ABOUT S-ENDZ
S-Endz is an artist and producer from Birmingham, England, a vocalist and songwriter in critically-acclaimed pop/electro band Swami, a member of Tupac Shakur’s final group, Tha Havenotz, and occasional presenter and actor.
S-Endz live at Maida Vale with Swami, recording a session for BBC Radio 1.
CONTACT
For all booking and information on S-Endz, please email s-endz@swamimusic.com
S-ENDZ ONLINE
S-Endz on Twitter
Swami on MySpace
BIOGRAPHY (SHORT VERSION)
BIOGRAPHY (LONG VERSION)
It was clear from a very early age that S-Endz would accept nothing less than international stardom as a musician, artist and personality. Growing up as the first cousin of world-reknowned music producers Simon and Diamond Duggal and reggae star Apache Indian, his earliest memories were inside a recording studio observing his three cousins creating songs that would go on to recieve major worldwide acclaim.
Writing songs since the age of 10, his own chance to break into the music industry came in 2003 when Diamond called on him to write and perform as a member of the well-respected electro/bhangra band Swami that had been formed a few years earlier. The first Swami album with S-Endz was entitled ‘DesiRock’ and went on to become the definitive British-Asian album of 2004, winning many awards and garnering a great deal of critical acclaim. The strength of this album, alongside S-Endz building up a certain amount of infamy as the bands explosive live rapper, led BBC Radio 1 DJ’s Bobby Friction and Nihal to name S-Endz as the ‘Rowdiest MC’ in their annual awards show.
‘DesiRock’ was completely re-recorded in 2005 with an increased focus on live instruments, and released internationally through Sony BMG as ‘So Who Am I’, with S-Endz co-writing and featuring on all 10 tracks. This release saw the band tour worldwide, appearing at the French festival ‘Les Transmusicales’ on the same bill as the Beastie Boys and Kraftwerk, and ending the year with a headline performance at the MTV Style Awards.
2006 saw Swami branch further into the mainstream consciousness, with the song ‘Mehbooba’ appearing in the Olsen Twins debut Hollywood movie ‘ New York Minute’, and ‘DesiRock’ appearing in the independant UK flick ‘Mischief Night’ as well as the FIFA World Cup 2006 video game on Playstation 2, Xbox and other consoles. This year also saw the early roots of S-Endz’ solo project begin to take shape, with 2 self-written and produced songs getting their live premiere at a show in Birmingham broadcast on the BBC Asian Network.
That same summer also saw S-Endz as a radio presenter, co-scripting and hosting a two-hour documentary about Tupac Shakur for BBC 1xtra that saw S-Endz and 1xtra’s DJ Semtex fly to Los Angeles and interview many of Tupac’s associates and peers including producers Johnny J and Quincy "QD3" Jones III, rappers Candyman 187 (Tupac’s adopted brother) and David Banner, and more.
Later that year it was revealed that S-Endz had been inducted into the hip-hop collective ‘Tha Havenotz’ – the final group started by Tupac and now led by Candyman 187. The announcement came as the first S-Endz solo track, ‘Giveit2Me’ (produced by Simon ‘Subs’ Duggal) hit radio stations across the UK.
2007 saw the evolution of Swami with the album ‘Equalize’. Again recieving critical acclaim, the lead single ‘Hey Hey’ generated over a million plays on MySpace in just a few months and provided the momentum for further tours of the UK, Canada and India throughout 2008, as well as a coveted BBC Radio 1 live session at the infamous Maida Vale studios in London (the second one that Swami have done!).
The second music video from the album, ‘Electro Jugni’ premiered in the fall of 2008 to rave reviews, with many fans and critics naming it as the video of the year. The digital EP of ‘Electro Jugni’ and ‘She’s Mine’ (an entirely English language version of ‘Electro Jugni’) is set to be released in early 2009. S-Endz co-wrote and features on both versions of the song. A further music video for ‘She’s Mine’ is also scheduled to be released soon.
On top of the new Swami release, 2009 looks set to be S-Endz’ year with the release of his highly anticipated debut album, ‘Emanate’. The bulk of the album is to be produced by S-Endz himself, with additional production from both Simon ‘Subs’ Duggal and Diamond ‘DJ Swami’ Duggal. 4 songs from the album have been released online and playlisted on radio stations worldwide to date, include the dancefloor funk-rock jam ‘She’s Like My Shadow’, and it’s official remix featuring Detroit rapper Kidd Skilly (whose recent collaboration with Akon made serious waves in the Asian music industry).
With both his solo album and the next Swami album in the writing stages, and an ever-growing profile, what’s next for the ‘neofunk soldier’? Only time will tell….
