User:Sound4site

SUNIT & RAXSTAR

A few months before he gained his degree in Film & Drama Studies, Raxstar received an email from producer Sunit. The offer was to collaborate and resulted in the two young talents creating their breakout track “Keep It Undercover”. The lyrics of the track were written & performed entirely by Raxstar and the music production was handled solely by Sunit.

The song was sent to Radio 1 DJ’s Bobby Friction and Nihal and was subsequently played for 8 weeks in a row during May/June of 2005 on their weekly show & placed at the top of their chart. ‘Keep It Undercover’ was playlisted by Adil Ray on the BBC Asian Network, Club Asia, Panjabi Hit Squad on BBC 1Xtra and various regional and internet radio stations. Sunit & Raxstar decided to continue to work together as they felt they had similar musical styles and complimented each other on many levels.

Staunch supporters of Sunit & Raxstar, both Bobby Friction and Nihal wanted songs by the duo for separate compilation albums they were to release in India. Bobby Friction’s album ‘Friction 2’ featured “Keep It Undercover” and is played regularly on radio and in clubs in India. For Nihal’s album, ‘Bombay Bronx’, Sunit & Raxstar decided to create a new song for the Indian market. They enlisted the help of R&B vocalist Kavita who had previously worked with Panjabi Hit Squad. The resulting track “Night & Day” featured her sultry vocals entwined with an up-tempo Sunit beat and two heartfelt verses from Raxstar. Although it was only released in the Indian market the song somehow managed to find its way on radio within the UK.

Sunit & Raxstar also independently produced two music videos from their debut CD release “Fulfilling Ambition EP” for the tracks ‘Keep It Undercover’ and ‘In Perspective’. Both videos received support and airplay on UK urban music station ‘Channel U’ and received enough votes from viewers to enter their top 20 chart. The videos also received airplay on Asian channels Zee Music & Sony’s B4U Music as well as new the new Sky channel Brit Asia TV.

The duo have also been featured and interviewed for TV as well as various magazines and radio stations which include Brit Asia TV, RockWorld TV, Asiana Magazine, Zee TV Magazine, RWD Magazine, BBC Asian Network, Adil Ray, Bobby Friction and Nihal, Radio 1Xtra Panjabi Hit Squad, BBC Radio 1, BBC 3 Counties Radio, Desi Hits Radio, Luton News.

The impact that this team have made within the Asian music scene is impressive when considering the limited resources they have been working with. They have whittled down the wealth of material they have created to just 9 tracks which they released independently as an EP entitled ‘Fulfilling Ambition’ which was also made available on iTunes. Their debut CD satisfied the hunger their supporters had for material from the duo and they are putting final touches on the new Raxstar mixtape entitled “Dream Warriors” which is releasing in the fourth quarter of 2008 and they hope it will also be a stepping stone for a future endeavours.

Achievements

Raxstar – Nihal’s ‘Bombay Bronx’ rap battle runner up 2005

Sunit & Raxstar – Bobby Friction and Nihals listeners ‘Best Unsigned Act’ 2005/2006

Raxstar – UK Asian Music Awards 2006 – Nominated as ‘Best MC’ & ‘Best Newcomer’

Musical likes

Musically the pair share similar tastes. Raxstar prefers artists who represent certain values and incorporate messages within their music such as Common, Talib Kweli & Nas. He is also a very big fan of Punjabi Folk music and cites Gurdas Maan as a profound influence on his music.

Sunit listens to an eclectic mix of various artists. His favourite producer is Timbaland because of his unique sound and creative use of instrumentation. The artists Sunit listens to include Corey Williams, Ludacris & Notorious BIG.

Performances include:

Rise Festival, London

BBC Radio 1xtra’s Homegrown Weekend, Leicester

City Showcase, London

Bombay Bronx, Notting Hill Arts Club, London

UK Asian Music Awards After party, Hammersmith Palais, London

Reminisce, Newcastle

Cancer Research Ball, Wembley

Asian Invasion, Middlesbrough

BBC Asian Network Uni Tour, Nottingham, Birmingham & Leicester

Channel M, Manchester

Noise Festival, Manchester

Loughborough Mela

Shaanti, Birmingham & London

Freshers Jam, Hatfield

Zee Music 2007

Luton Carnival 2008

Brit Asia TV 2008

RockWorld TV 2008

Water Festival, Phnom Penh, Cambodia