| Rabbi Shergill | |
|---|---|
Rabbi Performing |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gurpreet Singh Shergill |
| Born | 1973 |
| Origin | Delhi, India |
| Genres | Punjabi, Rock, Sufi, IndiPop |
| Occupations | Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 2004 – present |
| Labels | Phat Phish Records, Yash Raj Music |
| Website | http://www.rabbishergill.com |
Rabbi Shergill (born Gurpreet Singh Shergill, 1973) in Jatt Sikh family is an Indian musician well known for his debut album Rabbi and the chart-topper song of 2005, "Bulla Ki Jaana". His music has been described variously as rock, Punjabi, with a bani style melody, and[1] Sufiana, and "semi-Sufi semi-folksy kind of music with a lot of Western arrangements."[2] Rabbi has been called "Punjabi music's true urban balladeer".[2]
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After leaving college Rabbi formed a band called Kaffir which struggled to get professional performances. The band played in a few college fests but with time the other members of the band decided to move over to the corporate world. Rabbi, was committed to music and was clear that he wanted to be a professional musician. He composed jingles for a while, some of them were for Yamaha RX-T motorbikes, and Times FM.[1] Rabbi struggled for many years to get his debut album published. Initially he worked with Sony Music, but Sony backed out. He then approached Minty Tejpal, brother of Tehelka's editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who liked his music and offered him a contract. Soon after Tehelka ran into financial problems and eventually cancelled the contract. Magnasound also offered him a contract, but the company became bankrupt before the album could materialize. He was finally signed on by Phat Phish Records, on which he released his debut album in 2004.
His first album Rabbi was released in 2004. Relying on word-of-mouth publicity and a music video, Rabbi Shergill was an instant success. The song "Bulla Ki Jaana" was the most frequently played non-film song of 2005 in India. The song "Bulla Ki Jaana" was also requested to be included in movies like Waisa bhi hota hai part II and Paap but was rejected by Rabbi. The other songs in the album include songs of joy ("Ajj Nachna"), love ("Tere Bin") and even on contemporary issues ("Jugni").
Most of the songs in the album were composed and written by Rabbi himself except for "Bulla ki Jana" based on the poetry of 18th century Muslim Sufi mystic Baba Bulleh Shah, "Heer" from Heer by Waris Shah and "Ishtihar" by Shiv Kumar Batalvi.
Rabbi has since worked as a music director and lyricist for the Hindi movie, Delhii Heights. He has also performed at the World Social Forum in Brazil, played at the inauguration of the Tri-Continental Film Festival in New Delhi and various other Live Shows.
On April 9, 2008, Nokia India announced that Shergill's album, Avengi Ja Nahin, would be available exclusively on its Nseries range of multimedia devices for a period of one month prior to its audio cd release.[3] The album contains nine songs and deals with issues like communal violence, social responsibility and the need for “collective morality”.[4][5]
Shergill's principal contribution to music lies in the use of Punjabi — which previously had a reputation similar to that of either Bhangra or traditional folk — to create acoustic rock-based ballads, providing a new musical perspective to this language. And with his poetic, socially relevant lyrics and an adult alternative sound, Shergill instantly connected with an urban crowd who loved him for his genuine and original approach to his songs. His songs are deeply philosophical and blend archaic, almost lost, Punjabi phrases into far more recent Indian rock music with great ease.
Rabbi's music has been inspired by Rock as well as Sufi and Punjabi folk music. His favourite musicians include Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Jimmy Page.
Rabbi's father was a Sikh preacher and his mother is a college principal and also a Punjabi poet. Rabbi has four sisters. He is an alumnus of Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate and University of Delhi's renowned Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College. After college, he went for further studies at the Fore School of Management but dropped out a year later.
His fans include Amitabh Bachchan and Sir V. S. Naipaul, who famously commented, "I didn’t understand it (his music); but it was very, very soulful, very deep." Mira Nair compared him to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
The name Rabbi means God-facing and originates from the Punjabi word Rabb (God). Which originally came from Arabic word "Rabb" which means Lord/Master/Creator/Who sustains and develops.