Panjabi MC (Event Over)

Panjabi MC entered into the music industry in 1993. He began by writing lyrics and rapping at gigs. The people that saw him perform started to call him the Indian MC. He explained to them that there was no language called Indian but in actual fact the non English words that he would use in his raps were in Panjabi (a language from northern India). This is how the name Panjabi MC came about.
After countless hours in the studio, making beats and putting raps down Panjabi MC’s first demo was ready and being promoted before the end of 1993. He incorporated onto his unique style of production classic Panjabi songs and legendary recording artists and created something new and vibrant for the fans he was gaining. PMC took inspirations from people such as James Brown, KRS1, Dr Dre, Spike Lee and Bob Marley, which were his influences from the western world and from his own cultural background he was influenced by Kuldip Manak, Surinder Shinda and Chamkila who are some of Indians greatest legends.

There were very few Asian rappers at that time and it was PMC who took traditional Panjabi music and merged it with hip hop and R&B records .A new sound for Bhangra was born and the PMC brand had began to spread to countries all around the world. PMC has released 10 albums via independent Bhangra labels from the UK. These albums were sold through outlets which were based around the Asian communities. Even though these albums seldom found their way into mainstream shops, they turned out to be bestsellers in his own community.

It was in 1999 when PMC began to experience that the western world people other than that of Asian or Indian backgrounds were actually listening to his music. Tim Westwood, a hip hop DJ from Radio 1 UK began to play one of PMC’s tracks, Mundian To Bach Ke. From this point onwards more and more mainstream DJ’s and radio stations began to pick up on Panjabi MC’s style of Music.
In 2002 mainstream record companies all over the world released Mundian To Bach Ke as a single and followed up with an album which was put together from all of Panjabi MC’s previous work released via the independent bhangra labels. Following on from the release PMC travelled across the globe performing in clubs, on festival stages and for TV audiences. P’s music was now being listened to by people of all colours, cultures and races all over the world. The sound of Bhangra had finally crossed over to the mainstream. Panjabi MC was the first Asian artists to take Bhangra to the next level, thus gaining him an award at the World Music Festival in Monte Carlo.

The success of Mundian To Bach Ke was taken to another level when Jay Z one of the biggest rappers from America featured on the record and rapped two verses. This led to a white label craze and artists such as BabySham, Twista and Beanie Man all wanted to be a part of the Bhangra sound.

PMC has picked up numerous awards winning Best Dance Act at MTV Europe, UK Act of the Year at the Mobo’s and Best Dance Track in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The record charted Top Ten in most countries around the world reaching the number one spot in Italy. Having almost played to audiences in every country in the world PMC is back with a brand new album the he brands as being “produced on tour”. This album boasts 20 tracks of Panjabi Magic and was released in the UK in 2009.