EZ all! Am back to give you your monthly dose, with the help of Irfan and DJ Dev, to check up of all things desi, while the battle for Mr "Exclusive" hot's up with Richard and Masaeb here at desitunes4u, let me firmly show you, whose been leading the way with the exclusives since day one! So sit back, relax, have a cup of cha and enjoy our journey thru the world of desi music news.
Just a quick reminder that the most anticipated album of the year is due very soon, Jay Sean's debut album 'Me Against Myself' is out on the 8th of November in all good record shops, so please stop asking me girls! The Jay Sean single Stolen is released on the 25th October so get down to you local HMV / Virgin and ensure the brother can go one better with this single. Da crew predicted the chart position last month (click here to view). They will be two version of the single, one including two remixes and a video and the other CD features 'Who Is Kamaljit?' as the side B track. Check out the table below to see where you can catch Jay Sean doing signings at Virgin stores up and down the country!
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Jay Sean at Virgin stores for 'Stolen' single |
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Monday 25th October at Picadilly at 5.30pm |
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Tuesday 26th October at Leicester at 5.00pm |
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Wednesday 27th June at Birmingham at 5.00pm |
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Thursday 28th June at Slough at 1.30pm |
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Friday 29th June at Bradford at 5.00pm |
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A desi mainstream compilation from BBC Radio 1 DJs Bobby Friction and Nihal which has been named after their Saturday night show "Bobby Friction & Nihal presents.." It will be released on V2 records to produce this handcrafted multi-ethic, bhangra, hip-hop and drum and bass-busting album. The album features some of the best Asian flavoured hip hop, R&B and drum and bass ever produced including cuts from Mos Def, Timbaland, Panjabi MC, Raghav, Hardkaur vs Mentor, Jay Sean, Nitin Sawhney, O.Z and J.Keyz. It's all set to release on the 1st of November, so make sure you check it out!
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Mentor has set up a group called 'The Mentor Kolektiv.' It comprises of Mentor (production and live MPC Drum Machine on stage), DJ Mak on decks, Desi, an up and coming Punjabi singer, and AC, a new rapper. They are all set to release Mixtape Volume 1 which shall be available online only. It features 2point9 artists Rishi Rich, Jay Sean, Juggy D, Veronica, as well other artists including Missy Elliot, Rodney P, Craig David, Timbaland, Blitzkrieg, Raxstar, Hakan, Naila Boss, Nitin Sawhney, Taio, Zig-Zag-Crew, Roachkilla, Rowdy Brown, and Blacksmith. Make sure you check out their brand new site at www.mentorkolektiv.com for all the latest on them. They are also available for bookings so drop them an e-mail if you are interested. |
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We bring you yet another exclusive with the news that after recent negotiations between Sean and Kasanova it has been agreed that he has not renewed his contract with Opus Asia Records or with Opus23 management. This means that Kasanova is currently a free agent if anyone wants to make him an offer. The label was set up by Sean and within 6 months Kasanova released his 2nd album of his career entitled New GenerAsian. Sean has given us some further comments with regards the state of the desi music industry so watch out of for this statement coming soon to desitunes4u.com.
Gunjan has just written and recorded her first original album, which will be released in early 2005. The album features production by Tigerstyle, Panjabi Hit Squad, and US based hip-hop and RnB producer, Jim Beanz (Will Smith, Ms Jade, Shaggy,
Eminem etc). Word on the street is that the album will be the biggest Asian album released in 2005, with collaborations rumoured with Taz from Stereo Nation
Apache Indian, and Bikram Singh. Gunjan has also been busy stateside working with many mainstream artists. Gunjan has recently been featured on tracks with Morgan Heritage, John Doe, Timbaland, and Eminem's rapper, Stat Quo.
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Sumeet is all set to drop her second solo single in the USA, Canada and UK. It's called 'Wine Me (2 Da Ground)' and it's one heavy tune. The single will also include the track 'On', which is a sexy and saucy number. Her debut tune entitled 'Agony featuring Elephant Man' along with the hot curry remix that featured the guest vocals of Harv Singh was a huge success in the UK, getting airplay on a large host of UK Asian Radio Stations. Her team is currently applying the finishing touches to her solo debut album that has the working title of 'At The Speed Of Light'. Amazingly Sumeet still remains unsigned, so if you are |
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interested in her then get in touch with her management through her site at www.sumeetmusic.com. She caught up with Nizam earlier in the year; click here to see what went down. |
Were are famous at desitunes4u for covering new talent, this time we present 21 year old singer songwriter Nina Jayne. Nina was born in North London to a Pakistani father and a Jamaican mother, making her truly multi-ethic, which are also represented in her music. Her upbringing included slices of country and western, gospel and soul. Her mother and two sisters are singers and her father a guitarist, making music a natural career move for Nina. Her debut album comprises of acoustic guitar rifts and thick beats making a very different and innovated sounding album. Nina has written 90% of all the material on her album, where she sings about social issues such as domestic violence and homelessness. Nina's tracks have made to the play lists of Kiss 100 London and Radio 1 and 1xtra, showing that this girl means business. Her album has production from such producers as Mark Hill one half of garage producers Artful Dodger and Maximum Risk who produced for the multi MOBO winning Jamelia. Her album entitled 'No Ordinary Pain' is set for release on the 15th of November.
