S-Endz

S-Endz
Background information
Origin Birmingham, England
Genres Hip hop, rock, funk, Desi Beats, neo funk
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer, presenter, writer
Instruments Vocals, keyboard
Years active 2004–present
Associated acts Swami, DJ Swami, Apache Indian
Website http://www.s-endz.com

S-Endz, also known as Turi and Casey Rain is a British Asian vocalist, music producer, songwriter and presenter. He is best known as a member of the critically acclaimed UK rap/alternative/bhangra band Swami.

S-Endz himself is influenced by funk artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson and Roger Troutman, as well as rock and metal bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Sepultura.[1]

He was a vegetarian for several years and now adheres to a vegan diet.[2][3][4]

History

S-Endz grew up in the culturally diverse area of Handsworth, Birmingham. He is mixed-race. S-Endz' first cousin Apache Indian broke the UK mainstream pop audience with a blend of bhangra and reggae produced by his cousins Simon "Subs" Duggal and Diamond "DJ Swami" Duggal. Subs & DJ Swami would later form the band Swami, which S-Endz would join as a vocalist in 2004.

Career

with Swami

S-Endz contributed rap vocals to many of the tracks on the 2004 Swami release DesiRock and all of the tracks on the 2005 remixed rap-rock version of the album, entitled So Who Am I released on Sony BMG. This album became a significant milestone for British Asian music, winning many awards. S-Endz himself was awarded with a "Rowdiest MC" award by BBC Radio 1 DJ's Bobby Friction & DJ Nihal in 2005.[5]

When asked to describe his musical style in a 2005 interview with UKBhangra.com, S-Endz replied:

"My musical style as a vocalist and performer is like the bastard child of DMX and Courtney Love that was babysat by Slipknot and taught to create music by Prince, Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur and then genetically modified with the soul of Jason Voorhees while he’s wielding a chainsaw."[1]

In 2007, Swami released the album "Equalize" internationally through EMI/Virgin Records to great acclaim. The '4 Faces' album cover, featuring the outlines of Diamond, S-Endz, Sups and Bobby became the new Swami logo, appearing on flyers and merchandise. S-Endz appeared on the songs "Electro Jugni" and "Intoxicated" from this album. The album featured many international talents including Pras from The Fugees and award-winning South African R&B star Ishmael.

The album was followed by the EP of "Electro Jugni/She's Mine", on which S-Endz appeared and co-wrote the tracks featured on it, including "She's Mine", Swami's first song to be sung fully in English. S-Endz wrote the male R&B verses that Sups sang on this song, as well as his own rap and adlibs.

In Summer 2009, Swami began to promote an upcoming Greatest Hits compilation entitled "53431". The compilation includes two new songs, "Sugarless" and "Tonight" - both of which were co-written by and feature S-Endz. "Sugarless" was released as a free download in June 2009 to massive critical acclaim from fans and media alike. Indian music blog Bhangraw reported that this would be the last material from Swami that would include Punjabi vocals and that their next album would be entirely in English.[6]

In March 2013, Swami released Back It Up, the first single from their upcoming release UPGRADE. The song was written by S-Endz, DJ Swami and Liana McCarthy, features co-lead, chorus and rap vocals by S-Endz on the English Mix, and chorus/rap vocals on the Desi Mix. This was followed in 2014 by another single, Do It Again which was released with a music video shot in India.

Solo career

The early roots of S-Endz' solo career began to take shape in September 2006, when two tracks written, produced and performed by S-Endz under the name Turi were premiered on the BBC Asian Network in an exclusive live performance for Bobby Friction's show. According to S-Endz' official website at the time, the two tracks are called "Welcome 2 the New Wave", and "In the Haze". No release information has been given for either two songs.

In early 2007 the track "Giveit2me", produced by Simon "Subs" Duggal, was premiered via S-Endz's MySpace page. It is a reggae-fuelled commercial hip-hop track. On 12 March, it was playlisted on the BBC Asian Network and remained in their "A" playlist for 2 months.

S-Endz' official website was updated in October 2007, revealing that his upcoming release is to be titled Emanate. It also mentioned the names of two new songs, "Electric Man" and "She's Like My Shadow", both of which later premiered on S-Endz' MySpace page. In 2007 S-Endz also co-wrote and featured on the song "Wise In The Mind" by Fusing Naked Beats. This song also featured London rappers Swami Baracus and Mic Assassin.

On 5 September 2008, a remix of "She's Like My Shadow" featuring Detroit rapper Kidd Skilly was announced via S-Endz' MySpace blog. It later premiered on S-Endz' official website as well as appearing on Kidd Skilly's mixtape 'Undercover Superstar Vol. 1'.

On 15 April 2009, a new song entitled "Dark Days" appeared on S-Endz' official website. However, he states the track will not be appearing on his upcoming album.

The USA/Canadian magazine ANOKHI featured an exclusive article about S-Endz in their Summer 2009 issue. The article states that Emanate will be released in the fall of 2009, and the first single "Do U Wanna Come"? will be released in the summer to coincide with a number of live shows.[7]

In mid July 2009, a clip of "Do U Wanna Come?" was uploaded to S-Endz' MySpace page, and a few days later, a brand new track "We Got Some Breaking Up To Do" was premiered on entertainment site DesiHits.com. This track showcases S-Endz' trademark flows on top of the pop song of the same name by the Danish group Private.

