Rishi Richਰਿਸ਼ਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੈਖੀ

Early life

Rishpal Singh Rekhi was born on 30 June 1976 in Croydon, London, England. From a young age he played classical Indian instruments, and at eleven he took a job as a runner in a recording studio, soaking up the workings of the music business. By thirteen he had signed a record deal with a friend under the guise of the duo 2Kool, which released several albums before disbanding in 1997.

After the Asian Underground band VR1, which he formed with soul singer Veronica Mehta, Rekhi signed a solo deal with Bally Sagoo's Ishq Records label — a move that put him at the heart of London's emerging British-Asian sound.

The Asian Underground scene of 1990s London was a laboratory where tabla met drum-and-bass, and Rishi Rich was one of its most gifted students. His time as a studio runner at eleven taught him the unglamorous side of the business — cables, tea, patience — while his classical training on Indian instruments gave him a musical vocabulary few of his peers possessed. The teenage deal as part of 2Kool ended in 1997, but it had taught him how records were sold as well as made.

Career

His debut solo album, Simply Rich (2002), drew praise for fusing contemporary R&B with bhangra, and he followed it with a string of high-profile Hindi remixes of pop singles. He also wrote hits for acts including Mis-Teeq and Craig David. But his most consequential move was assembling the Rishi Rich Project: himself, former medical student Jay Sean and singer Juggy D.

Their debut single 'Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)' reached the UK Top 40 in 2003, and Rich produced Jay Sean's breakthrough debut album Me Against Myself (2004). He released his own collaborative second album, The Project, in 2006, and then built Rishi Rich Productions with entertainment entrepreneur Waleed Jahangir, developing artists such as H-Dhami, Mumzy Stranger, Veronica Mehta, Tasha Tah and Abbas Hasan. His productions have also featured in Bollywood films.

The formation of the Rishi Rich Project in the early 2000s was the masterstroke. Pairing his production with Jay Sean's smooth R&B vocals and Juggy D's Punjabi energy, Rich created a template — the bhangra-R&B fusion single — that the whole UK Asian scene would follow. 'Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)' was only the beginning; producing Jay Sean's Me Against Myself put Rich at the centre of the biggest British-Asian breakthrough of the decade.

With Rishi Rich Productions, launched alongside entrepreneur Waleed Jahangir, he turned mentor. The roster — H-Dhami, Mumzy Stranger, Veronica Mehta, Tasha Tah, Abbas Hasan — reads like a who's who of the next wave, and his productions continued to appear in Bollywood films, carrying his sound to Indian audiences.

Major works

The Rishi Rich Project's 'Dance with You' remains the defining record of the bhangra-R&B wave. As a solo artist he is known for Simply Rich (2002) and The Project (2006); as a producer and mentor, his fingerprints are on the careers of Jay Sean, Juggy D, Veronica Mehta and Mumzy Stranger. In 2009 he received a special 'Commitment to the Scene' accolade at the Asian Music Awards.

Simply Rich and The Project stand as his solo statements, but his real discography is the careers he built: Jay Sean's debut, Juggy D's breakthrough, and the string of hits that made 2Point9 Records the most important British-Asian label of its era.

Personal life

Rich runs Rishi Rich Productions from London and continues to sign and develop British-Asian talent. He is married to dentist Manrina Rhode Rekhi.

Rich is married to Manrina Rhode Rekhi, a dentist, and the couple have appeared together at industry events including the Asian Awards. He continues to run his production company from London.

Legacy

AllMusic has called Rishi Rich 'perhaps the most influential figure on the U.K. Asian pop scene'. He is widely credited with pioneering Asian-R&B fusion — the sound that carried British Punjabi music from underground clubs to the mainstream — and with opening the industry's doors for the generation that followed.

The 2009 'Commitment to the Scene' award recognised what the industry already knew: without Rishi Rich, the British-Asian pop explosion of the 2000s does not happen. He remains the reference point for every producer trying to fuse South Asian sounds with Western pop.