Rishi Rich

Rishpal Singh Rekhi ( Punjabi: ਰਿਸ਼ਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੈਖੀ, born 30 June 1976 in Croydon), better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground scene and later became internationally known for his bhangra tracks, his Hindi remixes, and as a pioneer of Asian-R&B fusion music.

Through the Rishi Rich Project, he was responsible for launching British Asian talents who would later gain mainstream success, such as Jay Sean, Juggy D, Veronica Mehta, and Mumzy Stranger. In addition, Rishi Rich has launched the singing career of Canadian artist, Jasmine K Kara, as the two collaborated in 2022 to release "The Ishq (Rishi Rich Remix)." Jasmine K Kara has mentioned being a "huge fan" of the Rishi Rich Project's debut single, "Dance with You" (Nachna Tere Naal), and refers to the experience of working with Rishi Rich as a "dream come true."

He has also released his own solo albums, ''Simply Rich'' in 2002 with Ishq Records and '' The Project'' in 2006 with 2point9 Records and his produced songs have appeared in a number of Bollywood films. He now runs Rishi Rich Productions with contracts with a number of British Asian artists including H-Dhami, Mumzy Stranger, Veronica Mehta, Tasha Tah and Abbas Hasan.

The Rishi Rich Project

Rishi Rich worked in the UK with a number of Asian artists and co-produced a number of Asian music albums. In January 2003, he signed a management contract with 2Point9 Records. Soon after, he formed the Rishi Rich Project; the objective of which was to showcase up-and-coming talent. The Rishi Rich releases quickly became famous in the Asian Underground scene, being pioneers of contemporary R&B- bhangra fusion. They subsequently found success in India and helped popularise Asian-R&B fusion sounds in both the Asian underground scene and in the Indian pop music.

"Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)", released on 8 September 2003, was the debut single by the Rishi Rich Project produced by Richi Rich and featuring Jay Sean (singing in English) and Juggy D (in Punjabi). It was an Asian Underground song with the music video set at a block party in a London neighbourhood. The song peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 2 on the Dutch Top 40. It also won "Best Single R&B" at the 2003 UK Asian Music Awards. It is considered Jay Sean's first successful single and was later included in his debut album ''Me Against Myself'' (2004), produced by Rishi Rich himself, as well in Rich's album, ''Rishi Rich Project''. The song was also included in the soundtrack for the 2003 Bollywood film ''Boom''.

On 27 April 2007, Rishi announced that he was parting with his record company 2Point9 Records, marking the end of the Rishi Rich Project. After their departures from the project, Jay Sean subsequently went on to become one of the most successful groundbreaking international Asian artists (prestigiously topping the US Hot 100 in 2009), while Juggy D became one of the most successful British artists in the mainstream Indian market.

In 2015, Rishi Rich, Jay Sean and Juggy D reunited as the Rishi Rich Project and released the single "Freak".

Solo career

Rishi Rich released his first solo album ''Simply Rich'' fuses urban music and bhangra. The album was a big success in the Asian pop charts that resulted in a number of singles, including "Nahin Jeena" with vocals by Don D and Juggy D, and "Nahin Tere Jeha Hor Disda" with vocals by Pakistani Qawwali singer Javed Bashir (based on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Kiven Mukhre Ton Nazran Hatawan") with the music video featuring cameo appearances by Bally Sagoo, Juggy D, Jay Sean and Veronica Mehta.

His second solo release, '' The Project'', in 2006 included the single "Push It Up (Aaja Kuriye)" featuring Juggy D and Jay Sean, peaking at No 1 on the BBC
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