March, 2010

“ABU DHABI – The 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship opens in Abu Dhabi on 26/27 March, returning to the United Arab Emirates capital for the sixth consecutive year. The world’s top 15 pilots will start their six-month long battle for championship points in the first of eight races on a total of five continents.”

March 15, 2010 - A new era of Bhangra is stampeding towards us. Leading the herd is none other than the multi-talented, multi-lingual and unapologetic Prince of Bhangra, Des-C. Tastemakers have hailed him as the ‘Future of Bhangra’ for the rich vocals, superb lyrics and sick beats that he has brought to his debut album, First Flight, and to massive Bhangra and Hindi tracks forMentor Kolektiv, Rishi Rich D-Boy, Sef and Bollywood. Des-C’s innate musical skills, personal struggle to climb to the top, and drive to see change in the music industry sets him apart as a force to be reckoned with.

Aren’t all musicians rolling in dough? Although glossy videos make it seem like all artists have it made and live glamorous lives, Des-C has definitely worked hard to be known as a formidable force in the music business, and believes that struggle helps create music.

“I believe a true singer has to experience some hardship in their lives. I see a lot of artists these days just getting deals without having put any hard work in the first place. It seriously makes me feel upset. I used to be pizza delivery driver for Dominos and I’m not ashamed about it. I delivered a pizza to an Asian family and an old guy opened the door. As I was leaving, his daughter recognized me and I was very shocked. People generally think that artists are rich enough to not hold down normal ‘9-5′ jobs. They seriously don’t know about the struggles that certain artists go through. This is the reality of the Asian music industry.”

Instead of just busting out recycled beats, computerized vocals as well as cliché lyrics that are sure to be a ‘club hit’, he uses his music as a soap box to break stereotypes of what makes banging South Asian music. The typical drunken song may be standard for many artists, but Des-C is vehemently against the negative correlation between Punjabi culture and alcohol.

“Traditional Punjabi music culture goes hand in hand with alcoholism. Taboos do not surround the music and I want to eradicate this. I am not fond of singing about getting drunk in every track. It’s just not original and it’s just not me.”

So what is Des-C? Quality, creativity and innovation – and ‘First Flight’ is jam packed of it all! With co-production from heavy hitters Jags Klimax, Tigerstyle, D-Boy and Alan Sampson the album proves that it is a new day for Desi music. Des-C made a name for himself early on in his career sending Mentor Kolektive’s ‘Pasand’ and Rishi Rich’s single ‘Majajane’ to instant hit status. In 2007, he co-wrote the massive track, ‘Move Your Body’ from the Bollywood film Johnny Gaddar. The song features Hard Kaur and was produced by musical powerhouse Shankar Ehsaan, Loy.

Des-C’s record ‘Jiska Husna’ is a definite killer classic for the ages. A mixture of Hindi and Punjabi lyrics, the single is produced by music maker du jour D-Boy and written by Des-c. It takes a fresh look at Bhangra through a modern romantic narrative.

Please Download ‘Jiska Husna’ and enjoy the sound of Bhangra 2010.

Ink’s CEO, Fariha Rashed, was recently interviewed by popular international online magazine, The Saturday Post.



March 8th, 2010 – Being a part of a massively successful musical group means you are constantly on the move and facing new adventures every day. The boys from The Bilz & Kashif have been busy putting the final touches on their sophomore album, Breaking Barriers – but somehow they have found time to get involved with some other pretty cool projects along the way.

The Bilz & Kashif, known for fusing Bhangra music with Urban/Pop and electro will headline Canadian Music Week’s Spotlight on India on March 12th. The weeklong festival will feature Billboard charting acts like Our Lady Peace and Ke$ha.  How does it feel to represent the growing urban sound of South Asia? Kashif says, “This is probably the best thing to happen for Canadian artists like us. This event has been a major part of the industry for a while and for CMW to acknowledge the growth of South Asian artists makes us really proud to headline this segment. Thanks to BlueBand Musiq for making this happen. We’re moving forward and breaking barriers!”

The Bilz & Kashif offered an exclusive gift for their fans on Valentine’s Day – a free download of their version of the popular song ‘BedRock’ by Young Money entitled ‘Candy Girl’ which features The Bilz & Kashif alongside Nivla & Drega. The promotional video for “Candy Girl” charted #9 on YouTube’s most viewed song in two days. The Bilz & Kashif will be releasing another free promo track featuring a U.K rapper early this month along with a house version of “Against All Odds” remixed by DJ Notorious (Mumbai). Visit their Facebook page for more details.

While The Bilz & Kashif strive to bring their sound to a worldwide audience, their North American appeal has landed them a feature article in Street Report Magazine. The publication, based in Atlanta, has featured top platinum selling artists from the music industry including Usher, Ludacris, Plies & T.I. Vicious says “The editor hit me up on Twitter and just fell in love with our latest video – Against All Odds. She’s been in the loop since our 2 Step Bhangra days and acknowledged the struggle and consistency we deliver every time we put something out.”

In today’s industry, what is a hit record without a hit video? The Bilz & Kashif’s latest video, ‘Against All Odds’ which has gained over 100,000 views in 3 months on YouTube, has entered the 2010 Reel World Film Festival in Toronto in the music video category. The video chronicles the boys’ struggle to make it in the music industry – supporting themselves by day and honing their craft by night. Their inspirational message to follow your dreams is masterfully captured in the video.

While all of these other exciting projects have been going on, The Bilz & Kashif have found the time to finish Breaking Barriers. The album features a great fusion of South Asian, Pop/ R&B and electro sounds. The album will be available for pre-order on iTunes next month.