Manni Sandhu

Manni Sandhu
Background information
Birth name	Amrinder Singh Sandhu
Genres	Punjabi, Hip Hop
Occupation(s)	Music Director
Years active	2010 - Present
Labels	Collab Creations Ltd.
Associated acts	Sangra Vibes, Manjit Pappu, Ashok Gill, Manak E
Website	www.collabcreations.co.uk

Manni Sandhu is a UK-based music director. He is most known for working with a number of Punjabi singers such as Manak-E, The Late Kaka Bhaniawala, Bakshi Billa, Prabh Gill, Lehmber Hussainpuri and many more. He released his debut album My Time in February 2012 which included his No. 1 single with Bakshi Billa "Sona", and smash hit song with Manak-E "Door Ni Kulne", as well as 6 further tracks that charted in the official UK Asian Music Download Chart. Since releasing his first album, he's worked with a number of singers such as Prabh Gill, and later released his third album which is titled Against All Odds in 2014.

Early life

Manni Sandhu (born Amrinder Singh Sandhu) was born on 26 September 1989. He was raised in Southall, London and moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne at a young age. He began his passion for music at the age of 13, remixing Punjabi music with Hip Hop, R&B, Garage, and Drum n Bass music. He released a number of underground mixtapes under the name 'Dj Manni' titled 'Solid Sounds' and 'Supremacy'. He then began DJ'ing at live Punjabi events around Newcastle furthering his name in the local area and creating links with local Dj's and producers. It was at the age of 15 when Manni began to produce his own music from his bedroom using a very basic computer.^[1] As he progressed in the music production field he released a number of mixtapes titled 'Unsigned Hype' and 'Mutual Concept' alongside JsL.^[2] Manni was signed to Brown Boi Music in December 2008 and began working on his debut album which was later titled 'My Time'.

My Time

The highly anticipated album 'My Time' from Manni Sandhu was released on 23 February 2012. It featured the vocals of Manak-E, Lehmber Hussainpuri, The Late Kaka Bhaniawala, Bakshi Billa, Jelly Manjitpuri, Jaswinder Daghamia, Ashok Gill, and Nirmal Sidhu. The first single from the album "Door Ni Kulne"' featuring Manak-E was released in October 2010 and was essentially Manni's entry into the Punjabi music industry. It was a worldwide success and received over one million YouTube hits, making him one of the first UK born music directors to achieve this. The second single from the album "Sona" featuring Bakshi Billa was released in February 2012, and was No. 1 on the Official UK Asian Download Chart. Further songs that charted from the album were "Bottle" feat. Lehmber Hussainpuri, "Gidhian Di Rani" feat. Jelly Manjitpuri, "Pegg 2012" feat. Jaswinder Daghamia, "Balle Balle" feat. Ashok Gill, "Jaan Sadi" feat. Nirmal Sidhu, and "Husna Di Sarkar" feat. The Late Kaka Bhaniawala, and "Mutiyaar" feat. Malkit Bulla.^[3]

On 7 May 2012 Manni Sandhu took part in the Camden Crawl with BBC Radio 1 host Nihal.^[4]

2013

On 1 January 2013 Manni Sandhu released a mixtape under Collab Creations Ltd. entitled 'Reload'. The mixtape brought back the UK Garage sound from the early 2000s, and was released as a free download.^[5]

In 2013 Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan performed to Manni Sandhu's song 'Bottle' featuring Lehmber Hussainpuri at the TOIFA awards in Vancouver. It was the only Punjabi song used in the performance.

He also worked on a second album to be titled Against All Odds due for release in 2015.

2014

On 27 February 2014, Manni Sandhu released his highly anticipated track "Friday" featuring Manjit Pappu which was acclaimed by the public on release. "Friday" went straight to number 2 in BBC Asian Network's Official Download Chart in its first week of release.^[6]

Discography

References