one of the core trio
of British born South Asian artists that comprises the Rishi Rich
Project. It is this love for music combined with an ability to
reach out to youngsters across the spectrum that has contributed
to their rising popularity, making their albums rise up the
popularity charts.
The Rishi Rich project is the coalescence of three
British born South Asians-25-year-old producer Rishi Rich,
23-year-old RnB groove master Jay Sean and 22-year-old bhangra
blaster Juggy D. Their music is rocking not just in South Asian
circles but in the mainstream scene as well. Their Nachana Tere
Naal (Dance with you), which combines RnB Hip hop lyrics with
bhangra beats made it to No 12 on British charts and was a Top 20
hit in the USA. They also scored the title song for the Bollywood
flick Hum Tum featuring Juggy D and Veronica (another member of
the project) earlier this year.
What sets this group
apart is that all three not only pool their talents to work
together but also work on their solo albums. Sean's single Eyes on
You entered the UK Singles Top 40 chart at No.6 and he is working
on releasing his album, Me Against Myself, in October. Juggy D
will also be out soon with his self-titled debut
album.
Rishi who has worked
with the likes of Britney Spears and Craig David has carved a
niche for himself as a talented and innovative producer.
Acknowledged as the man behind smash hit singles from Mis Teeq and
Craig David, he has collaborated with Mary J Blige, Sugababes,
Liberty X, Ricky Martin and Britney Spears. What has led these
stars work with him is his musical versatility. He is able to
create authentic traditional Asian music, while also producing
underground hip-hop beats and smoove RnB/pop mainstream cuts.
Rishi's affair with
music began as a four-year-old when his mother put him in Indian
music classes and he learnt to play the tabla and harmonium along
with singing Indian raags. One of the highlights of his musical
journey is accompanying ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali on the table
when he was barely 12.
Rishi says that while
he enjoyed working on traditional Asian music, he was also keen to
further develop his skills and start producing a variety of beats
and sounds, as a way to incorporate his love for RnB, hip-hop and
garage music. He co-produced 10! Asian music albums before working
on his first solo album 'Simply Rich', which debuted at no. 1 in
the Asian pop charts in October 2002, and was still in the top 5
six months later. While working on this project Rishi met Punjabi
vocalist Juggy D, who was just starting to carve his place on the
UK Bhangra scene.
"I was introduced to
Juggy by a friend. We just got together in the studio and have
been working together ever since," he says. The entry of Jay Sean
into the project also happened along the same lines. Rishi and
Juggy were looking for a soulful RnB male singer/songwriter to
help create their new single, fusing RnB and Punjabi at its best.
"We just clicked," says Jay and the result was the album Nachna
Tere Naal, which marched to acclaim in the music charts.
The three, who are all
of Punjabi origin and speak the language with varying degrees of
proficiency, were in Toronto for a North American debut concert at
the annual Masala Mehndi Masti festival at Toronto’s Harbourfront.
Rishi had been here four years ago for a show with British artists
Apache Indian and Veronica.
The huge presence of
South Asians, particularly youth, in North America obviously makes
them target audience and Jay says, "This is something brand new
for the Asian community around the world. Here are three young
guys doing music they love as opposed to somebody old. We did have
Malkit Singh but maybe they could not relate to him as much as
they can with us who are just couple of years older than them."
But in the same breath
they add with a dash of pride that their music is heard by the
mainstream audience too. And that is because, according to Juggy,
"I think we were the first to actually fuse Punjabi and RnB in its
original composition. We wrote the track, we married them together
as opposed to playing Punjabi vocal and then add other beats.
Everything was organic so when we did that it went forward, we did
not know it would or expect it, but it did."
As Britishers of
Indian origin, they say they love the music of both their
cultures. Says Rishi, "We are actually saying that we are not
ashamed of our culture, of being Indian. We love R&B, Reggae,
Spanish music, Bollywood music. We want to make stuff that
organically links all these."
Juggy, all three
agree, is the most fluent among them in Punjabi and therefore he
is the one who writes Punjabi songs. He has featured on all
remixes done by Rishi with Craig David and Brtiney Spears and
provided Punjabi vocals on all those mixes. He is working on his
soon-to-be released solo album
Considering that the
three work on their solo albums while being a part of Rishi Rich
project, they are often asked how they strike a balance. Says
Rishi, "To begin with, all three of us, are with the same music
company, 2point9. We have a great team that coordinates who it is
going to work. We have Rishi Rich project and three careers
launching off. We have Jay as soloist, and then Juggy and myself.
We are working on three albums anyway. We also work on each
other's album. It is great because that kind of thing never
happened." Jay pitches in with, "We all love each other's success
and work together."
So, did they expect to
do so well? Rishi responds with a cautious, "I think we still have
a long way to go. We have just released two tracks, which have
crossed over. It is a whole movement, all of us are doing our
thing in UK Asian music scene to bring it forward. It is great for
us to be a part of that. We want Jay to be the first UK British
Asian superstar. As such to have number 1 in top ten albums in UK
has never happened before. Being on MTV base and on one of
mainstream channels is what we are aiming at. That is the bigger,
but it obviously great what we done so far is obviously great. We
are going to keep working hard."
That they strike a
chord with youth is obvious. Jay says what makes them connect with
youth is their age and the fact that Juggy's lyrics are simple and
understandable and his own RnB adds to the appeal. "80 per cent of
Asians in UK love RnB and hip hop but they never had a South Asian
guy do it. So for me to be the first to be able to do that and
sing music they love is great. And then we have a taste of bhangra
with Juggy and Rishi who produces things they love anyway."
Apart from music, says
Juggy, another factor that establishes a connect with youth is
their age as "they can relate to us, in the sense that we dress
the way they dress, talk the way they talk and we love music that
they love, they connect with us."
Adds Rishi, "one thing
that has been very important to all of us is to be true to
ourselves and that is why you don't see us driving in limos. We
are normal guys, average geese who love music."
That their appeal had
transcended geographical boundaries was evident when they
performed in India before a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Says Juggy,
"it was a great experience. We never imagined the response we
would get, or that they would be clued up on our music and what we
have done."
Their surprise was
complete when a street child in Mumbai started singing their song
at a traffic light when she saw them in a taxi. On their future
plans, Rishi says, "we have three different kind of albums coming
out. First there is Juggy's album and then Jay's second single
Stolen will release on September 23 and then my album Rishi Rich
at the end of the year. Veronica's album is also coming out. Let
us see how it all goes, we love performing but we also love going
back to studio and working on our stuff." As Jay sums up, "it has
been a great journey and it has just started."
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