Punjabi Pop Prince
One would expect that being the younger brother of Daler Mehndi would cause you to fall in the shadows of the popular brother’s fame and glory. Mika Singh was an exception; he chose to create a distinctive personality for himself and still choose the same line of work. Flamboyant cloths, punk rock personality and singing with an attitude; Mika Singh is nothing like his elder.
Perhaps it was because he came from a family of musicians, Singh always knew what he wanted to do; sing! From a very early age, he showed his talent by mastering instruments like the tabla, harmonium and guitar. Being trained in classical music, he started his singing career from kirtans. Somewhere along the line, he became one of India’s leading bhangra-pop-rap artists. His first album Sawan Mein Lag Gayee Aag that was released in 1998 was a hit. He has several other successful albums such as Out Of Control Punjabis, Jaan Qurban, Something Something and Nazrein Milane Wali. Singh is also a very successful playback singer in Bollywood. It seems that almost all his songs have become chart-topping hits. Some of his popular songs are Dil Todke Na Ja from Pyar Ke Side Effects, Dil Mein Baji Guitar from Apna Sapna Money Money, Ganpat from Shootout at Lokhandwala, To Talli Ho Gayee from Ugly Aur Pagly, title tracks for Singh is King and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.
Often referred to as the Prince of the Punjabi Pop, this modern day Punjabi singer takes traditional Punjabi music to the next level by adding a touch of hip hop and rap into his music! He is the one who introduced singing with an attitude to Bollywood. Not being a fan of modesty, his is a self-declared favorite in the music industry, and he certainly is!
Prince of Bhangra
Often referred to as the Prince of Bhangra, he is one of India’s leading Punjabi singers. Sukhbir grew up in Nairobi, Kenya where his father was a priest at the local Gurudwara. From a young age he practiced kirtans on the harmonium; this was the basis of his singing career. After discovering his talent, businessman Ketan Somaiyya suggested that Sukhbir start a career in the music industry. With the support of his father, his journey began to stardom.
From Nairobi to London, from London to Dubai; he traveled to various places in the name of his career. Finally he released his debut album in Dubai titled New Stylee. The album had many foreign influences. His second album Gal Ban Gayi was a huge success for which he received a platinum disc. The album Hai Energy contained hit songs like Ishq tera tardpaye, which is Sukhbir's most popular song and Sauda Khara Khara. Sukhbir is no typical bhangra singer, he likes to mix it up with rap, techno and reggae resulting in more flavor. But his fusion sound does not restrain him from using original bhangra instruments like the dhol and dholak. He can sing in nine languages; his Oi Triesto album contained songs sung in Spanish and Portuguese while he used instruments like tablas, congos, guitars and keyboards.
Winner of the recent Masala Lifestyle awards, he has collaborated with musicians like Shaan and Pakistan’s Shehzad Roy.Though he knows that his music is appealing to the public, he is humble enough to admit that he has stiff competition with Daler Mehndi and Malkit Singh. His lyrical inspirations have also come from his childhood. Aother big influence for him was the Jagjit Singh. Sukhbir claims that if he weren’t a bhangra singer then he would have sung ghazals.
New Age Punjabi Singer
The British bhangra singer from Southall in London has gained a huge fan following in India. Juggy D got his name from his first name Jagwinder which became Juggy, and the D from his last name Dhaliwal. Juggy D has been performing since the age of 14. He made his breakthrough alongside Jay Sean. Juggy D has also appeared on numerous crossover singles with some of the biggest stars such as Madonna, Ricky Martin, Mary J Blige and Craig David.
Juddy D has gone from an unknown kid, working as a chef in order to support his hobby singing in pubs to becoming one of the leading lights of both UK and global Asia music scene all in a span of just two years. In 2004, Juggy D established himself as the first Punjabi singer to make a dent on the mainstream music scene when his self-titled album entered UK top 75 album chart. He was the first Punjabi singer to achieve this. It also reached top 20 in the HMV album charts, which was a remarkable achievement. Although he had always been into traditional Punjabi music, after being introduced to producer Rishi Rich, he started experimenting with more western R&B and hip-hop sounds. His talent was immediately recognized by all. Since then, he made steady progress towards his fully-fledged solo career. Juggy D has also made a track collaborating with rising star Veronica and Rishi Rich in the Bollywood movie Hum Tum. He, Veronica, and Jay Sean also have guest appearances in the Bollywood film Kyaa Kool Hai Hum.
He is truly a new age Punjabi singer, mixing new sound to the traditional Punjabi music. Artists like him take Indian Punjabi music to a global level. He is definitely a favorite to all Punjabi music lovers.
