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Music

New Release – “Digital War” The EP

Sureet Sandhu is a familiar name to the South Asian music industry in the US. He’s the first Desi producer from the US to be recognized by the BBC Asian Network for his production styles and collabos with US-based artists. He’s known for his monstrous mixtape series, “Renegades: Desi Hip-Hop Revolution.” He’s no stranger when it comes to huge collaborations and crazy projects! Recently Sureet teamed up with UK-based rapper Seminar – fresh new British Asian artist…rapper, songwriter, and producer, all rolled into one! Hailing from Slough, and is quite simply a BREATHE OF FRESH AIR. He’s ready to take the industry by storm by the release of his DEBUT project DIGITAL WAR the EP produced by Sureet Sandhu of Digital Desi Productions. Co-production also includes J-Doug and Seminar himself.

I’m quite excited to say that I’m the first who had the chance to chat with both Sureet and Seminar before the release of this highly anticipated EP! Jokes aside, these two are serious when it comes to music! They’ve put in months towards production, writing, and recording, and finally have a finished product to take over the Desi music scene with! Seminar has been writing since he was 12 years old, winning many writing and poetry competitions in and around the Berkshire area and also having a Children’s Book written by him published! He never really took or even thought about rapping or producing until he started at the university in 2002 – this is where he started playing around in the studio facility at his university and then began to write his own lyrics whilst rapping over mainstream beats. To his surprise and people around him, he was actually good. From there, the rest is history!

Like I said, I had the chance to talk to these two and people, this is one EP you NEED to get your hands on! Why don’t you step into Mona’s world, and read how things really went down!

Mona: Alright guys, who’s going to answer the most pressing question first?! Who contacted who first?

Sureet: I think Seminar hit me on MySpace saying we should collab and that he was diggin’ my last mixtape “Renegades Vol. III – Desi Hip Hop Revolution”. I’m glad we made the connect!  Seminar is an up-and-coming Versatile MC and has madd skillz on the mic!

Seminar: Thanks bro! I admit it was me who made the first move (laughing)!

Mona: You make it sound like a blossoming relationship!

Seminar: Haha! Well like Sureet said, he just released his mixtape with over 20 something tracks and I contacted him asking him if he would be interested in putting together an EP collabo with just the two of us that mix’s UK and US together. I sent him some of my demos and he sent me loads of banging beats, in total over 50! He’s got a monster collection! And then I started picking the one’s I wanted to rap over and here we are now.

Mona: Well it definitely seems like you two got off on the right start! So how did this idea of an EP come about?

Sureet: Music is now mostly all Digital and it’s a War out there for new Artists, having to constantly grind to get their name out there and earn their respect.

Seminar: And we wanted to do a project that no one has done before, something different! I mean Sureet has worked with a lot of big artist already, like Raxstar, Sir Aah and Raja Wilco just to name a few; And I’m fairly new to the game in that sense, so it was basically just a chemistry we had from day one. I emailed him, told him I’d LIKE to do a project, gave my ideas and he hit me back and we started from there!

Mona: Aww, so sweet! It was musical love at first beat! Um…right! So where did the idea for the title from?

Sureet: Come on girl, I just answered that!

Seminar: Allow me to expand! The idea kinda came itself. I wanted it to be appealing in a sense, something which stands out. We could’ve easily had a minor title like “Collabs” or something simple, but I wanted to put our personality and the concept in the name. I mean Digital was in the title because it’s a digital age, as Sureet said; everything can be done via computer, you don’t gotta leave your house anymore! LOL! I mean this project was technically done all digitally or via the Internet. We’ve never met, so it’s been through technology we got to do the project. And well, War is in the title because it’s a clash of sounds, UK to US, different beats, flows and all sorts, so it’s a WAR of styles, so overall we decided to call it DIGITAL WAR. Any confusion miss?!

Mona: Nope! I think I’m straight! So which track would you consider one of your favorites?

Seminar: Ahh, that’s a hard question there! I actually honestly like every track, but if I were to choose, three tracks stand out for me. One is My Parents (From Panjab); that track means a lot to me. It’s from the heart and it’s about struggles my parents, and every Asian parents face when they came here, and the beat by Sureet is just so traditional, yet modern, it gives it that edge! Another track is After the Rain produced by UK-based producer J Doug; it’s just a skit, two minutes or so, no hook. It’s just meaningful rap about how a girl you like makes you feel, yet she’s hesitant to let you in her heart because she’s not looking past your image. Finally, I love Behind Closed Doors; it’s Sureet on the beat; it’s grimy and just so raw in that sense (not too raw lol) and was a pleasure to work on. That track took me ages to write and make a concept on because I had to do the beat justice!! You wanna take it from here bro?

Sureet: Hmm…I like them all!…Seminar is versatile in his style where he can spit real talk on a conscious track, and then all of a sudden, switch gears and spit some dope rhymes on a party track!  I think this EP has something to offer for every listener!! You didn’t ask for it, but here is my assessment of all the tracks:

Take Her Home Tonight — Grimy!!

