Rishi Rich

Rishi was born and brought up in London, learning to play classical Indian instruments as a young child. A job as a runner in a recording studio followed at the age of 11, and at just 14 Rishi hooked up with a friend and signed his first record deal under the production moniker ‘2 Kool’.  At the age of 15 Rishi Rich released his 1st single ‘Bombay Jungle” followed by the smash album “Love 2 Love” which well and truly launched him into the spotlight. He went on to produce a number of albums at regular intervals over the next few years.  'Rishi’s success has everything to do with his startingly original production' – The Guardian, June 2003 While working in traditional Asian music, of which influences could be heard on his first five album releases, he was keen to further develop his skills and start producing a variety of beats and sounds. Rishi wanted to find a way to incorporate his love for R&B, hip-hop, ragga and garage music into his traditional bhangra sound. With his unique musical influences, he toured all over India with high profile artists such as Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurti playing to audiences of hundreds of thousands.  Back in the UK, Rishi worked with a number of Asian artists including Jassi Sidu, Apache Indian, Taz (Stereo Nation), Bally Jagpal, B21, Veronica, Sonu Nigham, Premi, Don Dee, Mentor, Saagar Malik, PDM and Amar. He co-produced no less than 10 Asian music albums before working on his first solo album ‘Simply Rich’, which debuted at No 1 in the Asian pop charts in October 2002 and remained in the top 5 for over six months. With ‘Simply Rich’, Rishi was able to fully showcase his creative talent for fusing urban music and bhangra. The lead single from the album, “Nahin Jeena”, featured ragga MC Don D and up-and-coming vocalist Juggy D, who was later to join the 2Point9 stable. 'Rishi Rich is clearly one of the hottest talents to emerge from the UK in some time' – Music Week, Aug 2003 In the meantime, Rishi had started to work with a number of cross-over artists. He produced the Top 10 hit “Roll On” for Mis Teeq and also produced their track “This is how we do it” for the Ali G Soundtrack. In addition, he wrote and produced four tracks for the Top 10 Mis Teeq album “Eye Candy”, including the title track. He has worked with artists as diverse as Brittney Spears, Ricky Martin, Liberty X, Craig David, Mary J Blige, Westlife, Javine and UK rappers Fallacy and Estelle. In January 2003, Rishi Rich signed to 2Point9 management and within months formed the Rishi Rich Project, whose objective was to showcase up-and-coming talent.  Through The Project, R&B singer and rapper Jay Sean was discovered and thrown into the limelight. The critically acclaimed debut Rishi Rich Project record “Dance With You (Nachna Tere Naal)” was released by Virgin Records in September 2003 and reached number 12 in the UK charts. Rishi also produced a track for the first ever release from the Yash Raj music label, which featured in the film 'Hum Tum', earning him global recognition, as well a new international fan base.