out coffee-table 'Asian Chill out' compilations; they want the raw desi uncut. And for that reason we think that the first Bhangra track to really hit the Top 40 will be an authentic tune like we make, not something watered-down for the non-Asian market.

Rav: And by the way, can we just point out that we were using the word 'Urban' with 'Bhangra' a long time ago and came up with the title 'Urban Desi' to describe the scene for that Selfridges compilation! After that everyone started using that word! It's all good though…

Usman: What are your main musical influences? What type of music and what artists do you particularly like?

Rav: We have always looked to mainstream producers for a lot of influence, mainly to Hip-Hop, so at the moment it's work by people like Neptunes and Timbaland who we watch for… mainly East-Coast rappers like Nas and the whole Roc sound. But also Ludacris, P-Diddy…

Mark: In the Asian music scene we grew up listening to PMC and Bally Sagoo. Back in 94/95 PMC would send down audiocassettes of albums like Souled Out and 100% Proof straight from the studio for us to play. Recently we have been influenced by some of the old-skool producers like Charanjit Ahuja.

Usman: In such an industry where every other artist is, in effect, a rival; how do you go about getting another artist to feature in your work and vice versa? How easy/hard is this?

Dee: PHS is above all that rivalry, we have been around a long time and seen a lot of cats come and go… and at the same time made our reputation as people before PHS was formed. We are all down to earth people. We've done some big things over the past decade not just the last few years, but we don't go on acting all big, even though we might have a right to. So other artists don't mind rollin' with us.

Rav: You might have noticed that most DJ's don't play other peoples tunes. We don't go for that, even if the tune is by a rival if it's phat we play it. If it moves the crowd then we're droppin' it in the clubs and on our radio show, rival or not.

Mark: We might be from London but our network is worldwide. Our new album 'The Streets' has talent from both Midlands and the North.

Usman: What can we expect from the Panjabi Hit Squad in the future?

Mark: We're going to be touring to promote 'The Streets' album (right) for the next few months. We might possibly start work on an E.P so look out for that… and some more projects with MC Catalyst and Ms. Scandalous. But mainly we are producing remixes for a mainstream artist so watch-out for PHS in the Top 40 very soon!	The Streets: Out Sunday 1st December 2002
Rav: 2003 is going to be our year. Stay tuned…

Usman: How is your slot on the BBC 1Xtra radio station going, I mean what sort of response are you guys getting from it?

Dee: We are getting a huge response from 1Xtra and all over the BBC. Every show we receive one of the biggest responses of all the shows on the station, even though we're on at midnight, so that gets noticed.

Mark: Being at 1Xtra has been a big boost. The other day we were at the joint Radio One / 1Xtra DJ photo shoot and that just showed us how far Asian music is getting recognized. We were in a room representing Asian music alongside all other top DJ's in their fields from Westwood, Pete Tong, Judge Jules, Trevor Nelson, Grooverider, Dreem Teem, Heartless Crew… and a lot of people were talking to us about Bhangra.

Usman: Do you have a final message for the thousands of desitunes4u.com visitors all over the world?

Dee: Nuff respect to everyone who supports Panjabi Hit Squad and everyone new who has just clocked on! Make sure you log on to our brand new re-launched site and keep pumpin' 'The Streets' in your system! Peace

That concludes the interview, so make sure that you buy the album 'The Streets' as it is due to be released on December 1st and trust me it's just gonna be one phat album. If you would like to contact Panjabi Hit Squad yourselves then you can by e-mailing them at panjabihitsquad@yahoo.co.uk. To keep informed of all the latest info on them just keep tuning into Desitunes4u!