Born and raised just North of New York City, the international Hip-Hop capital of the world, Nivla grew up in the shadows of groundbreaking American music, causing him to start rapping and beat-boxing at an early age. He honed his skills as an MC studying pioneers of the game such as De La Soul, LL Cool J, and A Tribe Called Quest, but soon developed his own unique style.

When we last spoke to Nivla, he was headed to the tops with his track “Be Easy (Koi Na),” when he became a finalist in the Doritos-sponsored Crash The Superbowl contest. And as we all know, the track, featuring P. Oberoi, was later release by Interscope Records! Months later Nivla prevailed, landing the #1 spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics contest sponsored by Nike Basketball for writing “This Is Our Game: Anthem,” produced by Just Blaze.

After a short hiatus, Nivla resurfaced in the Hip-Hop scene on Asher Roth’s “I Love College” beat, a track that caters to his adult listeners.  Nonetheless, Nivla’s “I Love P—-” is a hot track that introduces a side of himself his listeners have not seen or heard before! Indeed he’s a very talented rapper and has proved that he is more versatile than ever as he takes his music by storm with a newly discovered skill in singing. Though he like many other artists applies auto-tuning technology, there is no doubt that he has the ability to sing!

RajStar (a/k/a Raj Makhija) is a freelance music producer, composer, sound engineer, songwriter and musician based out of New York and Mumbai. He has been called the “next big movement” from America, with a fresh sound described as Timbaland meets AR Rahman.

RajStar was always involved with music growing up in New Jersey around a musical family as his mother sang in a traditional Indian style and his father played Tabla, an Indian percussion instrument. In addition to this, playing bass guitar and guitar in and out of school bands (i.e. marching band, jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble, out of school jazz programs, etc.) gave him a unique blend of musical sensibilities. He became interested in recording and composing music in the 7th grade when he bought himself a 4-track cassette recorder and began making songs.

Last year, Bravura Artist released their first mixtape, “Forces of Nature,” which was a compilation of original production and remix tracks by some of the best urban Desi talent from our generation. This year Bravura Artist is releasing “Forces of Nature: The Sequel,” featuring artists such as Ajaxxx, DJ Desiplaya of Xplicit Desi Vibes, RajStar of Soul Tap Records, and the biggest names in the Bhangra scene, RDB & Nindy Kaur.

To give you an inside look at “Forces of Nature: The Sequel,” one of the tracks is Ajaxxx’s latest release, Ringa Ringa Riddim, which has been re-produced by Gup-E of the UK. In this track, Gup-E carefully takes Rahman’s Bollywood-based track, flips it, and gives it a very tasteful flavor of Hip-Hop. Another track featured on this release is the Kabhi Kabhi Aditi (RajStar Murder Mashup), in which RajStar has taken A.R. Rahman’s inspiring track about friendship, life & relationships and added a club-twist to it. With catchy reggae rhythms alongside the faint strings of an acoustic guitar, RajStar grabs your attention from the start of this track.

Finally, internationally acclaimed artists, RDB & Nindy Kaur are also appearing on this release. After making a second home for themselves in Bollywood, they’ve recently put out some exclusive releases. One of RDB’s exclusive tracks on this release is the Sadi Gali (Official Remix), which has been done by RDB’s friends Mixtabishi and S.S. Johal from Australia. It also features their Aussi-MC J-SKY.

To download mixtape, please click here.

New York, NY — Producer RajStar of RVM Sounds has taken Rahman’s inspiring track about friendship, life & relationships and added a club-twist to it. With catchy reggae rhythms alongside the faint strings of an acoustic guitar, RajStar grabs your attention from the start of this track. 

When we think of the word “sexy” obviously the first thing that comes to mind are good, good, good, and more good looks!

Turns out the Desi scene is filled with a lot of sexy men, both inside and out!

With endless hours of dedication to finding the sexiest men out there…
Today we present to you the SEXIEST MEN OF 2008!!

We thought long and hard of who deserves the title in 11 different categories and finally came out with the best of the best.

These men are both sexy with their talents and sexy with their brains…
…and now how to keep a woman’s attention!

So take a look and ladies…hold your breath!

But who am I kidding…I know almost all these boys so I think I should consider myself the lucky one

The date has been set:
Sunday – August 17, 2008The venues have been set:
Oxygen & The Madison

The artists have been booked:
Fabolous — Nivla & P. Oberoi
 …and many more!

Soul Tap Records has done it again! First you helped take NYC-based rapper NIVLA (Alvin A.) to the Superbowl and now he’s on the road to the 2008 Summer Olympics, but can only get there with your help!

Nivla (Alvin A.) has been picked as a finalist out of over 800 + emcees who entered the contest sponsored by Nike Basketball, called. “This Is Our Game: Anthem.” MCs from across the country were called upon to create an original rap over a “Just Blaze” produced beat, rhyming about themes such as: Team USA, Beijing, Teamwork, Winning, Gold Medal, and Dedication.

I walk up the stairs of a Manhattan apartment, looking for someone’s residence and then I hear the sounds of Hip-Hop infiltrating through the hallway and I find myself outside the apartment of Raj Makhija – a New York-based sound engineer and record producer. Along with his brother, Ravi, together they founded Soul Tap Records, the label responsible for discovering talents such as Nivla, P. Oberoi, Feroze and Karishma. Raj is also one half of production heavyweight, RVM Sounds. The tracks which Raj produces cover an array of sounds from raw underground Hip-Hop to slow melodic film scores to upbeat pop club bangers.

By: Tirusha Dave

It’s very rare that we come across artists from our community who are talented enough to land a deal with a mainstream American record label. Nonetheless, two artists – Nivla and Parag Oberoi – stood proud, and against the odds, showcasing their fusion of Hip-Hop and Punjabi lyrics – captivating not just the Desi listener, but even the American ears!

Many were surprised when they turned on the Fox 5 morning news one day in January and saw Soul Tap Records recording artist Nivla rapping, “My Gujaratis, Punjabis, and all my Sindhis turn it out right…fellow Malayalees reppin’ hard for the South side… parties, we rockin’ ‘em, me and Parag and ‘em, Soul Tap run sh-t ain’t no stoppin’ ‘em“, followed by P. Oberoi’s sultry Punjabi vocals, “Ho ni mein jhoot boleya, koi na, ni mein kuffer toleya, koi na kaadi vi dil todeya, koi na, bai koi na.”

Question: Who are Nivla and P. Oberoi and what’s the hype behind these two boys?