With songs like “Brown Munde,” “Excuses,” and “Summer High,” Indian-born Canadian singer AP Dhillon, a rising star in the hip-hop industry, thinks the brown community is now receiving the recognition it deserves.
The artist, whose journey from Gurdaspur, Punjab, to Vancouver, Canada, and eventually experiencing fame is the topic of a new documentary series, “AP Dhillon: First of A Kind,” said he is glad that the world is taking attention of the music produced by Indians living in Canada and the US.
“As a brown community, we are receiving the recognition and respect we deserve, and our culture is advancing, like hip-hop music… In an interview with PTI, Dhillon said, “I don’t believe the world took us seriously before, but they are now.
“The music from India or the Indians living in Canada or the United States is becoming more well-known. It’s wonderful to see how various things these artists are attempting on their own today… People began to believe that they could succeed if he did, the singer said.
The 30-year-old artist, whose actual name is Amritpal Singh Dhillon, traveled to Canada in 2015 to study business administration and management after graduating. He worked odd jobs for nearly four years, including shifts at petrol stations and convenience shops; this fact is mentioned in his 2020 hit song “Brown Munde.”
Although he has always loved music, his first career goal was to play basketball.”Before this, all I wanted to do was play basketball. Being in survival mode, I went to Canada. I honor every kid that attends that school. They come from such a different culture and work so hard. There is pressure to work, make money, and attend school, and they attempt to fit in.
“Sometimes, when all you want is to survive, you forget about your dreams. But we continued on. My interest has always been music. I enjoyed singing and sometimes picking up the guitar, and I wanted to create music,” he stated.
While he claims there was never a particular song that inspired him to pursue singing, Dhillon claimed he draws inspiration from A R Rahman, vocalist Arijit Singh, and Punjabi legends Jitender Sartaj, Amar Singh Chamkila, and Sidhu Moosewala.
“I used to listen to artist songs. I would listen to a lot of legendary Punjabi musicians like Gurdip Mann, Jitender Sartaj, Garry Sandhu, and Amar Singh Chamkila. I used to like all kinds of music… There have been many excellent painters throughout the years. Siddhu, Arjit Singh, and AR Rahman were outstanding. There’s a ton of vintage music. Therefore, many of these artists inspire,” he said.
Prime Video now has the four-part documentary series by AP Dhillon. He became “emotional” when he saw his voyage on TV, according to Dhillon. “With the documentary, we just wanted to create something, which helps other artists and other people, who are starting out and are trying to do similar things, and they have this brown print to follow,” he said.
Keep doing it, push it farther, experiment with our sounds, and give the audience what they want, is all that’s required. Keep up the good work; that is the aim, the singer said.
The musician, whose documentary debut in Mumbai was attended by Hindi cinema stars like Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh, was asked whether he had gotten requests from the Hindi film business for a cooperation. He said that there were plenty, but scheduling was a problem.
“We will act whenever it seems appropriate. However, we were given the opportunity a great deal of times but never had the time. Anytime we believe a particular movie fits our aesthetic and sonic sensibilities, it… Simply put, we don’t want to push it,” he said.