Being an MC means you have a real easy life. Chill out, smoke weed and occasionally bang out some lyrics, with the odd gig here and there. DJ Swami’s rapping duo, Sarpanch and S-Endz, are the epitome of living the MC life if you wanna hang with them you gotta be cool. That’s why Irfan called Richard and not Masaeb along to chill out with the double act at their local pub in Handsworth Wood. After kicking everyone’s arses at pool (including a whitewash on Richard!), Irfan sat down with Richard to pose some questions; here’s what went down.

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.

Irfan: Individually give us an 'intro' on how you got involved in desi music?

Sarpanch: I wasn't really into bhangra first. I just listened to garage. I saw DJ Swami and gave him my garage records and he was buzzing of them. That's when we made Pure Garage 4.

S-Endz: Basically I was raised around it, as you know my cousins are Apache Indian, Subs and DJ Swami. They are all my first cousins so I grew up watching how they operated their business. I always wanted to get involved but wanted to wait til the time was right. Swami eventually approached me and said I want to do this DesiRock album and asked me if I was down to do it and I said 'Yeah, of course' so that's how I got in.

Irfan: In your own words what does Swami represent?

Sarpanch: It represents who I am it's my identity. We chat about real issues. I don't write any love songs I am just Punjabi man. I am not a fu**ing bad boy or a drug dealer. I am just talking about my community and that's what Swami are doing innit!

S-Endz: Swami is a reality check because a lot of Asian people want to make music but they don't know how to correctly represent themselves as artists. We represent who we are whether that's being English or Punjabi. There is no fake ness about it; it's all-real. The issues that we talk about affect us in Society as Asians and as British people.

Irfan: You all featured heavily on DesiRock (click here to view album review)! In your view what makes it any different from any other desi release?

Sarpanch: Sh** loads make it different from the production it's obvious time has been taken on the album. It's professional made like real musicians would make it. All the other mc's are just chatting shi**. They talking about 'wind up your bumper' and this and that. They are all using my ancient flows. My old flows from 'Pure Garage 4' are attempting to be recreated four years down the line. Garage Mc's have moved on but Asian Mc's haven't.

S-Endz: DesiRock is different because it is original and we are not using jacked samples. The tunes are very original and are centred on hooks like real music should be. It's not about jacking the biggest hip-hop sample around and adding some tabla and adding some tumbi and some Indian vocal that you don't even know who's singing. We bought Jagz in, we brought Lember in, we bought Rakesh in, we actually got them in the studio and worked with them to create a sound that identifies what we do. That's how we create songs and that's why it is original. You'll remember these hooks for ages and it's all about the quality production.

Richard: S-Endz and DJ Swami have just got back from a DesiRock tour of USA. How did the crowds react to the DesiRock sound? S-Endz: The reaction in America, I loved it! There is nothing else to say it was wicked. I think when we done gigs in Europe, in Poland and that, we play stuff like 'Mehbooba' off the first Swami album, cos they prefer the up-tempo kinda stuff, but there is nothing like when you're in America and you know they are feelin the hip-hop style. We dropped tracks like 'Hooked & Addicted' and 'Don't Hold Back' and they

Swami

were just bouncing to it and vibing of it because I'm a hip-hop mc, that's what I was raised on and that's what I do. There is nothing better than knowing it is appreciated.

Irfan: I hear you guys, this time along with Mc Sarpanch, are heading back to the USA to further spread the DesiRock vibe. When is this happening and what should the crowds expect from it?

Sarpanch: The crowds are going to get a surprise. The way I rhyme, the way I flow is very English. They'll be interested innit. The people over there are looking for a fresh flow, which is why people like Wiley are making noise. You can take it from Bangkok to Baghdad to Smethwick and you'll still get the same reaction. People go mad if you know what I mean.

