Mushtaq Omar Uddin
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Mushtaq Omar Uddin (born 14 August 1973), also known simply as Mushtaq, is an English
music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, singer, songwriter, and former lead vocalist for British hip hop group Fun-Da-Mental when he was known at the time by his stage name MC Mushtaq.


Career


Asian Dub Foundation

As a young boy, Mushtaq joined the community band Joy Bangla as a drummer where he met brothers Sam (
State of Bengal Saifullah "Sam" Zaman (17 April 1965 – 19 May 2015), known by the stage name State of Bengal, was a British DJ and music producer of Bangladeshi descent associated with the UK and Asian Underground movement. Early life Zaman was born on 1 ...
) and Deeder Zaman which led to the foundation of the Asian Underground movement provided British Asian youth with a homegrown alternative to the more standard/mainstream Asian dance music fodder of the time, bhangra and Bollywood. The collaboration became a regular on the UK electronic music scene through the Nineties and gained more prominence in the new millennium after gaining the attention from the likes of Icelandic singer Bjork and UK trip hop group Massive Attack. The group included Producer and DJ Sam Zaman, his brother Deedar and MC Mushtaq. State of Bengal took off when Zaman composed his best-known track to date,
Flight IC408
https://open.spotify.com/search/Chittagong%20Chill],” which appeared on the 1997 Talvin Singh-helmed compilation Anokha ”“ Soundz of the Asian Underground. The compilation also included another track by Zaman, "Chittagong Chill".


Fun-Da-Mental

In the summer of 1993, Fun-Da-Mental Mushtaq met Aki Nawaz, Aki "Propa-Gandhi" Nawaz and joined Fun-Da-Mental as the lead vocalist under the stage name of MC Mushtaq. This is the band who have mixed rap and hip-hop with qawwali singing from Pakistan or Gypsy music from Rajasthan, and recorded albums with titles like Why America Will Go To Hell. The bands first album Seize The Time Album was released in 1994 and peaked at No. 74 on the UK Albums Chart. The New York Times concluded that, "if their hard-edged music reflects a growing sense among nonwhites that they have little choice but to abandon traditional passiveness, it also reflects a broader and complicated effort to find an identity that transcends their Britishness."


1990s/2000s: Hip hop & R&B

During the 1990s, Mushtaq started his career as a "beat maker" in New York for a number '90s hip hop groups, including
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...
,
House of Pain House of Pain was an American hip hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. They are best known for their 1992 hit single " Jump Around", which reached number 3 in their nati ...
and
Souls of Mischief Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland ...
. On his return from America, Mushtaq co-wrote and produced several R&B albums. In 2001, he worked on
Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...
's album '' Since You've Been Gone'', he co-wrote and produced the tracks "I Don't Know" (featuring
Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...
), "Good Folk", and "Maria" (featuring
Kele Le Roc Kelly Biggs (born 5 October 1975 in East Ham, London), better known by her stage name Kele Le Roc, is an English singer. Career Biggs began singing at the age of three, and she attended Langdon Comprehensive School in East Ham. She first found ...
), and co-wrote "So What If I" (featuring Iceberg Slimm). He co-wrote and produced
Mis-Teeq Mis-Teeq were a British girl group, consisting of Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash and Alesha Dixon. They were active from 1999 to 2005. Mis-Teeq had two top-ten albums and seven consecutive top-ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, as ...
's album '' Lickin' on Both Sides'', including the track "
B with Me "B with Me" is a song by British girl group Mis-Teeq. It was written by band members Alesha Dixon, Su-Elise Nash, and Sabrina Washington along with Mushtaq for their debut album, ''Lickin' on Both Sides'' (2001). Rather than the album version, ...
". Mushtaq worked on
Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British girl group consisting of Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group's best-known line-up also included Tony Lundon and Kevin Simm. The group was formed by the five finalists of ...
's album '' Thinking It Over'', Mushtaq co-wrote and co-produced the track "No Clouds", and co-wrote the track "Saturday".. He produced several tracks from
Tyler James Tyler James may refer to: * Tyler James (American musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * Tyler James (English musician) Kenneth Gordon (born 5 January 1982), better known by his stage name Tyler James, is an English singer and so ...
' 2005 album '' The Unlikely Lad'', including the single " Foolish", and the track "Best for Me" (featuring Amy Winehouse). Mushtaq co-wrote and produced the song "Take Your Time" from
Simon Webbe Simon Solomon Webbe (born 30 March 1978) is an English singer, rapper and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio albums in 2005, 2006 and 2017 and had five UK ...
's 2006 album ''
Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...
''.


