When producer and DJ Yung Singh first made his name with the release of his Punjabi garage Shuffle n’ Swing Members mix back in 2020, there was little recognition of the Punjabi diaspora’s influence within dance music. “The music industry was only really talking about white artists that have started making two-step and garage pre-lockdown,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘hold on, what about us?’ We’ve been doing this for ages.” 

After the success of Singh’s mix, industry players, from journalists to promoters, would only “hit [him] up when they want to focus on ‘South Asian’ music” even though Singh saw himself as creating varied dance mixes with a Punjabi influence. In response to the sidelining of South Asian artists, Singh has been carving out his space in the mainstream ever since. Most recently, he played a set packed with Punjabi bangers like Bhinda Jatt’s “Jatt Diyan Boliyan” to huge crowds at Coachella.

Singh has always been on a grind to promote his multifarious sound that draws from communities and genres he grew up with. It was viral moments like his 2022 Melbourne Boiler Room where he really flexed his off the cuff adaptability, spontaneously taking a chance on a jungle tune (“Y’all Ready For Dis” by Y U QT) that sent the crowd wild. “The only thing I really wanted to do going into that set was not play any Punjabi garage at all,” he says. “I knew if I did, it would further pigeonhole me.”

That set, he recalls, started to “break all the stereotypes and pigeon holes that the music industry tried to put [him] in”. It became more apparent to Singh that while a DJ shouldn’t have to educate, he felt an overwhelming responsibility to do so. With his influence, the artist is devoted to setting the record straight about false narratives that surround Punjabi history and Sikh persecution and dismantling the pejorative stereotypes coming from within and outside the South Asian community. 

His passions converge in his most recent project, Ekta, an event series that aims to make an impact long after the sun comes up. Incorporating the sounds of his Punjabi roots and the many avenues that make up dance music, he hopes the event will both “[feed] his own artistry” and “[benefit] the community”. By only working with people that are “in it for the right reasons”, Singh’s team is making the new space about musical craft and social advocacy, moving away from branding themselves as another “South Asian” night that fails to honour the diverse identities within the subcontinent and its diaspora.

I attended Ekta’s opening night at Fabric in early March. ‘For the Culture’ flags were draped from the ceiling and the smell of incense hung in the air. Smoking area chat was all about the crowd’s devotion to the cause, with the majority of attendees having travelled far and wide to get stuck in. Following the event’s success, I met up with Singh at a sleepy Soho bar to get down to the future of Ekta and the work he does beyond the decks.

How are you feeling about the first Ekta series?

Yung Singh: The feedback has so far been phenomenal. You could feel the energy and the excitement during the night. But I was still stressing. We were initially a tiny bit worried that we might get a crowd that doesn’t get all the other acts on the lineup, because it’s a very varied lineup in terms of sound. But thankfully all three rooms were packed throughout the night. All the DJs had a lot of fun. Their feedback was amazing as well. They had a lot given back from the crowd as well. So yeah, really good.

Tell us about Ekta, the meaning behind the word? And where do you want to take the project?

Yung Singh: The word Ekta means unity or oneness in Punjabi and other South Asian languages. The logo incorporates the ‘ek’ symbol. Punjabis that I’ve spoken to have said that it’s such a meaningful, powerful word. For non-Punjabis and non-South Asian people, I think it’s just a cool word that looks and sounds futuristic. I wanted Ekta to be super authentically Punjabi and reference my culture, but also accessible to other people, which is what my sound is about.

I really want it to be a full, multisensory experience. For people to step in and feel like they’re on a different planet. Often we get lost in just the sound and music being good. I’ve got a whole suite of visuals built on this idea of a futuristic Punjab if colonialism never happened, an alternative universe with trippy motion graphics based on some patterns that my mum and my grandma made in the 70s.

“It’s when there’s intersections between different cultures and sounds that you get that magic” – Yung Singh

How did you go about curating the different vibes in each room?

Yung Singh: I really wanted a broad demographic to come through that were into a lot of different scenes, because that’s what I grew up listening to. I made sure each room had a different vibe going for it so people could explore and find new artists.

I really want Punjabi music to go mainstream, for more who aren’t Punjabi people to come to Punjabi events. It’s when there’s intersections between different cultures and sounds that you get that magic. You see Punjabi folk on dub and reggae and jungle and hip-hop, and it’s a match made in heaven. A lot of that came from Punjabis going to dub and reggae events. It became the soundtrack for a lot of the Asian civil rights youth movements that Punjabis pioneered. You’ve also got the other side, where a lot of Jamaican or Black artists were influenced by sounds from Punjab and South Asia.

