Long before Timbaland and Dr. Dre started using Indian music, the English rapper, DJ and producer Panjabi MC was mixing hip hop and jungle with bhangra for years. PMC (aka Rajinder Rai) was born in 1971 in Coventry, England. Ninder Johal of Nachural Records discovered him thanks to his remix of Kuldip Manak's "Ghariah Milan De". His first 12" "Rootz" was very controversial because PMC used a religious Muslim song in it. The 12" was taken off the market; but PMC continued making records. "Mundian To Bach Ke" (1998; frist appeared on the CD "Legalised") which mixed the theme of the TV series "Knight Rider" (already used before by Timbaland & Magoo) with bhangra was already an underground hit when German record company Superstar Recordings - thanks to downloads on the Internet - picked it up and it became a major hit in Germany and then in the rest of Europe, including the UK. Panjabi MC is one of the pioneers of Asian/rap/dance fusion. He is very versatile, using not only hip hop but also styles like jungle (on "100% Proof"), UK garage (on "Desi"), reggae (on "Desi").



web sites:
www.panjabi-mc.com
www.panjabi-mc.de



Discography

1993 Souled Out
1994 Another Sell Out
1995 100% Proof (Nachural Records)
1996 Grass Roots (Nachural Records)
1997 Jatt Ho Giya Sharabi (EP)
1997 Mirza Part 2 (EP)
1998 Legalised (Nachural Records)
2000 Switchin' (EP) (Moviebox)
2001 Dhol Jageroo Da
2002 Desi (Moviebox)
2003 Indian Breaks
2003 Mundian To Bach Ke (Compagnia Nuove Indye)
2003 The Album (German version) (Superstar/Warner; Germany)
2003 The Album (French version) (Scorpio; France)
2003 The Album (UK Version) (Instant Karma)
2003 Beware (US Version of The Album) (Sequence)
2003 Indian Breaks