Mishthi Music

Mishthi Music is a platform to feature, critique, and celebrate liberatory music of the the South Asian diaspora. If resistance is joy and music is a tool for revolt, then Mishthi Music is that space for the South Asian American music scene.

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Mishthi Music Presents: The Never Lose Infinite Hope Concert

Join us for the relaunch of Mishthi Music with our first concert of 2025, the Never Lose Infinite Hope concert! It will be a night of music and dance as we build community through the power of liberatory joy and spirited resistance featuring some of the hottest South Asian musicians of this moment.

We are inspired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr. for this MLK weekend event: "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

Date: Sun, Jan 19, 2025 Time: 6:00 PM-Midnight Location: Boomtown Brewery, 700 Jackson St. DTLA Cost: $25 Food Truck out front Street Parking https://bit.ly/MishthiMusic

Featuring:

Gurtéj (NY) - old-school rock & soulful R&B

Amrit Kaur (London) - Punjabi folks meets Aretha soul

Sayak Das (LA) - progressive rock & electrifying pop

Sadubas (LA) - Bollywood psychedelia DJ duo

MTooray (LA) - DJ-ed global sounds of afrohouse & Punjabi amapiano

Mishthi Music is a platform to feature, critique, and celebrate liberatory music of the the South Asian diaspora and was started by Taz Ahmed and Nitasha Sawhney in 2012. If resistance is joy and music is a tool for revolt, then Mishthi Music is that space for the South Asian American music scene. The Mishthi Music reinvention finds us on our all new Instagram account at @ MishthiMusic.

Follow the latest at Mishthi Music at...

instagram.com/mishthimusic

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mixcloud.com/mishthimusic

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Mishthi Music is back with another mix to get you those mashallah feelings when you most need it. Inspired by Zahra Noorbakhsh’s show On Behalf of All Muslims, this mixtape is centering Muslim-ish voices that will inspire joy. Tracks include hip-hop beats (Narcy, DJ Khaled, Mona Haydar, Anik Khan), booty dance tracks (Shaggy, OCHOBOYZ) and pop ballads (Yuna, Leo Kalyan, ZAYN) and much much more.

You can also hear this mixtape at the pre-show for On Behalf of All Muslims: Comedy Special show on June 21-22 2019 at the Brava Theater for Women in the Arts in San Francisco. A show by award winning comedian Zahra Noorbakhsh, you can now use the code “ZAHRAGOLD” to get a discount.

Mixtape was curated by Taz Ahmed (www.tazzystar.me).

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Oriental Fantasy: The Shangri La Mixtape

Inspired by Doris Duke's Shangri La in Oahu, Mishthi Music's Taz Ahmed curates a mixtape inspired by the sounds of Hawaii, orientalist imaginations, crashing waves, and political music by Muslim-ish artists. We live in a time of Muslim bans and hate crimes and these tracks challenge you to re-imagine a better and more re-centered world. Tracks include exotica (Les Baxter, Korla Pandit, Martin Denny), Calcutta classical music on a Hawaiian slide guitar (Tau Meo, Debasish Bhattacharya), banging EDM DJ mixes (Desi Sub Culture, DJ TIkka Masala, Jai Wolf), politically-charged rap (Anik Khan, Brother Ali, Swet Shop Boys) and much much more.

Bali Ha'i by Tak Shindo

Resident Alien by Doctors & Engineers

Sei Valo Sei Valo by Shyamal Chowdhury & Hawaiian Symphony

Cleopatra by Anik Khan

R.E.D. by A Tribe Called Red (ft. Yassin Bey & Narcy & Black Bear)

Zombie by Swet Shop Boys

Playful Melina On Diamond Head by Debashish Bhattacharya

Brown Boy Lost by Kaly

Kehna Hi Kya by Desi Sub Culture vs DJ Khanvict Refix

Indian Summer by Jai Wolf

Maja by Yusuf Siddiquee

ilaahadda by OCHOBOYS

Chupa (Habibiboi x Bassbear remix) by Rainey

Choli Ke Remix Kyahe by DJ TIkka Masala

Habib Galbi by A-WA

Tehran by Les Baxter

Djin by Mashrou' Leila

Love Galore by SZA

Colonizer by HDLSS

H.A.I.R. by Humble the Poet

Let It Grow by SETI X

Indian Summer by The Kalua Beach Boys

Brown Girls by Vivek Shraya & Queer Songbook Orchestra

The Florist by Nilufer Yanya

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Nina and the Moon by DJ Tikka Masala

Amerika by Young the Giant

Twist the Knife by The Kominas

Rokhto by Big Baby Gandhi

Focus by Haseeb

Islamophobia by Professor A.L.I. (ft. Jinnsanity, K.B., Ras Ceylon & Swap)

Procession of the Grand Moghul by Korla Pandit

Korla Pandit by Brooklyn Shanti & Jason Chu

Never Learn by Brother Ali

Return to Paradise by Martin Denny

 Mixtape was curated by Taz Ahmed (www.tazzystar.me) while on an art residency at Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design (www.shangrilahawaii.org) in August 2017.

