Shailand

Eye for an Eye - Face Your Prejudices

2011-02-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Just caught up on the whole Twitter furore over Grime maestro Wiley's 'ethnic banter', and still pretty shocked by the ludicrous state of the way people can still rationalise racism. Some have named this the battle of Wiley vs Jay Sean. Others have called it a fight between Wiley and Jay Sean fans. Not quite. This is an internal struggle Wiley's having within himself. And its not something that just Wiley goes through, but something we all do, whether we want to face the truth or not.

@WileyArtist: each different race has a perception of another race its sad but true

Quite possibly the most honest thing Wiley said. Some avoid black people in the fear they might get robbed, others avoid Muslims in the fear they might get converted. Most of our fears are allayed with our past experiences with other races (or lack of). One friend of mine was bullied constantly by Pakistani kids at school and it took me three years of friendship to convince him that not all Muslims were wankers. Another friend of mine hadn't met a Jew until they'd finished university, and their anti-semitism slowly vanished away as she got to know her new workmate, and the mystery of 'the other' disappeared.

So everyone's a racist in one way or another. Prejudice isn't the problem. The problem occurs when people don't face up to their prejudices or make any effort to tackle them. Wiley's not alone on this. The amount of people I meet who justify making homophobic jokes by saying, "But I've got loads of gay mates. Stop being so politically correct!" In my book, saying that I dance in a camp fashion (which I tend to do), or the fact I prefer chocolate and films to beer and football makes me 'a girl' doesn't offend me. What angers me is when people don't like things and say 'that's so gay'. There is nothing wrong with being gay. So why use it in that context?

I'm not going to lie - when I was younger, I fell completely victim to this. Not with 'gay' but with the word 'paki'. If friends were being overly desi, or looking really geeky, we wouldn't label the victim a geek, but our words were more likely to be 'You look like such a paki.' Maybe it was because I had a predominantly non-Muslim friend group, with only one Pakistani family as close friends (who never really objected, but that's not the point). Nonetheless, as soon as I realised how pathetic it was to equate 'paki' to 'sad' as it was to equate 'gay' to 'bad', I stopped doing it. And when I can, I try to stop those around me from following prey to the habit too.

SonnyB_LFC: @CharnjHeer @charliechopper @kul78 @billsingh79 @gshardra100%!! He said group of lads...
[the group of kids proud to hear Bobby Friction referring to them as the troublestarters on his show on BBC Asian Network]***

Back to Wiley. He defends his actions by saying that the 'ethnic banter' would have never come out if the Jay Sean fans hadn't racially started on him first. Seriously, that is no excuse. Looking at the average age of the twitterers who wrote hate tweets to him, they're around 16 - hardly the age for a 32-year-old master of grime to be taking seriously. If we judged everything on the 'they started it' clause, Hindus would still hate Muslims, Palestinians would still hate Israelis and Iraqis would still hate the Americans. Oh wait, they do. Nonetheless, it always takes the bigger person to say "WTF, listen to yourself!".

The solution isn't to fight fire with fire, nor is it to just walk away. Confront the enemy and fight them with ice. Race, sexuality, religion are such easy targets to ridicule others with using stereotypes of cornershops, turbans and beetlenuts (?), but I'm sure the father of grime could have come up with comebacks a hell of a lot sharper and more intelligent than that. He may not have the same popstar status as Jay Sean (36,500 to his 405,000), but Wiley still carries the burden of being a role model to many young musicians. As Spiderman once said, with great power comes great responsibility, and no matter how much he doesn't want to, he's sending out a moral message to his 36,500 fans, who are now going to think it's okay to be racist towards others if they're racist towards you. Not right, Wiley. Not right.

@WileyArtist: i am not your race and yes i do favour my own how you do.

Again, I think this is pure bull, but it's disgustingly true of many to agree with this. Asians will vote for an MP, not because he makes the best promises, but because he's the one brown face standing up. Mothers still look to marry their daughters to boys of the same religion, same caste, same country - even the same village if they had their choice - whilst the better suitor, who WON'T beat their daughter senseless for looking at another man, is rejected for being black.

The Wiley fiasco isn't a reason for a race war to start off between black and Asian communities. It's an opportunity for us all to face the prejudices we carry - those passed onto us from our parents, from our friends, from the media, from our experiences or lack of - to realise them and to tackle them.

“There are only two kinds of people in this world. Good people who do good deeds. And bad people who do bad. That’s the only difference in human beings." (My Name Is Khan)

*** Just because SonnyB_LFC tweeted this to his mates doesn't necessarily mean all of those mates made racist tweets towards Wiley. Apologies to those of you who didn't have anything to do with it, and realised that what was tweeted was racist and wrong.