Ingenious voice of Sukhwinder Singh
As a child, though he was a very talented singer, his dream was to be an athlete. Sukhwinder Singh gave his first musical performance at the age of eight, and from then he knew it was singing that he wanted to pursue. Though Singh had done playback in several Bollywood movies, none of his songs really clicked and he never made it big. Realizing that he needed to broaden his musical horizon, he took a short break from the music scene in India and toured vastly over England and America to learn the various forms of music. Once he felt that he found what he was looking for, he returned to India to kick-start his career with a bang.
It was the music director A.R. Rahaman who gave Singh the opportunity to sing in the film Dil Se. The song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” became a chart-topping hit. The video for the song; with Sha Rukh Khan dancing on top of the train became one of the most popular videos of the year. But the song, the train and video would have been incomplete if it weren’t for Singh’s amazing high-pitched husky voice. His songs like Chak De India, Dard-e-Disco and Fashion Ka Jalwa are some of his most recognized songs. The song Haule Haule from the movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi won him another Filmfare Best Male Playback Award. The movie Slumdog Millionaire along with its song Jai Ho was highly praised both internationally and nationally.
While the song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" won him the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award and won him fame and recognition in India, it was his Academy Award winning song; "Jai Ho" from the movie Slumdog Millionaire that won took him to an International front. Sukhwinder Singh is one of India favorite singers.
The Original Folksta
When you think of Punjabi singers, it is hard not to think of Jazzy B. This Bhangra singer and songwriter spent most of his life in Vancouver, Canada but never forgot his roots. He introduced a fresh new image to the world of Bhangra.
Jaswinder Singh Bains aka Jazzy B came out with his debut album was Ghugian Da Jhora in 1993 which was a huge it. He continued to give smashing hits such as Dil Aah Gey Ya Tere Te, Londono Patola, Husna Di Sarkar, Naag, Tere Roop and Oh Kedi. With talented Bhangra record producer Sukshinder Shinda, known as “The Music Man”, he has released thirteen successful albums, two of them, which are religious. One of the reasons for his longevity in the music industry is believed to be his exclusive collaboration with Shinda. He is often compared to his role model Kuldip Manak. He has fans far and wide. He has done concerts in Canada, England, the United States, and many other parts of the world where there is a large Desi population. The 2005 Balle - Romeo Tour that promoted his album Romeo, played at various venues around the world including Toronto, which attracted a record crowd of over 65,000.
He made his acting debut with the movie Shaheed Udam Singh for which his music was also featured. He also made a cameo appearance in Teesri Aankh performing the Indi-pop song "Chuk De Punjabi" and admitted that he’s interested in acting and would consider big roles coming his way. There are no boundaries or limits for Jazzy B. His videos are lavish and groundbreaking. His popularity and success in Bhangra can be attributed to his style, which is quite different from other artists in the genre. He has become the best-selling Bhangra artist in the world.
Daler Mehndi India’s Pop Artist
Daler Mehndi is one of India’s leading bhangra/pop singers. Mehndi was a student of traditional Punjabi music and his first album broke sales records in India. He has recorded several highly successful albums in India, and also sung in several Bollywood movies. His international popularity has grown in recent years allowing him to tour the United States.
As a Sikh, born and raised in Patna, he began singing at age 6 and was taught the ragas and Shabads from the Guru Granth Sahib by his parents. At age fourteen he spent three years refining his voice and learning the tabla, dholak/dhool, harmonium and tanpura from Late Ustad Raahat Ali Khan Saheb of Gorakhpur. Mehndi then moved to San Francisco, United States and worked as a cab driver before returning to India in 1991 and forming a band. Initially he sang Afghan songs, and ghazals inspired by the poets Qateel Shifai and Firaq Gorakhpuri. Mehndi eventually switched from classical music to pop, and in 1995 his first album Bolo Ta Ra Ra, with tunes based on those given to him by his mother. The album sold over 20 million copies in just four months making him the best selling non-soundtrack album in Indian music history. His album song "Tunak Tunak Tun" is an Internet phenomenon. He received the Award for Voice of Asia International Ethnic and Pop Music Contest in 1994.
Daler Mehndi specializes in a type of Hindi-Pop that he infuses with Rababi singing, a Sikh musical tradition that sounds similar to that of Techno, dance, and house music, with folk sounds of an Indian tabla being played in the background. His popularity and the concurrent revival of Bhangra music is thought to be driven by the ease of dancing to it and a national pride in the Indian people.