Information:
Bollywood bassline and London
rhymes fused together with energetic beats and a
hip hop soul - it’s a sound that’s uniquely British and
uniquely D-boy.
The Journey
D-boy first began his career in music at a young age
playing the drums for his school band. By the time he
was a teenager, he was creating music on an Atari
computer in his loft before journeying North to study
the musical craft at the John Marley Centre. His first
foray into his professional career was developing a new
singer called Sharifa Shi,which he left a ‘suited’ job
to pursue, and then producing the now renowned female MC
Estelle. Along with Shabz (Music Kidz/So Solid) and Sef
(The Reelists) they got their first development, Bruce
Boniface, signed to Sony. Bruce has since moved to LA
where he recently penned ‘Lie About Us’ for Avant
featuring Nicole Scherzinger and Estelle is now signed
to John Legend’s new label imprint.
The Awards
D-boy’s songwriting unit, Synergetic, with Sharifa Shi
and Chris ‘Marz’ Marsac won ‘Overall Best Song’ in 2005
with ‘Reap what you Sow’ for the British Academy of
Songwriters and Composers (in connection with Music
Week). In 2006, they were awarded second place with
their song ‘Heartbreaker’, in conjunction with Apple.com
and the Songwriters Academy.
The Playback
In 2005, D-boy teamed up with UK MC Baby Blue and
produced ‘Come Closer (Dheere Dheere)’, a Hindi sampled
track with a mid tempo, hip hop feel which became a
massive underground Asian hip hop smash. The track
landed the deal with VIP Urban and PLAYBACK PROJECT was
born. The concept is simple - there’s just one playback
mic (like those used in Bollywood cinema to record
vocals) but many voices to take to the spotlight. The
first single from the album is ‘Nach Ke (Bhangra
Bounce)’ which combines Swiss’s eloquent rap style
alongside a fierce and angelic Hindi vocal and a
superstar-spit from V dubl E. It’s a mix made in
PLAYBACK heaven. And the icing on the cake? A soon to be
legendary video shot in Hollywood, complete with palm
trees, an afro wig, 70’s dance moves and leopard skin
furry dice! It perfectly captures the energy and the
heat that comes with the bhangra infused hip hop single.
The rest of the highly anticipated PLAYBACK album
features a wealth of talent pulled together by D-boy
including Punjabi Maestro Des-E (formally of the Mentor
Kolectiv), R&B crooner Sef, Ranjit Mani from India,
Swiss, Sharifa Shi, A G Dolla, plus many more show
stoppers.
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