WORDLE

2010-11-23T04:12:00.001-08:00

BBC Asian Network needs YOU - for the world's first BHANGRA FLASHMOB!!!

2010-05-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

THE BBC ASIAN NETWORK

NEEDS YOU

BHANGRA FLASHMOB!!!

May 22nd, BBC Broadcasting House, 1pm

So, the plan it seems as sent to me from the SAVE THE BBC ASIAN NETWORK Facebook site, is the following:

Here's your mission if you choose to accept it.

1) Date: Saturday 22nd May (this Saturday).

2) Come to Oxford Circus station by 12:45pm and walk to BBC Broadcasting House (about 100 yards towards Regents Park)

3) At 1pm exactly loud Bhangra music will go off and people will start dancing to the beats.

4) Join in! (if you can't make London, there's also a demo in B'ham)

It's free, it's going to be loud and there's going to plenty of television crews to try and find out what's going on!

Come and make history with us and save the BBC Asian Network!

BHANGRA STARS WANT YOU THERE http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150189401995503&oid=111272538906625

LONDON DEMO PAGE http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111272538906625

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not only will it be great fun, it's for a righteous cause to keep the ONLY British-Asian radio station in the world going. It'll be a sad day where the only option we have to listen to cutting edge Brit-Asian music will be MySpace. You can hardly class Sunrise and the like, with it's 60% advertising programming as cutting edge. Or good, for that matter.

And then, for those of you with any energy left, why not continue on the party with BOMBAY FUNKADELIC?

Sorry. Couldn't resist the plug. See you at the march!

Shai

REWIND - Launching May 14th

2010-05-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

After a series of Bollywood and retro funk nights, I was missing doing some more recent stuff born this side of the globe. I mean, it was commercial house and rnb that I'd initially found my trade in, and last year's Hip Therapy nights, thought short-lived, were a great opportunity to go mental on mashups and surprise the crowd on every twist and turn.

So here we go. A night of the most-loved tracks played all night, but not quite as you might expect. Call it same same but different, if you will. Whatever it is, it's gonna rock.

Prodigy <> Missy Elliott <> Beyonce <> Fatboy Slim <> Chemical Brothers <> NERD <> Timbaland <> Basement Jaxx <> Outkast <> Dizzee Rascal <> Joe Budden <> Sidney Samson <> Busta Rhymes <> Groove Armada <> Alicia Keys <> Armand Van Helden <> Pitbull <> Usher <> Benny Benassi <> Kelis <> Ludacris <> Axwell <> Eminem <> Rihanna <> Will.I.Am <> Lauryn Hill <> Artful Dodger <> Nelly <> Junior Jack <> Faithless <> Sean Paul <> Tim Deluxe <> Beastie Boys <> Audio Bullys <> LCD Soundsystem <> Kanye West <> Mylo <> Jay Z <> Fedde Le Grand <> Wiley <> Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff <> Air <> Taio Cruz <> Pharrell <> Freemasons <> Run DMC <> Daft Punk <> LL Cool J <> Dave Spoon <> LMFAO <> Dr Dre <> Eric Prydz <> Justin Timberlake <> Bob Sinclair <> Destiny’s Child <> Apollo 440 <> Snoop Doggy Dogg <> Salt n Pepa <> David Guetta <> Cypress Hill <> Snap <> Flo Rida <> House of Pain <> Black Eyes Peas <> Baby D <> Mary J Blige <> UK Apache <> Calvin Harris

...amongst others

Put in your old skool requests now, or follow me on twitter and tweet me on the night - or if the technological advances boggle the mind, shout me over the decks

HAPPY HOUR 8-9.30
£2.50 on Rum'n'Coke, Wine and Tequila

EQUALLY HAPPY HOURS 9.30 onwards
Drinks from £3.50
Cocktails from £6

£10 on the door | £8 for NUS and guestlisters
Underground: Great Portland Street (3 mins) / Oxford Circus (5 mins)
Last entry at midnight
No hoodies, caps or anything else you're using to hide your ever-increasing bald spot
Attitude is fine, as long as it's of the positive, mental kind.

Info & Guestlist: Call 07866 685 187

www.twitter.com/shaihussain
www.djshaiguy.co.uk
www.last.fm/music/dj+shai+guy

The Crowd Just Gets Better... And Better...

2010-04-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

God bless Iceland. If it hadn't been for the ash storms brought over from that little island in the middle of nowhere, last Saturday may not have been half as successful as it was, with a deckload of Mumbaiites and Delhiites stuck in the country as their planes had nowhere to go. Or maybe that's just me being too hard on myself.

