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.