S-Endz: They can expect something completely different, something that they have never heard before because this time around when we go to America we are taking the 'live' band with us and it's going to be incredible. I know they'll love it coz what we did is very heart felt and people can appreciate that and they can relate to what I'm saying. America is our target audience now and the tracks are something they can relate to as well so I honestly think we can be successful over there.

Richard: You said America is your target audience, is that why we have not seen much of you touring in the UK?

S-Endz: Not really, we do enough gigs over here but we don't try to put ourselves out for every other gig coz at the end of the day we know that people have heard it and people like it and we don't have to actively promote it 24/7 in this country. At the end of the day this country is not that big and there is only so much you can do. The focus is on America coz there is so much more audience there and it's so vast that it is a more difficult task.

Irfan: Lyrically DesiRock was very strong rather than the usual meaningless lyrics mc's tend to spit in desi tracks. How important is that for you guys?

Sarpanch: I am just being real to me and the area I come from, you know Handsworth Wood. Not that I'm taking the role as a spokesman for Punjabi people. A lot of time my lyrics are about myself whether that is getting pissed, smoking skunk or bangin out birds. In none of the tracks is there a single lie. Everything that I have said I do on a regular basis.

S-Endz: I think that mc's whether they are in the bhangra industry or in the hip-hop industry. The majority of them do not appreciate the position that they are in. We fully appreciate it as we are in a position to say something and we know people are going to hear it so we can touch a nerve with them and maybe make them think coz otherwise you are abusing your position and not saying anything relevant. You might as well not be there; you understand what I am saying? If you're there then you should speak your mind, otherwise there is no sense. You may as well say something coz people are going to hear it and hopefully you can change a few things coz at the end of the day there are a lot of problems in this world and if you're in a position to talk about them and you're not talking about them then you're just wasting your time.

Irfan: Sarpanch, in the track 'Challa II' you talk about the British Nationality Party, which I respect you for! What made you use this lingo on the track?

Sarpanch: There was a program on the BBC about Nick Griffin and the other racist guy from France called Jean-Marie Le Penn. I was like fu** this why don't I use my music as a way to vent my anger and frustration for living in such a fu**ed up world. It's a really traditional bhangra song and I usually relate to the lyrics. On this instance I thought fu** that lets flip the script one time.

Richard: As a British Asian, do you feel threatened by the British National Party?

S-Endz: Threatened? No, I'm not scared of them; they can do as much as they want. I think that they are influential to a lot of ignorant people. I mean, people that don't know better and blame all their personal problems on another race which, however you look at it, is a very ignorant view and that is why it upsets me that they are in a position to make comments and people will hear them. A lot of people will just follow it blindly and not respect that we are really the same. We are all part of the human race. There are no kinda lines for people that actually know and you shouldn't try and pass everything off to next man. It is an important issue and that is why we feel the need to talk about it.

S-Endz

Richard: Being of mixed race origin you probably have more reason to talk about it, right? S-Endz: Yeah, definitely because I never try to categorise myself into one thing. I would never claim to be fully Punjabi or fully English. Some people think that I'm half black but I would never go out there and say 'I'm rollin with all my Punjabi friends or all my white friends or all my black friends.' To me it doesn't make a difference you know. I was raised into Birmingham, there are white people, there are black people, there are Asian people and for me they are all the same. Until I moved away I didn't know any different until people started to treat me differently which really fu**ed me up, to be honest. Irfan: Now I gotta ask you this! What are the side effects of masala flavoured skunk?

Sarpanch: It's a Handsworth typa skunk. You can get it on Soho Road. From the old alcoholic men, you know the sharabees and that. They smoke more skunk than the young men do; you know what I mean? The side effects are it gets you proper randy and have a grope and that. You don't just get red-eyed you get green-eyed. You end up like me that is the major side effect.

Irfan: On one of the tracks Mr Sarpanch labels the desi music industry as a 'fake' industry. What are the reasons for that?

Sarpanch: It's just coz everyone chats crap. I don't have many friends in the industry apart from my band coz I don't trust no one else. I keep myself to myself. People just want to use you and they are two-faced and they talk behind your back and they pretend they don't know who you are.