Generally, I didn't have huge expectations for this event. We'd only managed to secure the venue 2 weeks before the given date, hardly any of my mates could make it - even my official photographer who's attended all of them so far had his own commitments. I made my own way to the event without a single accomplice at hand to help me trudge my two decks, a laptop and all my accessories from Wimbledon to Great Portland Street. Thank God promoter Jas had a can of unisex deodrant in her purse.

Usually at the beginning of the night, I can count on the friends I've come with to get the party started by hitting the floor and getting down on it, but this time, I was all alone. 10pm, and people were only still just standing around, sipping at the bar, despite playing some class tracks like the bhangra version of "I See You Baby". People would nod their heads in time with the music, but still - empty floor.

But then, everything changed as my one faithful, ever dependable group of mates came in and tore the dancefloor up, causing others to move in. Rule of thumb - get the girls on the dancefloor and everyone will soon follow. After that, becoming a bit more comfy with the microphone paid huge dividends, despite putting on "Happy Birthday to Sunita" and soon finding out it was actually a couple's anniversary the audience were cheering for. And then things just kept getting better. By the end of the night, the floor was almost fully packed. Was this because we'd moved venues? Was it because it finished earlier? Or had I just done a better job with the music? For those who attended, please comment below as it would be good to know!

Lesson of the night was regarding requests. I almost always play requests if I have the song in my collection, but at the right time in a set - I am not going to just put in "Laila Pe Laila" in the middle of "Nach Baliye" and "Where's The Party Tonight". There was the most annoying girl there who kept threatening to leave if I didn't play her track in the next 5 mins, that I eventually had to tell her that she was free to leave. Not something I'd usually do, but I've decided it best to follow my instincts as a DJ rather than listen to some diva who thinks the night revolves around her.

Anyhow, back to the positives. It was generally just great seeing such a crowd who really knew hot to enjoy the music, and more often than not knew the lyrics to the songs. Highlight of the night was without a doubt the entire crowd singing the lyrics to "My Name Is Lakhan" without any musical accompaniment. As I said, the crowd just gets better... and better...

BOMBAY FUNKADELIC - Let The Good Times Dhol

2010-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY 17th APRIL
9PM TO 2AM
LOOM BAR

...or more literally, the one with the drinks prices that are so silly that you're laughing. Have a look for yourself right here. And to make us even happier, the bar has allowed a happy hour lasting from 9 til 10.30 where tequilas, wines and rum n coke's are all £2. Can't really argue there.

The same great Bollywood beats with Funk flavours, the new location will also welcome a sprinkling of Bhangra, RnB and Drum n Bass to make things a little more interesting. Feedback from attendees would be hugely appreciated to see if we got the balance just right.

Either way, this isn't an experiment. It's a party. Let the good times dhol.

Click Here For Directions
3 Mins from Great Portland St
5 Mins from Oxford Circus

BOMBAY FUNKADELIC - Bollywood music from a different direction

2010-03-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, when you're going to be asking yourself, "WHERE'S THE PARTY TONIGHT" and you know for a fact that IT'S THE TIME TO DISCO - there is simply no substitute. When the clock strikes 9......

DHAN TE NAAAAAAAA!

With a touch of class at Amuse Bouche Champagne Bar, you can simply smile at the pretty scenery, thinking to yourself TU CHEEZ BADI HAI MAST or burn your BEEDI on the dancefloor. Still, at an amazing £25 a bottle of champagne, you'll never have too little PAISA to NACH BALIYE.

Whether SONI DE NAKHRE or not, there is sure to be the ultimate DARD-E-DISCO. I don't care if PAPPU CAN'T DANCE. AAJA NACHLE mere yaar! KABHI DANCE PE CHANCE MAR LE!

And not to forgot the little surprises...

Hit me up either here or on Facebook for £10 guestlist tickets. £15 on the door.

Til next we meet. KABHIE ALVEDA NA KEHNA. PHIR MILENGE. CHALTE CHALTE.

BBC Asian Network - the ONLY British-Asian radio station in the world

2010-03-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure many of of you would have heard right now, the BBC are on the brink of axeing both BBC Radio 6 and the BBC Asian Network. As a lover of new, undiscovered music, BBC6 gives the ultimate in raw talent, as well playing a good mix of alternative tracks that hardly get airtime on other stations. But there's enough support for John Peel's station. I'm here to tell you about the BBC Asian Network, and how axeing it would be a HUMONGOUS mistake.

