Rabbi: A maverick singer with Sufi spirit : Music News : ApunKaChoice.Com


ApunKaChoice.Com	IndiaExpress.Com CricketZone.Com
Set as Homepage \| Add to favorites

RSS

SCOOP!! & NEWS

Rabbi: A maverick singer with Sufi spirit
17th Jan 2005 16.25 IST
By Nitika Desai

He doesn’t wear a stud look. He doesn’t sing soppy romantic songs. His videos don’t feature any bimbos. Yet Rabbi Shergill has cemented his place in the music world with his very first album.

It takes sheer talent to succeed when one decides not to play by the rules of the game. Rabbi Shergill defied all the rules. His non-glamorized, unassuming looks, his penchant for the ancient wisdom (Sufi poetry in particular) and his non-superficial approach towards music made him an unlikely man to click with the masses. But Rabbi has written his own destiny with his talent and perseverance.

Bulla ki jaana main kaun, Rabbi’s song based on the poetry of 18th century Sufi mystic Baba Bulleh Shah, has become a hit on the music circuit. And the Sikh singer-composer-song writer has caught the fancy of many from Mira Nair to Amitabh Bachchan .

A graduate from Delhi’s Khalsa College, Rabbi was a part of the local hard-rock music scene in his graduation days. His inspirations – Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Jimmy Page.

Rabbi’s rise to limelight was not without the usual struggle that any starter goes through. He almost struck a deal with Sony Music a few years back but the album never materialized. Later, he came close to cutting an album with Tehelka, but destiny had something else in store for him. Then he came to the notice of Anand Surapur of Phat Phish records, and got his first break.

And Rabbi chose to sing in Punjabi, his mother tongue, in his first album. Why?

“To start thinking in any other language would mean acknowledging its superiority. I would become a poor version of a Western rocker, a wannabe. I can't forget who I am,” Rabbi is quoted to have said.