Godfather of Bhangra
His music is a fusion of contemporary influences with bhangra. Bally Sagoo is a well-known British Asian musician and DJ. He grew up in Birmingham, England and though his father owned an Indian record shop, he was more into soul, dance and reggae music that he often heard on the radio. As a kid he used to mix tapes and be the DJ at his friends’ parties.
hough music was very much a part of him, after graduation, he went on to become a salesman and concentrated on his music during his spare time in his bedroom, which he called “Currywood Studios”. Eventually he sent one of his tapes; a remixed a track called “Hey Jamalo” to the Indian record label Oriental Star in 1989. The record label was highly impressed with his skills and offered him time in the studio to remix some of their artists. His love for Dj-ing and music forced him to follow his dream and he became a full time music producer. The album Wham Bam was released in 1990, which was a collection of his remixes of the label’s bhangra material. The album was a huge hit. He gained recognition and success as a DJ and he soon started revamping old Bollywood hits with hip-hop. The groundbreaking album Magic Touch happened in 1992 featuring Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. This resulted in Nusrat’s acceptance with the younger generation. He signed with Sony Music in 1994 and he took the mainstream music industry by storm.
Bally Sagoo is one of the original pioneers of what is now modern Indian music. His style of music triggered the explosion of modern Bhangra pop music. He established his own production company named Ishq Records. He has also starred in the Punjabi movie Sajna ve Sajna.