Punjabi rap started way earlier than you think (feat. Intense) - EP38

This episode discusses alcoholism and mental health struggles.

We share this story with deep respect and love for someone who impacted many lives positively, while also being honest about the challenges he faced.

Our goal is to reduce stigma and help others recognize when someone needs help.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEEDS HELP: Please know you are not alone. Resources are available, confidential, and free.- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 (US/Canada).- Vaapsi (vaapsi.org)

Mindy and Intense share an open and raw conversation about the early days of Intense's career, before all of the fame, and before Mindy was locked up.

The two met each other through Dove (Teflon Don), who we honour in this episode along with Deep Cold. Both of which were way ahead of their time.

Mindy and Intense have every intention to release Dove's music and we'll let you know when the music is publicly available. For now - enjoy our intro song along with the sneak peak of his verse + chorus which we have never shared before.

This episode is dedicated to Teflon and Deep Cold, the pioneers of Punjabi rap. Their vision was ahead of its time and they were taken from us way too soon. Forever in our hearts. Not a day goes by their presence isn’t felt.

More details:

We sat down with DJ Intense (Aneil Kainth), the legendary Punjabi music producer behind hits like Excuses Producer credits, and talked about everything from his journey in the Punjabi music industry to the loss of our friend Teflon Don (Dove). This emotional podcast got real about friendship in music industry, alcoholism awareness in the Punjabi community, and the untold stories behind Punjabi hip hop.

Intense, the Surrey BC music producer from Strawberry Hill, opened up about his early days making remixes and beats, working with Punjabi rap pioneers like Deep Cold from Houston, Sonny Brown (also spelled Sunny Brown in some credits), and Kamala Punjabi. We discussed the formation of Three Singhs (3 Singhs), their group that was part of International Mafia (IM) - the label they started with Yo Yo Honey Singh.

The conversation covered Intense's collaborations with Diljit Dosanjh as producer, his Sidhu Moose Wala collaboration including "It's All About You" Sidhu, working with Karan Aujla, AP Dhillon, Guru Randhawa, Jasmine Sandlas, and creating the producer tag "Intense" that's become iconic in Punjabi music. We talked about his work on International Villager with Honey Singh, the Universal Music India deal, boardroom deal story moments, and behind the scenes India experiences at PTC Awards Chandigarh and the Bombay/Mumbai music industry.

Mindy shared his life in prison while Intense was building his music legacy. We also explored artist tragedies including the Deep Cold story and how these shaped the punjabi rap music scene.

From DJ life weddings to becoming a music executive at Double Up Entertainment, Intense talked about artist development, the creative process beats, his synth-driven Punjabi sound, Punjabi trap beats, and making everything from Punjabi romantic songs to rap beef music and chill vibes tracks. We also went over the evolution from bhangra fusion to the global Punjabi sound while discussing Bollywood music versus Punjabi music, Bollywood vs Punjabi music debates, and Western vs Punjabi music differences.

This podcast touched on unreleased music including unreleased Sidhu music, Tupac influence on the scene, collaborations with Yukmouth, Spice 1, Outlawz, Young Buck G-Unit, and connections with Jazzy B, Bohemia, Mika Singh. This Punjabi producer interview reveals the Punjabi industry struggles, success and failures, and personal growth stories from the Strawberry Hill hood.