Dekho Naa — Great Mainstream sound! Can appeal to many audiences!!

The One — Hott Beat & a Cool Theme too!

If You Play Them — Great Word Play by “The Next Best Asian MC Banger!!…Give the Man his Due Respect!!

Spectacular — Abstract!!…Crazy-ass Psychedelic Track…and He Says “Hai Hai” on the Hook…OMG…I Love it!! LOL!

My Parents (Punjab) — Off the Chain!!…Seminar, YOU KILLED IT ON THIS ONE!!!!…I’m gonna Play this track for my Peeps!…I think all of our FAMS dealt with this and we OWE Them!!!…GREAT TRACK!!

Bollywood Star — All I can say is “Bollywood”! (Cool concept!)

Strawberry — Wicked!!…Beatles and Seminar!!…What a Wicked Collab-O!! Haa-Haa!!!….”OHH YEAH”!!!

Mr. Brown — Hype Man!…Spittin’ some Consciousness on this ONE!!…Yes Sirr!!

Mona: Thanks for the analysis Sureet! You are going to pay for this long distance phone bill now, haha! Well, my favorite track is this little Hindi/English/Rap mix-up that you guys had going on one track! And I think you know where this is headed! I was taking a listen to the EP, and the track “Dekho Naa” features your publicist! How the heck did that happen?!

Sureet: Honestly Mona, I don’t remember exactly! But I can tell you this, I was surprised!! TD killed it on the track!! She’s definitely much more than a publicist!! In fact, there are now possible talks of perhaps a TD album coming out next year? Look out Britney! LOL

Mona: Whoa! Whoa! An album? Alright Sureet, I’ll have to call you later about that one! Seminar, your thoughts?

Seminar: Hahaha! Shout out T. Dave aka Tirusha Dave aka Miss Publicist on that. Yeah man, basically we wanted a singer on that track, and throughout the whole album it’s just me. I rap, Sureet’s beats, and that’s it. But we heard the beat, I thought of a concept and mailed T, and was like yo, I need a singer for this, Hindi and English, hook a brother up! We got chatting and she said she sings but she was too modest (laughing) so I was like cool, if you can sing, and you want to sing, do it; I’d rather have someone I know who’s a part of this project from day one do it with full love, than someone who don’t really wanna. She did the vocals and within a few days I had them. I listened to them and was blown away!!! For real, she gave the track the edge; it was so good I had to quote her lines in my rap, LOL! But she knows she’s spoiled me now; because for my next project I’m gonna harass her for more vocals! Hahaha…much love to Tirusha!!

Mona: Wow, I can’t wait to hear more of that! You guys are giving me all kinds of thoughts right now! I don’t know what to think! Alright, so most importantly, where can people get “Digital War” from?

Sureet: Download it from iTunes – that’s right iTunes!

Seminar: It’s being released under Just Play Records which is owned by Asif from Fusing Naked Beats. They’ve released artist like Mehi and others, so remember, NOVEMEMBER 10^th 2008…iTunes…DIGITAL WAR!!

Mona: I can’t wait to get my hands on this EP! You guys have put in a lot of time, work and effort and it clearly shows through your passion and excitement! So what other projects are you working on right now?

Sureet: I’ve got some new collabos, maybe thinking of doing another Renegades series Mixtape…possibly an official album?!  We’ll see what happens in ‘09! Right now the energy and focus is on “Digital War”!

Seminar: Right now, I’m personally taking a break, going to perform at events and possibly the UK AMA’s in 2009. I’m going promote this EP and have a free mixtape out too soon. I’ll be busy promoting myself and my music. Sureet and I are also planning on another release, a bigger better release and actually get time to work together in person I hope. I’m gong to be shooting the video for DIGITAL WAR in few weeks too, so look out, and message me on my Myspace for more details! Come down, support ya boi!

Mona: Well, the next time I come to London, you’re going to have to take me to the hottest clubs Seminar, you’re in for it! So do you guys have any last words for your fans and our readers?

Sureet: Please support our New EP! — “Digital War” It’s a cool album that features something new & fresh for everyone from the US to the UK and everywhere across the Globe!! Desi, Hip-Hop, conscious tracks, party joints, abstract, rock & roll…Check it out!! “Desi Hip-Hop” is making waves…support the movement!

Seminar: Thanks Mona! Help us to spread the word, buy the EP people! It’s going to be big, it’s different from ALL the other rappers and producers out, its fresh, meaningful and it’s been a long journey. Please request your favorite tracks on radio and let us know what you think. I wanna shout out Sureet for the opportunity and belief in me; Tirusha Dave for her hard work and commitment, Just Play and Asif for helping this dream become reality, J Doug for some monster beats and contributing to the EP, my family, mum, dad, sisters, brothers, cousins and friends and everyone out there. BIG UP, DIGITAL WAR 10^th NOVEMBER,…BE READY FOR A DIGITAL REVOLUTION!!!

For more info check out:
Digital Desi Productions | Seminar MySpace | Digital Desi Facebook