Dhol Jageero Da

A 2021 viral Boiler Room set shows a turbaned Sikh man at the decks, so enclosed by hordes of people (all from different backgrounds, some wearing traditional South Asian dress)  that  he keeps getting almost knocked off his feet. The man is Young Singh, one of the founders of  Daytimers, a collective of British south Asian creatives, and when the set kicks off with sweet, folksy vocals and dholak beats the audience loses it. The track is “Kori (Giddah)” from Dhol Jageero Da,  the seminal 2001 bhangra album (a few years before his track  “Mundian To Bach Ke” would introduce this sound to the world) by Panjabi MC. Every track on this album is a killer, mixing South Asian folk elements with the syncopated rhythms of UK garage. As the main players in the resurgent South Asian underground scene know, Dhol Jageero Da  is a truly  foundational record.