Terry Hall & Mushtaq

Mushtaq joined in a collaboration with the Specials fun boy Terry Hall; stated as "Two of the pioneers of multicultural British pop are back with a daring, thoughtful set." by the Guardian Mushtaq co-wrote and produced the album '' The Hour of Two Lights'' with Terry Hall, released in August 2003.


British pop

Mushtaq co-wrote and produced
Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...
's 2003 album '' Frank'' and 2006 album ''
Back to Black ''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, ...
'', including a remix of the song "
Back to Black ''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, ...
". Mushtaq produced
Skepta Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...
's 2012 song " Hold On", the track "Des Mots" (featuring LFDV) from
Kery James Alix Mathurin () (born December 28, 1977), publicly known as Kery James, is a French- Haitian rapper, singer, actor, director, and screenwriter from Les Abymes, Guadeloupe. James' music has addressed suburban life and social inequalities in cont ...
's 2013 album ''Dernier MC'', a and 2013 song " On My Way". Mushtaq co-wrote and co-produced Tich's 2013 song " Dumb".


Solo album

On 24 July 2000, Mushtaq's debut solo single "That Feelin'" was released by
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
. This was followed by his debut album released later that year. The album features blues, reggae, funk and classic rock.


Indian pop music

In 2004, Mushtaq worked on most of
Raghav Raghav Mathur (born April 2, 1981), known professionally as Raghav, is a Canadian singer. He has released three studio albums: the debut '' Storyteller'' in 2004, '' Identity'' in 2009, and '' The Phoenix'' in 2012. His most known commercial suc ...
's 2004 album '' Storyteller'' and 2012 album '' The Phoenix'' includin
Let’s Work It OutCan't Get EnoughNoBad, Bad, Bad
an
Ain't Nobody
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The album reached No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2023, Mushtaq started working with Raghav again after 20 years since Storyteller album was released. He produced Raghav's first come back song sinc
Desperado
Raghav's Indo-Canadian's new come back song featuring fellow desi-origin artist Tesher. Produced by Mushtaq, the song samples R.D. Burman's "Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko" (from the 1973 film Yaadon Ki Baaraat) and while it was too done-before for Raghav, the artist says his producer convinced him because they were using the oft-lesser heard Rafi vocal portion for "Desperado". The song which was released in April 2023 garnered over 36,054,388 views on Spotify alone. Besides being a certified hit on the popular video sharing platform, the independently released song managed to pave its way into everyone's heart through. Mushtaq followed with release o
Chingari
featuring Indian Rapper
Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...
. The song celebrated Indipop sensation from the 2000s in collaboration with
Raghav Raghav Mathur (born April 2, 1981), known professionally as Raghav, is a Canadian singer. He has released three studio albums: the debut '' Storyteller'' in 2004, '' Identity'' in 2009, and '' The Phoenix'' in 2012. His most known commercial suc ...
and Divine, which samples a couple of lines from Kishore Kumar's song Aadmi Jo Kehta Hai from Amitabh Bachchan's 1974 film Majboor. In February 202
Choro
was released on all social platforms.


Personal life

Mushtaq was born in London to
Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...
and
Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
parents. He attended
Quintin Kynaston Community Academy Harris Academy St John's Wood (formerly Quintin Kynaston) is a secondary school in St John's Wood, north London, that was re-named in 2017. It is a 7 form-entry (210 students) non-selective co-educational academy. Its predecessor Quintin Kynast ...
and studied sociology at Maria Fedeilis. He later received a scholarship at
Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...
to study contemporary composition. Mushhtaq is a
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
.


Discography


Albums


Singles


See also

*
Asian Underground Asian underground is a term associated with various British Asian, South Asian Canadian, South Asian American and Dutch South Asian musicians (mostly Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan) who blend elements of Western underground dance ...
*
British Bangladeshis British Bangladeshis () are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots are from Bangladesh. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since World War II. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s, with ...
*
List of British Bangladeshis This is a list of notable British Bangladeshis (). This includes Bangladeshi immigrants settled or residing in the United Kingdom and British-born citizens of Bangladeshi national origin. Successful members from the community are recognised in ...


References


External links

* * * * * * * *
Mushtaq Omar Uddin
on
Artistdirect Artistdirect (stylized as ARTISTdirect) is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1996, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affi ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omar Uddin, Mushtaq 1973 births Living people Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama British Asian musicians English hip-hop musicians English keyboardists English male drummers English male singer-songwriters English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent English people of Iranian descent English record producers Mercury Records artists People educated at Quintin Kynaston School People from Cricklewood Singers from London 20th-century English drummers 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers