Unlike their Caucasian counterparts who get record contracts because of familial contacts (I'm looking at you Pixie Lott and Elly Jackson), or in contrast to their black peers who lose recording deals because of criminal acts (I'm thinking about you Patrick Waite of Musical Youth), British Asian singers and artists are told from an early age of how important it is to knuckle down and get an education before they do anything as ludicrous as pursuing a career in music.
Jay Sean (Kamaljit Singh Jhooti to his mum) was studying medicine at Barts London before getting a US #1 single with Down, Saira Hussain was a university postgraduate with a stable job at the BBC before deciding to launch her experimental band Trickbaby, while Natasha Khan was a school teacher prior reinventing herself as the award winning Bat For Lashes.
Riz MC carries on the tradition of highly qualified desi artists who have gone on to forge careers in music. Riz MC (known as Rizwan Ahmed by his local imam) attended Merchant Taylors' School through a scholarship programme and then graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (which is the same qualification all the leading figures in British life, including our less than brilliant current Prime Minister, David Cameron, possess).
Riz MC is a pretty ubiquitous figure in the British media, doing numerous acting roles in high-end television and cinema projects, while also moonlighting as a hip-hop singer in his spare time. After his début five years ago with the funny Post 9/11 Blues, MC Riz seems to have developed a more serious, if fairly uninspiring sound for his new record Get On It.
Sam Pilling directs the moody video that plays more like an outdated Massive Attack clip assembled together with footage retrieved from the cutting room floor.
Still, with an education that dwarfs mine in every single way imaginable, dare be it for me to question MC Riz's creative decision making.
I dunno, I think we need more scientists and doctors in this world than musicians...
ReplyDelete...but that's just me, I guess.
as you know, I positively adore Jay Sean and I'm pleasantly shocked that he studied medicine. It makes me love him even more :) And isn't it silly how he is now a bigger star in USA than in his own home UK?
ReplyDeleteNever heard of him
ReplyDeleteNever heard it before. Truth to be told, i didn't love it, but it wasn't half bad.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this guy!
ReplyDeleteI think he should have stuck with his day job though. Although he did make me laugh when he made a face at the "bad guys" as he drove out of the garage. glad to see the guy's got humor.
Amber