Habib Wahid
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Habib Wahid, better known as Habib, is a popular Bangladeshi composer and musician. He is notable for his fusion of traditional Bengali folk music with contemporary techno and urban beats. He takes folk music and remixes with popular music forms. He takes songs of composers like Hason Raja, Shah Abdul Karim, Amir Uddin and others and remixes the tunes with Hip-hop, reggae, rap and electronica.
[edit] Life and career
Habib's father Ferdous Wahid was one of the trailblazers of Bangla pop music in the 1970s and 1980s. Habib started to pick up tunes on his father's keyboard from the time he was a little boy. Later, he studied music and audio engineering at the School of Audio Engineering in London. During this time, he had the opportunity to work with Asian Underground pioneer Nitin Sawhney among others.
Habib conceived his first folk-remix album Krishno while he was still a student in London. "I had the concept and even the tracks arranged..and was looking for a vocalist," he said. Kaya, the vocalist Habib was looking for is a Sylheti restaurant owner in London and amateur singer. The first few songs arising from their collaboration proved to be unexpected hits on the underground scene, both in London and in Dhaka. Krishno was a success when it was eventually released in Bangladesh, its unique blend of age-old folk and modern electronica introducing a radically new sound to the Dhaka music scene.
Since then, Habib has released two more albums: Maya (2004) and Moyna Go (2005). Both have been bestsellers. His latest Eid album in Shono Habib features new voices in all his albums. Besides Kaya he uses Helal, Julie, Konica,and Nirjhor. In the album, "Moyna Go" Habib himself appears singing two new romantic songs. In "Moyna Go" he also has his father, Ferdous Wahid singing a song and a folk song sung by Milon Mahmood. Habib also has little rap, r&b, hip-hop, and reggae type add-ins to songs that fit things like that done by Kunle. Habib has established himself as one of the most popular and promising young musicians in the country.In October 2006 Habib released another album: Shono.
Habib is touring, with upcoming shows in Toronto and Montreal. Habib's Canadian success is managed by Feroz Haq, who is the founder of the International Habib Fan Club (better known as I.H.F.C.). As Habib continues to gain international success, his future goals include "bringing the bohawk into the mainstream." Despite of Habib's popularity, he remains to be extremely modest, calling his work "average at best." However, fans disagree and they've graced him with the nickname of "Voice Doctor (V.D)." For his contribution of different type of music he is referred by some as "Bengali A. R. Rahman", an obvious reference to A R Rahman, a South Asian composer.
