What do you get when you mix Bhangra with reggae beats, UK garage and London grime? Hype and Fever.
The two brothers from Harrow are Naveen (Hype), 24, and Bhumeet (Fever) Kala-Lee, 25, a duo making music from sounds of the late ‘90s that can be heard reverberating through.
They cite influences such as Biggie, Missy Elliott, Nas, Jay Z and UK artists such as So Solid Crew, “all the grime cats like Skepta, Wiley, BBK” and one who can’t be forgotten, Artful Dodger.
His track Bo Selecta, notorious for featuring in Craig David’s Re Rewind, is a clear influence on their latest single Bo.
As well as these musicians, their Asian and Jamaican heritage resonates through with Indian sounds and their self-titled ‘desi reggae’ drum beats.
They call their final product “base, bounce and desi reggae vibes” and it has been hugely popular among more established grime and UK artists.
Between them the two brothers have worked in studios with Beanie Man, E17 and reggae musicians Michael Rose and Freddie McGregor, as well as offering live support to Skepta, Stormzy, Ollie Murs, Wretch 32 and Lady Leisure. With the added accolade of helping write songs for Britney Spears and Ja-Rule.
As well as this, the unsigned act have had their music played repeatedly in the last two years on radio channels BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 1 and 1xtra and they have performed at festivals across Europe, including the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury and a headline slot at Exit Festival in Serbia.
Bhumeet produces the tracks and raps, something he’s been doing from a young age: “I started writing my first rap in a maths lesson when I was about 11, I was fed up so I thought let me try this. It was after hearing So Solid Crew’s album.”
Before creating Hype and Fever, Bhumeet was performing solo as Cold Fever, but soon the pair’s shared musical ingenuity couldn’t be ignored.
“Naveen’s always been there” he explains. “He brought so much energy and flavour to the shows everyone thought Cold Fever was both of us so we rebranded to make the collective Hype and Fever.”
Naveen tends to stick to the decks. He was inspired by early grime tracks, which they both recall listening to growing up when it was a burgeoning London genre.
“I remember walking into a community centre and the DJ put on Eskimo by Wiley. The place went mad, I was 10-years-old and I was mesmerised and I thought ‘this is what I want to do’,” explains Naveen, and he did.
Living up to his name his brother calls him the ‘hype man’ of the two, DJing when they perform live while also ad-libbing and contributing to the production stages of their songs.
The brothers are dedicated to making their mark on the industry in 2017 despite no management or record label support.
They will be releasing their next single, Tek Time, in the coming weeks and will headline Kamio in East London on April 1.
Kamio, 1-3 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3DT. Details: iamkam.io
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