OMG IT’S THE NEW H DHAMI ALBUM!!!...Ok ok enough of taking the piss. H Dhami is the closest thing to a manufactured Asian music star. With the supreme backing of Rishi Rich, H Dhami in just under a year has managed to bag himself worldwide acclaim and a massive fan base, without releasing an album. There’s no hiding the fact that H Dhami appeals to a certain audience, so for those reading this review expecting him to bring out an album sounding like Lehmber please stop reading from this point.

 H Dhami seems to have filled the void left by a certain Juggy D in appealing to the masses of teenage girls (and some guys) with a genre which can only described as pop Bhangra. The album has been solely produced by Rishi Rich, who would be the first to admit his own limitations in producing Bhangra tracks. Having left 2point9 exactly a year back, I’m hoping for a new fresh sound from Rishi and A LOT MORE creativity in his music.

The album kicks off with a song we all should know by now, probably off by heart given the amount of exposure it has been given over the past year or so. ‘Sadke Java’ is a marketing teams dream. Simple lyrics, catchy music and guaranteed to fill the dance-floor, with a flash video to boot.  The music laid down by Rishi features a funky electronic tumbi, if there is such a thing. A decent start to the album, although I may have probably liked it more if it had not been forced into my ears for the past year! The song is ridiculously short, with the main chunk of the song being over in just 2minutes 30 seconds, very basic!

 ‘Mitran Di Jaan’ is up next and is one of the stronger songs off the album,  Once again H Dhami sticks to his strong points of delivering catchy lyrics over a funky beat laid down by Rishi Rich, but no more flutes please! Not groundbreaking but you can’t help but listen to it again. Incidentally this version is different to the one being pushed on the video, the original version has been added as an extra remix.

 ‘Har Gabroo’ is a slower track. Another strong song but production by Rishi Rich isn’t too innovative. We see the same use of instruments which have been rinsed for the past four years, really isn’t inventive. H Dhami saves the song with a catchy chorus, one of my favourites off the album.

 H Dhami delivers a song more one a desi tip this time around with ‘Ik Dagga’, lyrics have actually been given by Jandu Littranwala who has been responsible for some of the biggest songs of recent times most notably by Jazzy B. Although IK Dagga is another simplistic song, but for what it’s worth it’s fairly decent.

 ‘Lute Gaai’ is up next and instantly reminds me of Jassi Sidhus ‘Thaal’ which was also produced by Rishi Rich. A fast paced song that isn’t too great, the saving grace being when the song is slowed down at the end.

 ‘Akh Lad Gayee’ sees H Dhami ask Rishi Rich to-do something ‘totally crazy’. This probably gets my vote as one of the best songs off the album; it is actually quite different to everything before. The song features Roach Killa who is an excellent addition and really adds something different, which has been lacking till now.

‘Nachdi Vekhna’ follows on and is another generic track that has been sung similar to Mitran Di Jaan with a little increase of tempo. All in all quite a limited song and one for me to skip!

 Female vocalist Chaaya has been drafted in for ‘Heeriye’ which is one of the stronger songs from the album. Rishi Rich seems to excel on slower songs. Its very catchy and the beat laid down by Rishi is original! Another highlight of the album.

 ‘Dho Nain’ starts off well, with an old school vibe but then probably goes down hill after that. The beat is similar to ‘Majajne’ by Des-C which was off the Rishi Rich album. Alongside that there’s an annoying sound in the background that sounds as if someone left the metronome on.

 ‘Kinni Soni’ is next and is another catchy song with the lyrics being penned by H Dhami himself. Another generic song by Rishi Rich which isn’t a bad thing and works well, but I just find it boring.

 The self proclaimed Bengali Sean Paul ‘Mumzy’ is on hand to join H Dhami on ‘Tere Naal’. The song is finished within 2minutes and 33seconds, which in itself should tell you its nothing really special.

 ‘Sadke Java (Jaan Re-Fix)’ is the first of two remixes and is essentially the same song as the original however stripped of any musical depth.

‘Mitran Di Jaan (The Double R Original)’ is the final song and this is the version that was originally used for the video. For some reason or another it’s been turned into a remix, can’t see why as its much superior to the version that’s been given number 2 position on the album.

It’s fairly simple to understand this album. No doubt this album has been aimed at a particular market and I have no qualms with that, so if you’re a massive H Dhami fan this album will be the best thing since sliced bread. If you’re like me and don’t really care about marketing and just want good quality music than this album doesn’t really cut it.

Rishi Rich delivers  few moments of inspiration throughout the album with  Akh Lad Gayee and possibly Mitran Di Jaan, but the album once again tends to sound too similar. I guess this is were the problem lies, the production is far too similar on a lot of the songs and in the end everything past track 6 sounds as if it has already been repeated before.

For those who are probably going to go and diss H Dhami’s vocal ability; don’t bother. I’m sure he himself knows he is limited but this album has managed to overcome that somewhat, but ultimately a lot of songs tend to sound similar due to the limited nature of his vocals. But credits were its due, the lack of UK Born vocalists is dire, so all support should be given to new artists.

 A follow up album for H Dhami will be the real acid test, whether he can manage to maintain the success he has achieved so far will be a feat in its own. For now he can either milk the gig scene for what it’s worth and maximise profits or go to India and practice the art of singing and come back stronger and more versatile. If he really wants to be taken more seriously by music enthusiasts than the latter option would be best.

This album will be one of the biggest selling releases of the year and rightly so as it appeals to a certain audience. But ultimately it’s a soulless album made for an equally similar target audience.

 H Dhami – Sadke Java gets a 5.5/10

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