Let's start by looking at the state of British-Asian radio at the moment. There's the regional stations - Asian Sound Radio, Kismet Radio, Club Asia, Sunrise (cough) Radio. Other than Club Asia, which is the only station that could put up a fight with BBCAN, the other stations can hardly be described as British. There's scarcely any presenters who speak English on them, and don't even get me started on their fear of offending their viewers. The Asian Network is the only station that allows listeners to call in and talk about British-Asian issues openly and honestly. They motivate their young majority to think open-mindedly, to integrate into British society. To listen to a variety of different songs. The majority of programming on other stations is either divided by religion, culture... man, it wouldn't be a surprise if they would eventually divide it up by caste if they had the choice.

The Asian Network isn't a station specifically for British-Asians, or Asians at thet. It's for anyone who has interest in British-Asian affairs, music, lifestyle and film. The only problem with it, is that it's only available on DAB. So what's the outcome of that? Families have grown up listening to Sunrise Radio. The majority of Asian parents hardly know what DAB stands for, let alone what it is. The majority of radio they listen to is in the car, and the availability of DAB in cars is still pretty minimal. So that's the older population out. And so, the Network found a home amongst the younger, more tech-savvy listeners. But problem again. Since the younglings have grown up to Sunrise Radio, they've grown accustomed to the presenters, the style, the over-the-top-every-five-second-adverts, and it's so much easier to put on the ghettoblaster whilst you're making roti than to fork out some cash on another radio.

The problem isn't that the BBC Asian Network hasn't got an audience. The problem is that the BBC haven't been investing enough money or marketing into it. The brown pound is solid. If the Asian Network was more readily available - podcasts, more website interactivity.... we're in the 2010s people! - then of course there'd be a bigger audience. Not saying that the audience isn't huge as it is. It's only been two days since the announcement and the "Save the Asian Network" Facebook group and it already has more than 10000 fans. However, in contrast, there's only been about 400 people who've left notes on the petition. So what are you waiting for? GO, JAO, GO!

Don't even get me started on the treatment of employees at these other stations. At least you get paid. The anger still prevails (used to work at Sunrise Yorkshire as a breakfast presenter - hence the negativity).

Sod it. I'm not going to be able to write straight and keep this anger in. Onto a video blog. Let's see if I can speak straight...

Meri Xmas - what a crowd

2009-12-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

BOMBAY FUNKADELICA presents...

MERI XMAS @ AMUSE BOUCHE CHAMPAGNE BAR, SOHO

Friday 11th December 9:30 til 3

So let's get the gushing out of the way: all of those dhakoos and divas who made it out yesterday, I friggin salute you. Was one of the best gigs I've had since the first one back in 2003. What a crowd - non-stop dancing, pure energy, the appreciative applause, the fitness (in both respects), the communal love... I could go on. If all gigs were like this, I'd stay on the decks til my fingers fell off.

Excluding a few outrageous disc malfunctions (Jimmy Jimmy and Pagey Ghungroo Bandh may have been played too many times in the past), the night was a huge success. Was difficult appeasing the funksters with the majority of the crowd being Bollylovers, but still managed to fit in a good Michael Jackson medley and some Edwin Starr. Highlight of the night would have to be the Amitabh Bachchan mixthrough. And when the guys competed to be the first to hit the floor when prompted by the DJ that the winner would get bought a drink.

Things learnt:

Bollyretro works in short dosages and don't need to start right at the beginning, or end right at the end.

Medleys work an amazing treat

If requests can kill a set, politely apologise to the guest and say you don't have it

Realise when somebody puts up a note in front of the DJ booth, it may be highly embarrassing, especially when there's a mistletoe placed right above you

MCing can really get a party going - time to build up those confidence levels

Staying up for 20 hours before starting a 6-hour set is never a good idea, but somehow boosts those adrenaline levels

Pretty short list though, which is always a good sign. Still, never going to stop learning. For those of you who did make it out, would be great to get your feedback and know how to make the next night even better.

Anyhow, will try get a good Bollywood xmas mashup on here in the next couple of weeks if I can. If I don't, let me use this opportunity to wish you all a very merry xmas and an amazing start to 2010.

Enjoy!

(x)

Bollynite - your new monthly mix of chaat masala

2009-05-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

Have decided to step up the game and make full VJ mixes of my BOLLYNITE sets. Takes a while to edit to precision, so I please thanking you for patience to enjoy the rest.

And remember. You can download the full MP3 mixes for free from LAST.FM.

Happy listening!