Irfan: Swami constantly refer to 'the bigger picture.' What do you mean by that?

Sarpanch: That means the international market. Not selling records in Balsall Heath but sell them in HMV / Virgin, you know what I mean? I wanna go to the States and sell records over there. I believe in my band, I believe in the music and I believe we can make it!

Richard: Some people said that the excessive MC'ing on DesiRock is negative for bhangra release. Are these people just 'desi-ists' living in the past?

S-Endz: They are definitely purist as we are part of a generation that grew up on rap as much as we grew up on bhangra and that is the music that we make. If you want listen to an album that is related to Punjabi vocals then that is only relating to one side of you. It's up to you really listen to something else, you don't have to listen to us.

Richard: Do you think this is down to there only being a small number of quality mc's in bhangra?

S-Endz: Yeah, definitely but you should just say we are not going to listen to rap in general. They need to distinguish between good MC'ing and bad MC'ing. People need to appreciate and people need to move with the times and understand what is good rap and what is bad rap. If those people are living in the past and if those people genuinely haven't been raised in rap then like I said don't listen to us, we are for the people that grew up on rap.

Sarpanch: Everyone is entitled to there own opinion. If they think that I'm shit then they think I'm shit but I've got belief in my talent and I believe that I am the best fu**ing mc in bhangra.

Richard: It has been said that there is excessive swearing in DesiRock. Do you feel that you can achieve the same effect without the profanity?

Sarpanch: I don't swear that much in my tracks. If I do then it's to create an emotion or feeling. For example, on 'Bust Da Mic' I say 'I don't wanna know about next mans flow or panchoord.' I understand that the meaning of that word and how bad it is to use it but that is how I feel about other Mc's in bhangra. Most of them are dickheads and I had to let them know.

S-Endz: No then you get to the point where you are being corny; you are being like Will Smith. You are deliberately avoiding swearing and trying to say something in a different way. I rap how I talk, I swear in real life. If you try and show me a person that hasn't said shit or fu** in their life then I will show you a person that is a liar, you know what I mean? It's just part of general life, I'm not going to say OK I'm not going to say that because somebody is going to get offended by it coz then I wouldn't be being true to myself. This is how I talk and this is how I rap.

Irfan: Let's have some fun now. Try to use one word to describe the following, one sentence max!

Irfan: Metz & Trix

Sarpanch: Safe, good luck with the album innit!

S-Endz: Representing

Irfan: Blitzkrieg (22k)

S-Endz: Toronto, Asian Empire

Irfan: Master Rakesh

Sarpanch: Genius

S-Endz: Wicked Singer

Irfan: Lembher Hussainpuri

S-Endz: SICK! murks every tune he is on.

Sarpanch: Da geezer comes to the studio one time and lays down - professional innit!

Irfan: Gunjan S-Endz: Got a wicked voice Irfan: Bally Sagoo Sarpanch: Nose Ring S-Endz: Midlands stand up! Irfan: Mentor S-Endz: Safe Irfan: Nick Griffin (BNP) Sarpanch: If I ever saw him I'll deck him S-Endz: Fu**ing idiot Richard: Tony Blair

Sarpanch

Sarpanch: Liar

S-Endz: Not qualified to be the leader of this country.

Richard: Handsworth Wood

Sarpanch: Home sweet home and buff girls

S-Endz: Gotta love it, B20 to the fullest

Richard: Any final words to the millions of desitunes4u.com readers out there?

S-Endz: I got a lot of love for everyone that understand what the Swami sound is about. We are going to take this to the next level so I hope you ready for it. I also need to big up my girl Karyn coz it's her Birthday today.

That concludes the interview, a big thanks to S-Endz & Sarpanch for taking some time out to chat to the us. The 'DesiRock' album is out now. For more info and all the latest on it then check out www.desirock.com now!