Lehmber Hussainpuri

Lehmber Hussainpuri (Punjabi: ਲਹਿੰਬਰ ਹੁਸੈਨਪੁਰੀ, lahimbar husainpurī pronounced [lǽmbər husɛːnpuri]; born 17 July 1977 in Punjab, India). He is a popular Bhangra singer^[1] in India, UK, US, and Canada.

Career

Hussainpuri first appeared on the mainstream Bhangra scene in 2001 through Mukhtar Sahota on a track titled Sanu Sohni Lagdi. His next song was the renowned Das Ja on the album Hype by DJ Sanj. Hussainpuri then moved onto a collaboration with Dr. Zeus in 2003, on the album Unda The Influence. This album was a success with both traditional and modern Bhangra fans with such hits as Ah Ni Kuria, Mil De Yaar, Mele Vich Jatt and Tin Cheejha. This album drew attention to Hussainpuri and made him the most sought-after singer in the Bhangra industry at the time.^{[citation needed]} He then made other notable tracks including Mela, Gabru Shakeen, Daru, Kich Ke Legeya and notable appearances on the hit DesiRock by Swami. At this point Hussainpuri was singing on other producers' albums, but still hadn't released his own solo album.

Things changed in early 2004, as Hussainpuri began work on his debut album, produced by Dr. Zeus, which was supposed to be released in 2004 on Envy Records. However in 2005, after numerous delays, Hussainpuri released his solo debut album called Folk Attack in India under BaseLine Records even though he was signed to Envy Records in the UK. This led to controversy and eventually Hussainpuri was dropped from Envy Records without officially releasing a solo album with them. He signed a deal in late 2005 with Serious Records, headed by his friend Jeeti, based in the UK.

Later, A compilation The Best of Lehmber Hussainpuri was also released in late 2005 by Jatt Records. An album containing Hussainpuri's early material from before he became successful, was released by VPearl Records entitled The Great Bhangra King. None of these were official albums, rather just unofficial albums/ compilations by various companies in India to which Hussainpuri branched off. Hussainpuri, from 2005 to 2006, became one of the greatest Punjabi singers of recent times^{[citation needed]} having hit songs such as Sadi Gali, Seetiyan, Ne Baliyeh, Tokh Tokh Ke, Panj Bindiyan, Tere Ote Dil Ageya, and Ishq Brandy. He worked with Aman Hayer, Simon Nandhra, RDB, Panjabi By Nature, DJ Sanj, Lil Sach and many others.^[2]

His first album on Serious Records, Chalakiyan, was released in October 2006 and contained tracks produced by Jeeti, Kam Frantic and Aman Hayer. The album was a success not only in UK but also in India and North America. Chalakiyan won 2006 Album of the Year at the UK Asian Music Awards. The title song Chalakiyan and Hauli Nach were both nominated for Song of the Year but did not win. After the release of the album, Hussainpuri embarked on the Chalakiyan World Tour in countries all over the world.

In March 2007 Envy Records released a new album entitled 21st Century King of Bhangra featuring 3 new tracks and all of Hussainpuri's hit tracks from his period on Envy Records. In response, Hussainpuri released a video asking people not to buy the album and to only buy his albums released by Serious Records. It has been stated that this was an attempt by Envy Records to get money back from Hussainpuri after he released Folk Attack early in India while being signed to Envy Records.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Hussainpuri announced that he was taking a short break from the UK Bhangra scene and that any songs that were released were previously recorded vocals and not new material.^[3] From 2007 to 2010, Hussainpuri went under the radar with no new songs on information regarding new releases being announced. In 2007 Hussainpuri's compilation "Phuchal" containing previously released songs produced by Simon Nadhara, DJ VIX, Popsy, and Metz n Trix, was released in India. From 2008 to 2010, songs such as Mera Mahi Tu Pateya, featured on Jeeti's Serious Duets, Gulaab featured on DJ H's Reloaded, and Dil Lagee featured on North American group Dhol Beat International's Absolut Bhangra 4, continued to top charts.^[4]

On April 28, 2010, it was announced that MovieBox Records had acquired Serious Records.^[5] In the press release MovieBox broke the silence surrounding Hussainpuri by announcing that Hussainpuri's next album would be released in July 2010 with production coming from Jeeti, Kam Frantic, and Panjabi By Nature.

