Panjabi MC
Panjabi MC at London Mela in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Rajinder Singh Rai
Origin	Coventry, England
Genres	Turntablism, Bhangra, Hip-hop, Downtempo, Asian Underground
Occupations	Musician
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Superstar Recordings (Germany) Urban Records PMC Records (UK) Universal (India)
Associated acts	Jay-Z, Twista, Snap!, Labh Janjua
Website	Official website

Rajinder Singh Rai (Punjabi: ਰਜਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ; born in Coventry, England), better known by his stage name Panjabi MC is a British Indian musician. He is best known for the worldwide bhangra hit "Mundian To Bach Ke" (1998).

Career [link]

Rajinder Singh adopted his stage name from the Punjabi language he used in the music he plays and raps.^[1] "One of [his] main goals is to fuse the two worlds [of bhangra and hip-hop]."^[2]

Nachural Records signed Panjabi MC following a remix of Kuldeep Manak's "Ghariah Milan De". Although the single was taken off the market, Panjabi MC continued making records. Another successful release was "Mundian To Bach Ke" ("Beware of the Boys") (1998; it first appeared on the album Legalised) which mixed the theme of the TV series Knight Rider with bhangra. An underground hit on the internet, it was picked up by the German record label Superstar Recordings, and became a hit in Germany and across Europe, including the UK. A version of this recording in 2003 featured American rapper Jay-Z named "Beware of the Boys".

His work, particularly the early singles and the "Mundian To Bach Ke" remix with Jay-Z, brought bhangra to a global audience via the BBC. He continues to produce music and is ever popular as a collaborator and remixer. In 2004 he made music called Mirza and mixed this song with Turkish singer Mustafa Sandal's Isyankar, but they did not release the mixed version.^[3]

His album Indian Timing was released in 2008.

His music video "Snake Charmer" was screened at Deejay Ra's music video night in Toronto at the FILMI festival, North America's longest running South Asian film festival.

Sampling [link]

On "Indian Timing", Panjabi MC uses vocal samples from Ofra Haza's "Im Nin'Alu". He used "Planet Rock" ("Pyar Wich (Planet Rock Remix)" on Legalised) before Afrika Bambaataa recorded "Indian Planet Rock". On “Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee”, Panjabi MC uses the theme music from the TV show Magnum, P.I. "Mundian To Bach Ke" (along with the subsequent remix version featuring Jay-Z, "Beware of the Boys") uses the bassline from the television show Knight Rider.^[2]

Television work [link]

In 2001, Panjabi MC made his Canadian premiere at the Payal Banquet Hall in Mississauga (Ontario). Deejay Ra hosted a TV special covering the event entitled "The Bhangramentary", which was aired on the Asian Television Network (ATN). His single, "Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee", from Beware, was featured on the television show Heroes (episode 2, Don't Look Back, which aired October 2, 2006). The single "Mundian To Bach Ke" was featured in an episode of Queer as Folk and in the 2002 movie Bend It Like Beckham. The song "Yaaran Kollon Sikh Kuriye" was featured in the show Wild Boyz as a music video. Panjabi MC has appeared on Top of the Pops, from which the video to "Mundian To Bach Ke" began to appear on music channels across the globe.

Together with Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi, Panjabi MC remixed the popular song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the Bollywood film, Dil Se... This song was used as the background during opening credits for the Hollywood movie Inside Man. Their song "Land of Five Rivers", used as a theme song for the WWE wrestler The Great Khali,^[4] features on Voices: WWE The Music, Vol. 9.

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

• Rootz
• Souled Out (1993, Nachural Records)
• Another Sell Out (1994, Nachural Records)
• 100% Proof (1995, Nachural Records)
• Grass Roots (1996, Nachural Records)
• Magic Desi (1996)
• Legalised (1998, Nachural Records)
• Dhol Jageroo Da (2001, Moviebox)
• Desi (2002, Moviebox)
• Indian Breaks (2003, Compagnia Nuove Indye)
• Mundian To Bach Ke (2003, Compagnia Nuove Indye)
• The Album (German version: Superstar/Warner; Germany) (French version: Scorpio; France) (UK Version: Instant Karma) (2003)
• Beware (U.S. version of the album) (2003, Sequence)
• Steel Bangle (2005, Moviebox)
• Indian Timing (2008, PMC Records)
• The Raj (2010, PMC Records)
• 56 Districts (2012, PMC Records)

Compilation albums [link]

• Illegal with the support from manpreet singh (2006, Nupur Audio)

EPs [link]

• Jatt Ho Gya Sharabi (1996, Nachural Records)
• Mirza Part Two (1997, Nachural Records)
• Switchin' (2000, Moviebox)

Singles [link]

• "Dhol Jageero Da" (2001)
• "Backstabbers" (with Mark Morrison and Daz Dillinger) (2002)
• "Mundian To Bach Ke" (2002) - UK #5^[5]
• "Jogi" (2003) - UK #25^[5]
• "Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee" (2005)
• "Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga" (2006)
• "Snake Charmer" (2009)
• "Panjaban" (2009)
• "Jodi - Big Day Party" (featuring Kuldeep Manak)(2010)
• "Moorni" (featuring Ashok Gill)(2010)
• "Akh Da Eshara" (featuring Lehmber Hussainpuri)(2010)
• "Jatti" (featuring Jelly Manjitpuri)(2011)
• "Bari Barsi (12 months)" (featuring Ashok Gill)(2012)

Awards [link]

• 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards - Best Dance Act^{[citation needed]}
• 2003 MOBO Awards - Best UK Act^{[citation needed]}
• 2003 UK Asian Music Awards - Best Single Bhangra - "Mundian To Bach Ke"^[6]
• 2003 World Music Awards - World's Best Indian Artist
• 2011 Punjabi Music Awards - Best Sound Recording - "Moorni"

References [link]

External links [link]

• BBC Asian Network - Video and interview about 'Indian Timing'
• www.panjabi-mc.com
• MTV Artist profile
• www.cnimusic.it/panjabimc.htm
• CNN Interview
• BBC Interview
• YouTube Interview
• 'The Raj New Album Information'
• Interview with Panjabi MC on 10th May 2012 on All FM on the Ravi Apnabeat and Gorilla Chilla radio show