DJ Shai Guy at your service

2009-05-01T20:07:00.001-07:00

Since the monthly mash-up night "Hip Therapy" I used to play at Anam Bar in Angel, I've yet to start looking for a regular club night to call my own again. Nonetheless, it's been quite a fruitful time for mobile DJing in 2009 indeed, so far so that I decided to invest in a set of high-quality PA speakers a couple of months ago - just in time for a good mate's sister's wedding. And now, word has spread and I'm now looking forward to doing 3, possibly 4 more events through the summer. I may just make my money back. And more (?)

So here are answers to some of the questions I get asked:

What genres of music do you play?

Anything that can get a crowd on the floor. I tend to steer clear of anything slow and soppy, unless the occasion demands it (yes, I did play Take That for the bride and groom's entrance song as a request :s) However, I specialise mainly in commercial house, rnb, funk, disco and Bollywood music. Anything hardcore is a bit beyond me, though I am a firm believer in some good old-fashioned cheese once in a while. For an idea of the stuff I love to play, you can always look at my profile page. But generally, I'll play what you want me to play, but use my own magic tools of DJ intuition to know exactly the right time to play it.

Do you have public liability insurance?

Short answer - yes.

Do you have disco lights, smoke machines and sharks with laser beams attached to their forehead?

No, I do not. Nonetheless, I can hire them out if required, though this would incur an additional charge.

How much do you charge?

Rates completely depend on distance.

An average quote for an event outside of London would be £700.

For North London, £650.

For South London, £600.

If you want me to do a batch of gigs, I would deduct £50 for each consecutive gig.

When are you free?

Whenever you need me to be.

And there we have it. See you on the dancefloor.

Mash-up vids

2009-04-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I thought for today, I'd post some mash-up vids and mixes that I've done up to now. Click on the titles in bold to check out the vids on my youtube channel.

BOLLYWOOD MASH-UPS

Firstly, let's start with the world's first Bollywood vs Bollywood mashup, Aaj Ki Raat Hai Baaki. Mixing in the retro feel of "Raat Baaki Baat Baaki" from the 70s classic Namak Halal with the recent retro-disco of "Aaj Ki Raat" from the not-so-great remake of the 70s classic Don (which also starred Amitabh Bachchan), it works out pretty well. Both vids have a guy whose life is in danger, both of whom you want to see dead - dammit, Shashi Kapoor's a cheesy bugger - and both have hot ladies shaking their thang in a most impressive fashion.

With my non-Asian friends having little to relate to, I decided to create 80s Disco Dancer and go down the 'same same but different' school of thought with my next mash-up*, mixing together the cheesy house of Calvin Harris' "Acceptable in the 80s" with yet another retro classic "Koi Yahan" from the Mithun Chakraborty 70s film Disco Dancer. Yes, that film where the villains decide to plot to kill the hero by rigging his guitar so that it electrocutes him. And yes, that is "Video Killed The Radio Star" that they have unashamedly ripped off.

* Despite this, "Aaj Ki Raat Hai Baaki" has been my most watched vid yet!

Keeping in the same school of thought, decided to stray away from the disco but sticking with the retro by mashing up some old school Bollywood rock'n'roll with some new school

Tarantino rock'n'roll. And the result is the craziest, most disturbing but darn watchable mashup ever. Aasha's "Eena Meena Deeka" mashes up with The 5678s "Woohoo" to create the track Kill Boll (ywood).

MTV MASH-UP

Nonetheless, the first ever mash-up I created was a mix that wouldn't look out of place on a late night MTV show specialised towards showcasing MTV-style mash-ups. Or something. Gypsy Neck took the 90s elements of the Crystal Waters classic "Gypsy Woman" about a lonely homeless woman who sings for money, with the noughties elements of Khia's promiscuous crowdpleaser "My Neck, My Back" that pushes girls to 'do their thing like this'. Couldn't really find parallels between them myself, but I'm sure there is. Somewhere.

GEEKY TRIBUTE

As an ardent fan of "The Greatest Show on Television", I was pushed to create a geeky tribute vid. However, in a bid to be original and keep in the mash-up flavour, I decided to mash-up scenes of the four true couples in BSG to the soundtrack of What a Wonderful Surprise. Mixed by Overdub, and mashing the amazing talents in Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and Radiohead's subliminal "No Surprises", granted it should be sacrilege and it's not my mash-up. But it works a charm.

And for those who have not got into Battlestar Galactica, I urge you to buy the boxset. It is pure genius, even if you're not a fan of sci-fi. Genius. Genius, I say.

The Future

More mash-ups. Coming your way. But this time, one by one.

The Beginning

2009-04-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

So. I guess I've started blogging. Here goes nothing.