Panjabi MC

P's first piece of equipment was a sampler called a Roland S10, he used it to 'loop' beats so that he could 'rap' on them.



"I loved to freestyle on beats that just went on forever without changing".

P and Pete Every put together Panjabi MC's first Rap Album.



At that time Pete was the only famous guy that I knew. There were a few of us working together on different tracks and Pete always inspired us.

This is probably why I always believed from the word that my music would be known.

Back in those days all the MC's I rapped with were black and I had never heard of any Asian rappers. This is where I first got my name as the Panjabi MC.

After I had been doing this for a couple of years I started adding desi samples into the music. To start with this was from vinyls but soon I got singers and musicians to play live and my sound was born.

I then started doing national shows and I used to cut the music onto digital tape and play it at gigs. I would also MC live lyrics on top of the music. In those days no one mixed like that and the more mixes I did the more shows I got. Eventually I ended up with about 15 tracks that were incredibly PHAT! These included tracks like 'Lambrah di Noh', 'giddia di rani' and so many other unheard mixes that still haven't been pirated. Some of these mixes still haven't been released, 'Sucha Soorma and the original 'challa' mixes are highly in demand".



However his first release was a controversial Rap song called 'Rootz'. An independent label released this single. It was recorded live from a dub plate that P had made to play at clubs and his community radio show.



"I had this dub plate that I had made called 'Rootz' it was a crowd rocker. It started with a freestyle that I used to bust and the crowd used to love it, so I recorded it in Pete's studio NEOPHYTE, over the dub plate".



There was a big response to the track but it was banned straight away due to internal politics within the 'bhangra industry'.



"At this time I got to meet a lot of people who were into music. After this I found out that a few people had heard of me. Some people knew me for 'Rootz' and some had seen me live".



P did some television slots and worked with producers from a wide range of music.



"Guys like Spida, Djedi and the great Raa Asia are some of the most influential musicians I've ever met".



P was offered various deals from the bhangra labels.



"Nachural gave me a chance but at the end of the day they wanted to promote their own material. I agreed to make 2 releases because I wanted people to hear my hip-hop style desi. However all the vocals had to be taken from the Nachural catalogue.



I started working on my first Bhangra release, 'Souled Out' which took me around 3 months. I wasn't happy with the vibe so much but I knew that it would get noticed. It was really what the label wanted. I always wanted to keep things desi".



'Souled Out' was a huge success for a debut album from an unknown artist. Nachural Records sold the same amount of tapes and CD's that year from both 'Panjabi MC' and the much-established 'Achanak', their flagship band.



This album turned a lot of heads and put PMC on the map. Both 'Souled Out' and the follow up release 'Another Sellout' obtained PMC's first NO 1's and created a new sound within Bhangra.



This also gave PMC his first taste of mainstream success with the remix of 'I Need Some Money' obtaining a chart position in the Independent Hip-Hop Chart, distributed by Jetstar Records. It also achieved NO 1 in the Independent Shops Chart in Japan distributed by JVC.



"Now both albums sound good to me and I really appreciate how different they were, compared to the amount of 'same old' that comes out in this market.

After 'Another Sellout' I realised what the potential for bhangra was. Before this I only thought Asian people were into bhangra but from the amount of response I got from everyone I unexpectedly realised that it is appreciated across the board by people of many diverse backgrounds".



P knew that the tracks he had recorded a few years earlier had to be released.

'100% Proof' was released in 1995 as the first desi hip hop album after Nachural Records obtained clearance for 2 Kuldeep Manak Tracks.



Desi heads now regard this album as one of the classics of all time in Bhangra.

'100% Proof' put PMC on the map as the biggest UK DJ Producer and the album was a phenomenal success.



"I wanted to get 'challa' and other tracks legal but we only cleared 2 tracks, I still knew it was enough to get my point across.

When that Hindi music thing happened bhangra just became a little too soft. It wasn't really blowing up the dance floors anymore and I didn't like it".

In 1995 PMC and Ekbal Suree went to Ludhiana, Panjab to try and meet Kuldeep Manak and Surinder Shinda, the godfathers of desi music.



"When I first went to India no one could believe it, they all thought I'd lost it. I mean back in 1995 things weren't the same. Now everyone's using Manak, Shinda, Janjua and Manni but back then those guys were almost untouchable. No one had heard their voices in bhangra and they hadn't been on the scene for around 10 or 20 years. Eky was expecting Shinda to be riding a horse carrying a rifle and chillin with his dhakoo crew and he almost was.



When I came back with my digital tape no one could believe that Manaks voice was on there.



With 'Grass Roots' I put the voices of Janjua, Manni, Shinda and Manak for the first time together on the same track".



It was a big concept that led to the track that has now become the Bhangra National Anthem 'JIND MAHI'."



In 1996 'Grass Roots' became an instant classic album. It was a phenomenal international success.



'Grass Roots' brought the desi vibe to the world and desi became the in thing.

"I heard everyone playing desi music in their cars. Next thing I knew they were pulling out the desi classics".



After the success of '100% Proof' and 'Grass Roots' there were various singles released which included ' Jat Ho Giya Sharabee' and ' Mirza Part 2'. Both singles were taken from the much-anticipated 'Legalised' album.



This was the biggest selling bhangra album ever released. The album became Nachural Records biggest hit, staying at No 1 for longer than any tape before it.



Not only did it sell more units than any tape but it was the first hit tape at a £5 retail price, giving the bhangra industry that much needed boost but also giving PMC recognition as one of the top DJ producers in the world.



"Everyone loves that tape whether they are white, black or brown. I really want to cross this whole thing over to the mainstream. I want to mix tracks that are loved across the board. With 'Legalised' and 'Switchin' I wanted to give the mainstream DJ's something to play. I feel that if they have tracks that they want to run on Asians then they will probably help me to promote them to non Asians as well. What I didn't expect is that some of the biggest DJ's in the country like 'Tim Westwood' and 'The Dream Team', would be into bhangra so much. Now they have had a taste of it they seem to be down with it".



The director of Moviebox Shabir Ahmed had been looking to sign PMC for a while and when he heard him working on his new track 'Bheer' he loved it.

In 2000 PMC and Moviebox linked together for their first release 'Switchin', this EP set new standards for both Moviebox and PMC and became their most successful EP release.



Shabir

"Panjabi MC always surprises me on how he is always on the one level above everybody else".