Raje Shwari

Timbaland Speaks on Raje Shwari

There was a lot of heat in 2003 about Raje Shwari, the desi songstress who appeared on almost every American hip-hop tune gone-mainstream that featured desi lyrics. Raje was working with Beatclub, and was apparently in the process of working with Timbaland and the Neptunes on her solo album, when all of a sudden, Timbaland's fan site indicated that Raje had parted ways with Timbaland and Beatclub. Rumors were abound re the why's and hows of the split, with many suggesting Raje left the Timbaland camp because she was sick of being used as a sample. We never heard much from Timbaland on the split, except that he was looking for another desi singer, until now.

Last night on Panjabi Hit Squad's radio show, PHS played a bit of an interview that Timbaland gave to Rodney P & Skitz, in which Timbaland, when asked about Raje, indicated that Raje wasn't ready to go solo, b/c "she couldn't connect the dots." He made it seem like she was premature in thinking that she was ready to take on the music game and go solo. The clip ended with Timbaland suggesting that while he built up her career, like other up-and-coming artists he has used on various records, he could just as easily burn it down.

What happenned with Bubba Sparxxx--he stuck around the Timbo camp, and well, his career has yet to take off.

Anyway, I give Timbaland a lot of respect for what he has done to hip-hop, and for helping bringing the Desi sound to the mainstream. But, he was rinsing Raje for a sample, and I think she has loads of talent, so I am glad she mutinied and left the situation. While I hope she can be a successful solo artist, I don't know enough about the game to say whether or not she has what it takes. Although now, after hearing Timbaland on the radio, I really hope she can do her thang.

posted by sajit @ 9:17 PM