West London based DJ/Producer collective (comprising four members Rav, Dee, Markie Mark and Amo), Panjabi Hit Squad have been at the forefront of British-Asian music since their formation in the summer of 2001, creating a new genre that fused Bhangra with Street music: 'Desi Beats'.In 2003, "Hai Hai" was a smash hit and considered the second most defining Asian record to cross over to the mainstream market. It was also the first Asian video to reach No.1 in the MTV Base chart.In 2006 Markie Mark left the group, taking up a position at the BBC Asian Network and Amo left to pursue another career. The two remaining members Dee & Rav continue making a massive cultural impact by becoming the voice of British Asian Music and are considered the ambassadors of Desi Beats & BollyHood.
Panjabi Hit Squad have been right at the forefront of British Asian music since their formation in the summer of 2001. The West London based DJ/Producer collective (originally comprising of four members Rav, Dee, Markie and Amo) were originally separate entities in the UK's vibrant Urban music scene.
In 2001 the Panjabi Hit Squad created a new genre that fused Bhangra with Street music: 'Desi Beats'. Their self titled debut album was received well and was number one for many weeks on various Asian charts. The album featured singers from India such as Surinder Shinda, Dildar Preet & Kuldip Paras. The album also featured the track 'Dil Churaliya' which featured Dee from the Panjabi Hit Squad. This track was considered one of the first tracks to bridge R'n'B & Hindi vocals together.
By 2002 Panjabi Hit Squad were already succeeding in their bid to build bridges between 'Desi Beats' and the Urban music scene. The Squad were part of the original launch line-up of BBC's Black Music station BBC 1Xtra and in the years since have built a show that has carved out a reputation for breaking homegrown British Asian talent and winning awards. Their second album 'The Streets' was also released and featured Ranjit Mani, Satwinder Bitti, Manak-E and included a traditional mix of 'Hai Hai'.
The popularity of the Panjabi Hit Squad and their unique production skills resulted in them being signed to Def Jam UK in early 2003. Shortly after, productions for Sway DaSafo, Mariah Carey, Ashanti, Bobby Valentino and Beanie Man followed. Their 2003 mix album released trough Def Jam featured the smash 'Hai Hai' which is considered one of the most defining Asian records to cross over into the mainstream market after Panjabi MC's 'Beware of the Boys'. 'Hai Hai' was also the first Asian video to reach No.1 in the MTV Base chart. Rapper Jay-Z also sampled the Hit Squad's song on the track 'Higher'. The year also came with awards at the UK Asian Music Awards. The Squad were nominated for 3 awards which included Best Club DJ, Best Radio DJ & Commitment to the Scene awards. They walked away with 'Best Radio DJ' & Commitment to the Scene'.
2004 saw the boys being nominated for 'Best Club DJ' at the MOBO Awards in addition to the nominations for 'Best Urban Act' & 'Best Remix' at the EMMA Awards. A New York based record label AV8 Records released Desi Beats to the US Urban market attracting massive attention towards the Squad and getting played in clubs by DJ's such as Mark Ronson, Fatman Scoop and Cipha Sounds.
In 2005 Panjabi Hit Squad produced and released 'Ladies First', the debut album by their discovery Ms Scandalous. In addition to this they won the category of 'Best Specialist Radio Show' at the Asian Music Awards that same year. Whilst the Squad were on a high from winning awards and gaining massive popularity they were picked to DJ at the biggest outdoor event in the world, 'Glastonbury Festival'.
In 2006 the Squad saw a change in members with Markie taking up a position at BBC Asian Network and Amo pursuing another career. It was for the two remaining members of Panjabi Hit Squad (Dee & Rav) to come back strong....Welcome to the world of BollyHood! The first Bollyhood (a fusion of Bollywood with urban beats) artist to come out was Panjabi Hit Squad signing Alyssia. A street track called 'Pyar Hogiya' was released in March 2006 and spent 4 weeks in the BBC Asian Network Top 20, 6 Weeks in Club Asia's T20 Chart and 3 weeks in the Sunrise Radio charts. Quite phenomenal considering the track was not available for commercial release at the time.
In addition to starting work on Alyssia's debut album in 2007, Hit Squad spent time in America recording with various rappers and artists for their album 'Not For Duplication'. In August, the duo were signed up to present their second radio show on the BBC Asian Network every Saturday afternoon. In an article in Music Week magazine Panjabi Hit Squad were named amongst the top 10 UK Urban DJ's.
2008 started off with the release of Alyssia's self titled debut album. The first single 'Deewana' spent weeks in the top 10 of many Asian music charts & her second single 'Tera Pyar' became one of the hottest songs of 2008. Also riding high on the release of 'Alyssia' Panjabi Hit Squad found time to collaborate with R'n'B star Jay Sean on the remix to his first single 'Ride it' which went to number 12 in the UK charts & his next single 'Maybe'. Canadian star Raghav also tapped the Squad to remix his single 'My Kinda Girl' featuring Redman. In an interview with a West Midlands radio station, the boys revealed that they were recording a new E.P called 'World Famous', anticipated to be released in May 2009 and which will be accompanied by a World Famous Tour
From Wikipedia:Panjabi Hit Squad are a group of Asian artists signed to the UK imprint of Hip-Hop giant, Def Jam. The members all grew up in Southall, UK. As well as working with various high-profile acts such as Mariah Carey, Ashanti, and Sway, they also work with community projects such as youth project BBC Blast where they have appeared at workshops on the Blast tour. They performed live on the 9th August 2009 at the well renowned, Edinburgh Mela, along with Alyssia. Their song "Kuriyeh" appeared in the 2008 Hollywood film, The Accidental Husband.