However July 2010 passed by without any further announcement by MovieBox regarding the delay or any new release date. Hussainpuri, after a long break from the limelight, gave insight into his upcoming projects in an interview. He said, "Besides my solo album, I have a devotional album also coming out this year." He also stated that for his next solo project he was trying his hand singing qawwalis and songs which address a social cause, quite a different approach to his usual fast-beat party tunes. Lastly, he mentioned that he was heading towards Bollywood. He said, "Akshay Kumar has expressed his desire to work with me and we shall come out together with a project soon."^[6]

Regardless of the interviews and previous announcements, besides Hussainpuri's feature on Akh Da Eshara on Punjabi MC's The Raj, 2010 was a quiet year yet again for Hussainpuri. Despite all the anticipation regarding his UK Bhangra release, Hussainpuri began 2011 with a bang in the Bollywood market. In February 2011, his single "Sadi Gali" reached number one on all Bollywood charts. The single was initially released on RDB (Rhythm Dhol Bass)'s album 'Three' in 2005, but then due to its success in the Bhangra scene, it was re-released on the soundtrack of the movie Tanu Weds Manu. Furthermore, Hussainpuri also featured on the soundtrack of the Hindi film Mausam (2011 film) on the song Mallo Malli with Hard Kaur.^[7]

In May 2011, after a longer than anticipated break, Hussainpuri returned to the UK in true "Lehmber-style" - by releasing a major dance-floor hit. The smash hit Matha Tekhiya was featured on Bups Saggu's debut album 'Redefined' and instantly became a hit.^[8] Spending the entire summer doing shows around the UK and working on new material, Hussainpuri was ready to release his next album. However to build hype around his return, Hussainpuri released Jukebox Boli, the sequel to Chalakiyan Boliyan on Jeeti's new album, Jukebox as well as the music video to the summer-hit Matha Tekhiya.

On October 21, 2011, after a 5-year hiatus since his last solo effort Chalakiyan, Hussainpuri released his new album Folk Attack 2 on Serious Records. It featured production from Hussainpuri's regular collaborators Jeeti and Kam Frantic as well as Bhinda Aujla, Sukhi Chand, and Panjabi By Nature.^[9] The first single from the album, Jatt Pagal Karte (produced by Jeeti) was released October 14, 2011 and was followed by Pulli Phirdi (produced by Kam Frantic) on November 4, 2011.

After the release of the album, Hussainpuri returned to India to continue to build on his success from Sadi Gali and increase his Indian fan base. In an interview, he mentioned how he has done a total of 6 songs with famed Bollywood producer Pritam, a few songs with other Bollwood producers, and 21 total songs for Punjabi Movie Industry, in order to expand his market.^[10]

In January 2012, Hussainpuri's all-time classic Sadi Gali was remixed with the song International Love by US singers Chris Brown (American entertainer) and Pitbull (rapper). New York City DJ and Radio Host Jay Dabhi, one of the most sought after South Asian DJs, took the beat to Sadi Gali added the a cappella vocals to International Love & played it on the NY radio 92.3FM as The Track Of the Hour. The minute this song was dropped on one of New York City's biggest radio stations, Twitter went wild with Tweets like, "OMG! Did I just hear #Lehmber #SadiGali on American radio?!"^[11]

In January 2014, Hussainpuri announced two new projects via his Facebook. The first was Das Ja 2, the sequel to his all-time classic Das Ja. The single is to be featured on producing group DNA's debut album in early 2014. The second project is Hussainpuri's solo album, a follow up to his last solo project in 2011. Despite announcing that videos were currently being shot in England, Hussainpuri did not disclose any further information.

Feud

After working on Unda da Influence with Dr. Zeus, Hussainpuri wanted his own solo debut album. Zeus agreed to produce an album for Hussainpuri for free because he felt Hussainpuri should get credit and not the producer. Zeus agreed only as long as Envy Records got to release the album in the UK. Envy Records also agreed that Hussainpuri could release the Indian version of the album himself. Therefore Hussainpuri and Zeus began work in early 2004 on Hussainpuri's debut album. Zeus agreed to finish production and have the album set for release in mid-2004. However, Dr. Zeus delayed the album numerous times. Thus, Hussainpuri took the uncompleted tracks to India behind Zeus' back. He released the songs in 2005 on an album "Folk Attack" under BaseLine Records even though he was signed to Envy Records in the UK. Zeus was unhappy about how the tracks were released without his permission and therefore dropped Lehmber from Envy Records. Zeus put the finishing touches to the songs (adding raps, backup singers, and skits) and released it as "The Original Edit" under his own name in the UK.^[12]

Discography

Official albums

Compilations, unofficial albums, and foreign releases

Film soundtracks

References