Basement Bhangra The first Thursday of every month, entrancing partygoers experience DJ Rekha’s trademark blend of South Asian bhangra music merged with hip-hop, dancehall, and electronic sounds that create an unforgettable New York City dance experience. Starting with a 2-hour happy hour in the Gallery Bar featuring eclectic programming, the night then accelerates to the main space with the aid of a live drummer. The signature Basement Bhangra dance lesson guides the uninitiated and the diehards into a high-energy night that has made Basement Bhangra a16-year plus club land institution.

DJ Rekha official site | DJ Rekha on Twitter | DJ Rekha on Facebook

DJ Rekha is a British born, New York City based DJ, curator, record label owner, educator and activist. Called the “Ambassador of Bhangra” by the New York Times and named one of the most influential South Asians by Newsweek, Rekha is among the first DJs to merge classic Bhangra and Bollywood sounds into the language of contemporary electronic dance music. Since establishing herself on the club scene with her inaugural event, Basement Bhangra nightclub in 1997, Rekha has produced some of the longest running and most successful parties in New York including Bollywood Disco, and Mutiny. Her weekly podcast, Bhangra and Beyond can be heard on www.breakthruradio.com

DJ Petra is a DJ, dancer, writer and organizer. She started throwing parties at her apartment in Washington Heights four years ago, and since then Petra has played all over NYC, including Bembe, South Paw, The Cove, Public Assembly, The Bowery Electric, The Delancey, Katra and others. She has studied with DJ Rekha and DJ Chela, and continues to study dancefloors everywhere. Petra is currently a contributing writer for Okayplayer.com, and hosts the weekly radio mix show “Hip Hop & Her Family” on WNYU with Genesis Be. Find out more at Hip Hop and Her Family.

DJ KSR: Toronto native DJ KSR makes his NYC debut. His mash-up mixtapes, Forever and Addition, hosted by Grammy Award Winning Fatman Scoop, ferverent podcast following and 3 scorching singles: “New Punjab” featuring Deep Jandu, “Nain” with Joti Dhillon and “Saari Raat” by Sasha Core make him one to watch and dance to.

FICTIVE aka Paul Clay is a New York City based award winning designer and media artist doing set, lighting, and video projection/LED design. Projects include Set Design for the Broadway production of the Musical RENT, the MoMA/Volkswagen Gala, Creative Time Spring Gala, the De Nederlandse Opera, National Theatre Wales/Welsh National Opera, the Bo-Pi-Liao Historic Center, Taipei City, Taiwan and more. Active in the New York night scene and he has done visual projections for numerous club nights and party crews including DJ Rekha’s Basement Bhangra, Bollywood Disco, Lipstick Optional, Blackkat, Sholay, Vinylholic, Complacent/The Danger and many others.
 

fictive.net

Bushra Rehman’s first novel Corona (Sibling Rivalry Press) is a dark comedy about being South Asian in the United States, a poetic on-the-road adventure. Rehman is co-editor of the anthology Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. Her writing has been featured in numerous anthologies and in Poets & Writers, the New York Times, India Currents, Crab Orchard Review, Sepia Mutiny, Colorlines, and The Feminist Wire, among other outlets.