Back in the game, popular singer Juggy D has some amazing new projects and global tours on the list. The Punjab da Munda gets candid with The Pioneer, recalling his formative years, coming out of the low phase of his life, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
There was a time in the life of Juggy D, a renowned British-Indian pop singer, when he turned out to be a dupe for substance abuse. He handled himself with grace, or else his family could have been torn apart. A successful individual was slipping into a desperate husk. As they always say, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and he overcame his vice!
Back in the game, sober from so many years—successful collaborations with British songwriters and global tours. In an exclusive interview with the performer, who has been pioneering in music since the age of fourteen, he recalls, “I am a Punjabi, but I was born in the United Kingdom. I have been in this industry for almost twenty years and have a channel of my own. Releasing songs over there is much better for me because I have ownership! Usually, what happens is that the song could be yours, but the ownership rights go to a label, and I don’t want to leave this legacy behind. Whenever I am finishing my musical career, I want to leave this for my children.”
Growing up in an extremely uncompromising Punjabi household, “My parents didn’t allow us to speak English in the house. That was my parents’ way of teaching us our mother tongue! As a kid, I didn’t like what was going on in my home. It was too harsh for me to grow up in that environment. Later on, I realised the virtues! Had they not done that, I would have never understood Punjabi. Maybe I wouldn’t be a popular singer today! Their battering worked (he laughed out loud). Thrashing and thumping with “chappals” is a must in a Punjabi household! Now I am so fluent in my mother tongue that whenever I visit my ancestral home, they say how it doesn’t seem like I am a foreigner returning. I speak Desi Punjabi with ease. Till today, my relatives keep looking for an accent when I speak (he laughed). I am more pleased as punch because it makes me feel connected to my grandparents, which is extremely valuable in my life.”
He professes how every beat of a Punjabi tune is a happy beat — the tempo is always up! That’s how they become dance numbers in blockbuster movies. He also maintains his statement that this music is not just a huge part of Bollywood but of life as well, because he has seen masses coming from other cultures tapping on the beats! Commenting on the low phase of his life in the interview with us, originally known as Jagwinder, he affirms, “I was never an addict, period! Substance use didn’t suit me. Everything happened all of a sudden in my life. I lost sole control over my drinking habits! After some years, I realised it was becoming a problem for me. I didn’t want to get drunk every night now. This wasn’t normal for me! Presently, I am in a very sober state. It was a hurdle in my life that left me with a lot of learning that I’ll never forget.” Our country is his main territory. There was a point in his life when it was getting difficult for him to blend his Sikh descent into his music when he was totally afresh in the United Kingdom. In 2003, he released his first song, a mix of R&B. That was it; he was one of the pioneers of urban desi music overseas. He asserts, “I created that genre; the emerging artists are following my style. Jay Sean was a nobody when we collaborated. He was into rapping in English, and I grew up singing in Punjabi! When both of us were in the music studio, we took advantage of this blend and created a chartbuster hit that’s still remembered by aficionados. People were going crazy over it abroad! We started doing movies, and that became our collaborative flair. Both of us are known for this calibre now!”
Sharing his camaraderie with Jay Sean that dates back to almost twenty-one years of his life, he expressed, “I met him on the set of my own song. I am talking about 2002. Distinctively, going back to the music studio, his hook line was being played, and a British manager was noticing me. Do you know why? Because I was recreating Jay’s song in Punjabi and started to tap my feet on it! They all stopped the original track and started looking at me like I was a weirdo. That was it! All of them asked me to immediately record what I was singing on the floor and made me write down a verse of my own. That became “our” song. Had I not gone to the studio then, maybe Jay Sean wouldn’t have been Jay Sean today. Because I was already touring and doing musical shows everywhere. In one of my stage performances, we introduced Jay Sean to the world. He became an overnight sensation!”
Nowadays, he admits he is willing to serve his motherland, which is India, because most of his engagements are coming from here. The market is expansive for Juggy! He acknowledged openly that he comes here in his own interest and does marketing, PR, and interacts with the media. He feels fortunate.
Craving for more in his musical career, but at the same time, how interesting it is that he has a connection with his “pind”. He explained, “I have been coming frequently to my country even when I wasn’t a musician. My mother’s family resides here, and my father’s family comes from the side of Moga. We still have a “kothi” in the “pind”! Par purane time ab chale gye hai. My grandparents don’t listen to the remixes; they want to remember the originals! I also do not want to remix any of my songs. By doing a remix, you are killing the original. Why change the elegance of the original composition? It’s like wreaking havoc on my career! Let the classics be.”