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The BBC takes a look at how the Sikh YouTube Generation is sharing Kirtan and making it their own.

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[Headless Horsemen’s] name may have changed in the intervening years, but the quality of their warped take on pop music has not, and they’re returning later this summer with the politically-charged mini-album Selections From DUMB. Closing track “BILL$” is exactly the sort of thing that Ryan Hemsworth might champion in his Secret Songs series, an electronic bedroom-pop twinkle that sounds intimate and expansive at the same time. [Stereogum]

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This is Taz here, and I made y’all a Ramadan Mixtape to get you through the holy month! Check out the write up over at The Mash-Up Americans: 

As a Muslim teenager growing up in America, one of the clearest memories I have is my parents swatting at my hand when I went to turn on the car radio in the month of Ramadan. It was usually followed up with, “Eh, no music! It’s Ramadan. None of this Rap-Bap, Punk-Dunk during the holy month!” They would then pop in a cassette tape of Quranic verses while I would teenage rage stew in the passenger seat.

But I believe music has the ability to transport us from the grind, shift us from the most entrenched ideas, and persuade us to act, even regarding the most difficult social justice issues. Whether you are fasting for Ramadan or showing up for Muslims at airport protests, I’ve found a few tracks that I would give a thumbs up to for Ramadan listening this season. These tracks are by Muslim-American musicians singing some pretty powerful lyrics, and you don’t have to be Muslim to enjoy them. [The Mash-Up Americans]

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This list--- and these artists----are dope.

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Mishthi Music turned 5 today! TODAY must be a super auspicious anniversary-- our Mishthi Music 5th birthday falls on Bengali New Year and Vaisakhi!!! Yay!

Happy Birthday to us!

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I've been talking about a trip to Canada soon....  like so many I have a big crush on Justin T :)  and want to go somewhere that feels safer. This road trip with Horsepowar just made me want to go more!!!

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Living in the face of the gender barrier that comes with playing the mridangam, a beautiful two-headed drum that is played in Karnatic music in southern India, Rajna Swaminathan pursues her passion in a way that should inspire both women and men to chase their dreams regardless of the stigmas society has placed around them.

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Horn OK Please. Somewhere under Union Square. 

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It’s the time to disco, 2016

Shop: http://www.ayqakhan.com/

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“I’m sure a lot of (South Asian) girls can relate to this: we have a lot of body hair,” she said. “My body hair in particular is very thick. I had my parents and my siblings telling me that my body hair is disgusting and unfeminine, and that I looked dirty. That affects your mental health.”

For Ayqa, her art asks young women like herself to question why they remove their body hair in the first place.“Just breathe, it’s okay,” Ayqa said, referring to the message behind her work. “You don’t have to feel this pressure to look a certain way.” [ipf]

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Can you hear the Indian influence in this fetishized essentialized orientalized 2008 track by Timbaland? I wonder if a song like this could even get made now without uproar. Who am I kidding, it probably is in the queue already. 

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A fun video from Ravi Shavi of his garage-punk track HOT off of the album Independent. 

The band lead by Rafay Rashid brings a vibrant aesthetic to their music with catchy rhythms. Rashid is also poetic with his idiosyncratic lyrics that talk about love, parties and dealing with one’s self. 

“The video was in various neighborhoods shot in Providence, RI”, says Rashid on the filming locations of the video. “The director, Josh Kirk, and I initially wanted to parody Menudo and various bad early 90s macho-sex appeal videos. The idea was to saturate the video with fast cuts and quick zooms. The overlays also helped to create an atmosphere of confusion that the song lyrics kind of speak to. Like being stuck at a party that won’t seem to end.” [Impose Magazine]

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This song is pretty old (2001) - but I just learned that Romeo’s video is a first class Bollywood magical creation. And that makes me love it even more. The love for Basement Jaxx continues. Get the album Rooty here. 

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Are you looking for the perfect safe word to use with your Valentine this year? Not sure how to tell the person you love how excited you are to go to camp together? Are you ready to get into some extremely heavy vetting? Get your #MuslimVDay Cards, today! https://www.etsy.com/listing/489445926/heavy-vetting-muslimvday-cards-series-5 It's the perfect way to tell the people you love that you are ready for whatever action this new autocratic world order may bring.  This is the FIFTH in an annual series of #MuslimVDay Cards created by Tanzila 'Taz' Ahmed. Each set comes with seven signed cards. You can put a stamp on it and mail it to your loved ones and elected representatives. Order them now to get them by Feb 14th!