Leading on from last months Nitin Sawhney remix album update comes the news that Nitin Sawhney has produced 5 tracks for the original pop idol Will Young. It still remains to be seen if Will or Nitin will use the tracks on their new albums. Will was rumoured to have been very impressed by Nitin's unique sound. Will Young is best known as the winner of the 1st series of Pop Idol UK but he has continued to be very successful with his career since. Going back to Nitin's recently released album entitled 'All Mixed Up' that was scrutinised by Richard recently, click here to read the album review.
One of the acclaimed albums of the year gets a follow up as Desi Rock part II is set to drop soon, with fresh vocals from Lembher Hussainpuri and this time features S-Endz. DJ Swami has also done a bootleg of the Juggy D track, Dil De Rani by using the acapella and adding the rapping of Chinese rapper Jin of Ruff Ryders. The Sonik Gurus have remixed DesiRock and brought a totally different flavour to it, the only way they know how really, which has resulted in one heavy mix. Check out www.desirock.com for exclusive samples and all the latest on the beginning of something huge. Keep it locked to desitunes4u.com for all the latest on the DesiRock phenomena.
The Canadian singing sensation Raghav managed to win a MOBO for 'Best Collaboration' for teaming up with 2Play and Mc Juxci-D on the single 'So Confused.' It's a tremendous achievement to for the immensely talented Raghav to pick such an award so early in his career. The Panjabi Hit Squad missed out on the 'Best UK DJ Award' but to be nominated was an achievement in itself. The Rishi Rich Project was present to perform on front of the VIP crowd, which included the Bollywood actress Ashwarya Rai who is in the UK promoting her movie Bride and Prejudice.
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Mistri has been preparing for the launch of her promising solo career. She has been on the road performing, attending radio and newspaper interviews, and has been in the studio virtually non-stop since the start of the year. Her journey into the charts will begin with the much-anticipated release of her debut single "Intoxicating" on the 8th of November. The track will be distributed through leading online distributors OD2 and made available through major on-line retailers such as HMV and Tower Records. "Intoxicating" will be streamed in its entirety around the clock for fans to download. So let's see if we can do what we do best - download the tune for less than £1 - and see if it can get into the official download chart. We've got some exclusive behind the scenes pictures of Mistri's "Intoxicating" video shot at Cafe De Paris. Make sure you check out the brand new www.mistri.tv for more info. |
Talking about downloads, we have some important news about illegal file sharers; the BPI announced on Thursday their plans to prosecute 28 illegal file sharers, users who share unlicensed mp3 audio files over file sharing networks, such as WinMX, Kazaa and Imesh. The BPI will seek injunctions to prevent these individuals from uploading recordings. Many Asian labels have taken measures to restrict illegal mp3s from being swapped over networks, the most famous being CD's which do not work in your CD-ROM drive and the infamous mp3 skit on the Untouchables UK compilation album Heavy. Illegal file sharing takes away much needed revenue for Asian artists, which can result in poor albums and disappointing videos, so makes sure you buy all your music from legitimate Asian music stores, secure online retailers like desitunes4u.com.
Back to the desi scene now, and just weeks after the release of Genie-US, the first Genie records compilation album comes the follow up "The Usual Yardies" released on the 22nd of October under Genie Records. The album features such established vocalists as Lembhar Hussainpuri, Ranjit Mani, Manak-E and the Genie crew's regular KS Makhan as well as some new singers. The 11-track album has production from Aman Hayer, Kamal, and Pal D. Watch out for the videos out across the airwaves soon.
| After the clothing line comes a new venture for the RDB boys, RDB TV, the first online full length weekly bhangra show, presented by RDB front man Kuly, the first show recently went out and you can view it anytime again by goin to www.rdbtv.com, the broadcast is the latest in the RDB takeover campaign and will no doubt be a massive hit for promotion for the boys and their crew. It is FREE and each show last 30 minutes and it will feature exclusive backstage interviews with all the stars, live footage from RDB tours in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Asia, an |
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official RDB and urban weekly chart updated on a weekly basis every Saturday and a weekly competition and giveaway. The RDB boys deserve some praise for leading the way on this one so make sure you check it out. |
Rav P 'Ravinder Punia' first exploded onto the underground scene in 1992 at the tender age of 14. He's album 'On the 116' provides a snapshot, which recaptures the nostalgia of the late 80's and 90's opening a window back to the sounds of desi bhangra - a musical experience surely enjoyed by all, not stopping at youth. Rav P has included a special touch 'On the 116' by enlisting the vocal talents of Pammi Bai - one of India's greatest folk singers. The unique collaboration captures the essence of Punjab fusing its traditional sounds with a hint of the UK street vibe. In a market of flooded with generic urban music, the Rav P sound is credible street bhangra.
We'll finish off with some news in brief. DJ Sanj has done a track with a new artist going by the name of Sabrina called 'I Can Feel It.' It's a nice tune with an original which is sung in English in the main but she even manages to pull out some desi vocals to give it an extra dimension. Rishi Rich has remixed a Sonu Nigham tune entitled 'Balle Balle'. The tune features Rishi's trademark flute and beats and it is from the current smash hit film 'Bride and Prejudice.' It is a very indi-pop type of tune, and I'd say it's created more for the Bollywood crowd. Finally Hard Kaur recently teamed up with none other than Taz for a track called 'Move Your Body.' The tune features Taz sings mainly in English, but he also has a few Asian lyrics with him switching tongues at leisure.
That's all your getting this month people, keep it locked too desitunes4u.com and keep voting for us for the AMA's! Rakesh |
