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Things
have never been more hectic in the Desi Club scene, but
the man in the middle, Toronto based DJ Jiten, seems totally
composed. This isn't
surprising. Jiten, who started live Hindi remixing at his
first jam in 1991 orginates from the old school but still
continues to shape the way Desi kids party.
For
one thing, it's his job -- he spins at virtually every major
Indian Jam and show across Canada and the US and has put
out over 10 remix CD's -- but mostly it's his love for music.
Jiten's passion of Hindi lyrics and beats spills over into
the tracks he produces. The buzz he's created has reached
Desi partiers as far as Australia.
"A
lot of people think this is just a hobby for me," he
reasons, "but if you have a passion for something you
can succeed and make a career out of it."
BMW
2001 is this years follow up to last years BMW 2000
which went number 1 on the UK Bhangra Charts. All vocals
and Indian instruments were recorded in India and the remixing
was done in Toronto. It is being released through Pardesi
Records, and UK based Kiss Records, the label that brought
us Bhangra Addicts and Dholaholics (one of
the the all time biggest selling compilation albums). The
CD also contains a full length video for the first single
"In Aankhon Ki Masti"
"BMW 2000 was a special album for me", Jiten explains,
"It was the first time I went to India to record with
film singers. It was the first time an album of mine was
released in India. It was the first time I hit the top 10
in UK, and it was the first time I shot a music video".
The video for 'Pyar Zindagi Hai' was in heavy rotation
on ZeeTV, B4U, and MTV India.
Jiten
is in large part responsible for the acceptance of Desi
music being played at parties, and has grown with the scene
as it has changed through the years.
"The
Toronto scene went through a 2-3 year denial period were
many people shunned anything that was Indian - be it the
music (bhangra) or the parties ("rat jams")."
"During this period, I was going to the States every
weekend where they couldn't get enough of it. "Unfortunately,
I think they are heading in that direction now"
"It starts when Indian cultural events have Funk Master
Flex as their headline act. But Toronto is maturing and
we are getting back to our roots, hopefully the ones that
spoiled the scene the first time around will learn from
their mistakes as well as control their younger brothers.
As
far as the urban scene outside of Indians - it doesn't concern
me much."
With Desi's as far as Australia grooving to your tracks,
why should it.
Upcoming Parties
February 16th - Cupid
2001
February 22nd - MyBindi
Thursday
February 24th - The
Hearts of Light Gala
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DJ Jiten
Quick Facts |
Alias:
Jiten Khatri
Years DJ'ing: 10
First Record: GrandMaster Flash & Furious Five-
The Message
First Turntables: Technique's SLBDK22. Bought for $129
each brand new when I was 14, using money saved up from
paper route.
Current Listening To: Mos Def & Nate Dogg, Craig
David, anything with
Funk
Favourite Bollywood films: Namak Halal, Dilwale Dulhania.
Favourite Bollywood Soundtracks: Major Saab, Umrao
Jaan, Qurbani
Likes a girls that's: Honest, sincere, pretty, sexy,
fun loving.
Number of times stalked by a girl: One. Caught her
after star 69 was available. She turned out to be nice.
Desi girls from Canada are: Fine!
Desi girls from the U.S. are: Determined
Desi girls from England are: Snotty
Desi girls from India are: Vicco
Website: www.dj-jiten.com
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