Panjabi MC

England's Rajinder Rai, who records as Panjabi MC, first reached international audiences with "Mundian to Bach Ke" ("Beware of the Boys") in 2002 and 2003, yet the track had already existed for several years. His recording career stretched back further still, to 1993, when Ninder Johal of the Nachural label encountered a desi/hip-hop hybrid remix the artist had made of Kuldip Manak's "Ghariah Milan De" and offered a short series of releases. Long before any of those sessions, Panjabi MC had developed his abilities through freestyle performances; once he began committing original material to tape, he drew on desi samples and, later, began adding live musicians.

An independent outlet issued his debut single, "Rootz," only for the track to be banned, reportedly because of internal tensions inside the bhangra scene. Regular output across the 1990s, including the albums Souled Out, Another Sellout, Grass Roots, and Legalised, established him among the leading figures in bhangra. "Mundian to Bach Ke" drew immediate attention for its prominent bassline borrowed from the Knight Rider theme song—an element previously employed in Timbaland & Magoo's "Clock Strikes" and Busta Rhymes' "Fire It Up," both of which appeared earlier—while also featuring the traditional dhol drums and tumbi one-string guitar. The track achieved worldwide success, earned the MC an appearance on the U.K.'s Top of the Pops, and prompted a Jay-Z remix.