Even Timberland leaned heavily into that sound. Missy Elliott’s ‘Get Your Freak On’ is built completely from Punjabi instruments. Rihanna’s ‘Pon De Replay’ and Sean Paul’s ‘Get Busy’ sampled a Punjabi artist called Bibi Swarn Noora. They came from the sample pack ‘Deepest India’ by the company Zero G. A lot of early jungle, drum and bass producers rinsed those packs. It’s wild. Some dudes flew to India and recorded a bunch of people. Those original artists actually didn’t get paid royalties. 25 odd years later, we’re like, ‘fuck, that was a Punjabi song!’ Imagine how much inspiration someone who isn’t Punjabi can get from coming to an event like this and hearing something?

What was the process of implementing all those little details that made the night, from the burning incense to the ‘For the Culture’ flags?

Yung Singh: Stressful. I’ve got more giant flags coming up. Some of them were actually redirecting the attention back to the farmers’ protests happening now, which were a big inspiration for Ekta. One of the slogans from the farmers’ protests in 2020 means ‘long live farmer labour and unity’, to promote working-class solidarity. Sikhs were at the forefront of everything, fighting to provide a safety net for half the population. Punjab and Haryana supplied 60 to 70 per cent of all the food in India. The land is being worked to the bone, and [foreign] farming techniques poisoned the land.

[Sikhs] tried to raise awareness about it in the 80s. They got hit by genocide because it was seen as a separatist movement, which it then eventually became because of the genocide. You don’t get genocidal ethnic cleansing without demonisation of the community beforehand. The usual stereotypes are that we are violent, aggressive, backwards. It’s important for our community to have someone that actually speaks on their behalf and also draw attention to the fact that some of our biggest oppressors aren’t necessarily white people in the West, it’s brown people in the East. A lot of non-Punjabi people just don’t understand that.

How do you rate the infrastructure within the dance music community to start wider social issue discussions?

Yung Singh: The infrastructure is definitely there. It’s just the willingness often isn’t. People always talk about ‘doing it for the culture’ and community, but there’s no substance. I shouldn’t have to [say] ‘don’t use the word South Asian’, because it’s meaningless. South Asia is home to two billion people. People want to be custodians of culture that they can’t even name. For instance, the sample from Nina Sky’s ‘Move Ya Body’ originally comes from a Punjabi Sufi poet Bulleh Shah from the 1600s. We have centuries of history behind us and people, even in our own community, can’t be bothered to name us properly.

Now I’m only working with people that are in it for the right reasons. You see that with the level of effort and love that goes into stuff. With Ekta, people really bought into everything. That’s two years of turning that responsibility to output. People really appreciate authenticity and willingness to stick your neck out, stand up for what’s right.

You’re also outspoken about making sure Punjabi influence on dance or even mainstream music doesn’t go unnoticed. How do you go about that?

Yung Singh: Some of the biggest speed garage and garage tunes from that era were from Punjabi artists who sold more records and did more global tours than any garage or baseline artists from that era. But to this day, despite all the work I’ve done, including a whole documentary with the Ministry of Sound about the Punjabi influence, its importance has been overlooked. Journalists only hit us up when they want to focus on South Asian music. It’s actually a really important part of UK music full stop.

I pulled up the Punjabi garage mix because I grew up listening to all that stuff. The music industry was only really talking about white artists that have started making two-step and garage pre-lockdown. I was like, ‘hold on, what about us?’ We’ve been doing this for ages.

What about your exploration into a range of musical eras?

Yung Singh: I get messages saying ‘my mum loves your Boiler Room’ or ‘I’m watching your Boiler Room with my granddad’. The older generations get what I’m doing. A lot of them grew up going to daytime raves and listening to jungle, but maybe don’t feel like the kids appreciate that as much as whatever’s popping today. I really wanted people – especially kids that perhaps don’t have as great an understanding of Punjabi culture, music and the language – to be like, ‘granddad, what does this mean? What’s the significance?’

Do you feel a responsibility to help educate people with the platform and influence you have?

Yung Singh: That’s the reason why I put those resources up on my website. Even if it’s for young kids that need to find a way to re-engage with their culture in a way that makes sense to them. [Second generation kids] can sometimes often feel embarrassed to try to speak Punjabi, or don’t know where to go. I needed to curate stuff, because that’s what I do with my set. If I’m gonna call for the culture on the T-shirt, I need to actually do something for the culture. I don’t just want it to be an empty statement.