DJ Rekha
Encyclopedia
DJ Rekha is a London
-born musician
, DJ, producer, curator, and activist. She has been credited with pioneering Bhangra music in North America. Her first album, DJ Rekha Presents Basement Bhangra, released in October 2007 on Koch Records
, fuses the Indian genre of bhangra music with international hip-hop and drum beats.
, India
. She credits this time in India as critical for exposure to Punjabi
, the primary language of bhangra. She returned to London briefly until her family moved to Queens, New York. DJ Rekha spent most of her adolescence in Westbury, Long Island and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Queens College with a degree in Urban Studies while simultaneously experimenting and honing her craft on the turntables
.
on Varick Street
. Since its launch in 1997, Basement Bhangra has popularized the traditional-modern bhangra blend, making the genre a part of the NYC club scene.
DJ Rekha has brought South Asian music to New York by spinning at events like P.S. 1's Warm Up Series, Central Park's
Summerstage
, Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum's
First Saturdays, and the annual flagship Loving Day
celebration held in New York City. She arranged the music for Bridge and Tunnel, the [Tony Award] winning Off-Broadway show. Newsweek recognized her as one of the most influential South Asians in the US, and she has received accolades from The New York Times
, CNN
, The Fader, The Village Voice
, and The Washington Post
, among others.
Her recent album, DJ Rekha Presents Basement Bhangra, is a 17 track mix CD with four exclusive tracks including two original productions from Rekha. DJ Rekha has collaborated with an array of artists including Wyclef Jean
, Panjabi MC
, and Bikram Singh
to name a few. The album weaves Punjabi folk traditions, dance hall rhythms from the U.S., U.K. and Jamaica
, and DJ techniques that are 100% New York.
is Hindi
for "confluence" — a place where two rivers flow together), a production company that produces live concerts and provides music consulting services to record labels, cultural institutions, media companies, and corporations. DJ Rekha produces live events and her monthly parties, Basement Bhangra and Bollywood Disco through Sangament, Inc.
, a human rights
organization, and Pop and Politics. She lectures extensively at colleges and institutions about Bhangra and South Asian cultural production. She was NYU Asian/Pacific/American's Artist in Residence and taught a class on South Asian Popular Culture.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-born musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, DJ, producer, curator, and activist. She has been credited with pioneering Bhangra music in North America. Her first album, DJ Rekha Presents Basement Bhangra, released in October 2007 on Koch Records
Koch Records
E1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
, fuses the Indian genre of bhangra music with international hip-hop and drum beats.
Early life
DJ Rekha spent the first year of her life in London, and the following three years in New DelhiNew Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. She credits this time in India as critical for exposure to Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
, the primary language of bhangra. She returned to London briefly until her family moved to Queens, New York. DJ Rekha spent most of her adolescence in Westbury, Long Island and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Queens College with a degree in Urban Studies while simultaneously experimenting and honing her craft on the turntables
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
.
Music
DJ Rekha performs at a monthly event known as Basement Bhangra at SOB'sSOB's
SOB's is a live music venue and restaurant in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. The New York Times writes: For a mixed crowd of all ages and all dance abilities, there’s Saturday’s Samba Soul at S.O.B.’s, after 26 years the city’s longest-running...
on Varick Street
Varick Street
Varick Street runs north-south in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Varick Street originates in TriBeCa, at the intersection of Leonard Street and West Broadway. It runs through the western portions of TriBeCa, Hudson Square and the West Village, where it merges with Seventh Avenue South...
. Since its launch in 1997, Basement Bhangra has popularized the traditional-modern bhangra blend, making the genre a part of the NYC club scene.
DJ Rekha has brought South Asian music to New York by spinning at events like P.S. 1's Warm Up Series, Central Park's
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
Summerstage
Summerstage
SummerStage is an annual, free performing arts summer festival founded in 1986 which takes place at Rumsey Playfield in New York City's Central Park and, since 2010, in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York. In 1994, SummerStage was transferred to the City Parks Foundation, where it has...
, Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum's
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
First Saturdays, and the annual flagship Loving Day
Loving Day
Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in 16 states citing "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial...
celebration held in New York City. She arranged the music for Bridge and Tunnel, the [Tony Award] winning Off-Broadway show. Newsweek recognized her as one of the most influential South Asians in the US, and she has received accolades from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, The Fader, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, and The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, among others.
Her recent album, DJ Rekha Presents Basement Bhangra, is a 17 track mix CD with four exclusive tracks including two original productions from Rekha. DJ Rekha has collaborated with an array of artists including Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Panjabi MC
Panjabi MC
Rajinder Singh Rai , better known by his stage name Panjabi MC is a British Indian musician.-Career:...
, and Bikram Singh
Bikram Singh
Bikram Singh is an American bhangra music artist. A graduate of Touro Law School, he also works as an attorney in New York City.-Early years:...
to name a few. The album weaves Punjabi folk traditions, dance hall rhythms from the U.S., U.K. and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and DJ techniques that are 100% New York.
Entrepreneur
In 2000, DJ Rekha founded Sangament (sangamSangam (disambiguation)
-Tamil history:* Tamil Sangams, legendary assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets in the remote past* Sangam period, the earliest period of South Indian history, when the Tamil Sangams were held.*Sangam literature, a collection of Tamil literature...
is Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
for "confluence" — a place where two rivers flow together), a production company that produces live concerts and provides music consulting services to record labels, cultural institutions, media companies, and corporations. DJ Rekha produces live events and her monthly parties, Basement Bhangra and Bollywood Disco through Sangament, Inc.
Activist
Because she has almost single-handedly spearheaded New York's bhangra scene, Rekha is regarded as a pioneer in the South Asian music community. She supports a wide range of causes related to South Asians. DJ Rekha serves on the boards of BreakthroughBreakthrough (human rights)
Breakthrough is a global not-for-profit organization that uses pop culture to promote human rights. Breakthrough's stated mission is to "empower individuals and communities to stand for universal human rights by using multimedia tools that transform hearts and minds." They promote a message of...
, a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization, and Pop and Politics. She lectures extensively at colleges and institutions about Bhangra and South Asian cultural production. She was NYU Asian/Pacific/American's Artist in Residence and taught a class on South Asian Popular Culture.