In August 2009, S-Endz announced the release of a digital EP featuring his new single "Outer Space" which also features vocalists Kazz Kumar and Rukas. The EP was released on 21 October 2009.

In April 2010, Radio New Zealand aired 'Urban Disturbance in Broadcasting House' - a documentary exploring the life and career of BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe. This documentary contained 3 original pieces of music by S-Endz.[8]

It was announced, via YouTube clip in February 2011 that S-Endz has again collaborated with Kazz Kumar, creating a follow-up to her 2010 single 'Fashion'. The new version, entitled 'Fashion Part II (Neofunk Style)' was then released in the spring.[9]

On 25 January 2012 S-Endz announced a new EP entitled 'Chapter 0 : REINKARNAL' and uploaded the cover artwork to his Tumblr page. The first song from the EP, 'Alone' was released on 11 February with subsequent songs being released every 2 weeks.[10] The Birmingham Music Archive described the song "Do U Wanna Come" as "Deep South Bounce from Birmingham's very own Prince/Outkast."[11]

As a presenter

In 2006, S-Endz was given the opportunity to create a documentary about Tupac Shakur for radio station BBC 1xtra alongside the stations DJ Semtex. The two of them spent a week in LA interviewing Tupac's friends, family and associates to create the documentary, which aired on the tenth anniversary of Tupac's death to critical acclaim from the media. Leading UK entertainment journalist Miranda Sawyer remarked in her review that S-Endz "clearly has a future in broadcasting".

In 2008, S-Endz, alongside Swami bandmates DJ Swami and Sups, guest-hosted the Sony award-winning FRICTION radio show for two days on the BBC Asian Network whilst presenter Bobby Friction was away. The shows were well received by fans.

Early 2009 saw S-Endz step back into a presenter role with the audio slideshow "Johnny J Remembered". This piece, uploaded to YouTube, was a tribute to the late hip-hop producer who S-Endz had interviewed for the Tupac documentary 3 years prior. The 20-minute piece looked back on Johnny's life and career with previously unseen pictures from S-Endz' trip to Johnny's studio.

In 2011, S-Endz contributed to many documentaries in XFM's primetime "25" classic albums series - including co-producing and co-presenting an acclaimed episode about Prince & The Revolution's Parade.[12]

As a writer

In August 2011, S-Endz, under his alias Casey Rain created the blog "Birmingham Riots 2011",[13] to document the violent riots that occurred in the aftermath of the Death of Mark Duggan. The blog went viral, with 3 million hits in 3 days, and led to Casey being interviewed on the BBC,[14] in The Economist magazine (who stated that police found themselves trailing Casey Rain in intelligence-gathering),[15] and numerous international newspapers. This led to Casey becoming an official contributor to The Guardian newspaper.[16] and his writing on the roots of violence was quoted on the popular Racialicious blog.[17] In late 2011, Casey was given an award by the West Midlands Police in recognition of the blog's popularity.[18]

In 2014, Casey wrote a review of a performance by pop artist Prince for the music blog Nada Brahma.[19] This review was later quoted in official Prince live video from that night.[20]

In 2016, Casey contributed to the book Band:Smart, written by Pigface leader and music industry teacher Martin Atkins.

Other

In 2010, S-Endz appeared in the music documentary 'Made in Birmingham : Reggae Punk Bhangra' - an independent documentary covering Birmingham's role in popular music. The documentary has been shown across the UK and is being submitted for international film festivals in 2011.[21]

Discography

With Swami:

Solo tracks released:

Solo albums and EP's

Guest Appearances:

Filmography

Year Film Role Type Miscellaneous
2010 Made In Birmingham : Reggae Punk Bhangra[22] Himself Music Documentary

References

  1. 1 2 Interview With...S-Endz, UKBhangra.com, 30 October 2005.
  2. ↑ Thinking about becoming vegan? Tips from S-Endz, Urban Desi Radio, 2012-03-14, archived from the original on 2012-05-02
  3. ↑ About Me, Vegan Rockstar, archived from the original on 2012-05-02
  4. ↑ Confirmed Twitter account information, archived from the original on 2012-05-02
  5. ↑ BBC Radio 1 Tracklisting 21/12/05
  6. ↑ Review of Swami at Dundas Square
  7. ↑ ANOKHI Magazine Summer 2009
  8. ↑ Urban Disturbance in Broadcasting House
  9. ↑ Happy Valentines Day
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ http://www.s-endz.com
  12. ↑ XFM's "25" series
  13. ↑ Birmingham Riots 2011
  14. ↑ BBC Interview
  15. ↑ The Economist
  16. ↑ The Guardian
  17. ↑ Casey Rain on Understanding the roots of Violence
  18. ↑ Birmingham Riots 2011 : Award
  19. ↑ Prince at O2 Shepherd's Bush : Review by Casey Rain
  20. ↑ 3rd Eye Girl : Chaos & Disorder
  21. ↑ Birmingham Post
  22. ↑ "Made In Birmingham - the citys reggae, bhangra and punk heritage".
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