Joi is a British alternative dub<nowiki>/</nowiki>dance music DJ team of Bangladeshi origin, originally composed of brothers Farook and Haroon Shamsher. Haroon died on 8 July 1999, and the remaining brother has continued Joi alone.

Background

Joi initially consisted of brothers Farook (born 24 October 1968) and Haroon Shamsher (14 November 1965 – 8 July 1999), born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and brought up in the East End of London to a Bangladeshi father and an Indian mother. Their passion for music developed at a young age, as their father was a professional flautist who had a shop in Brick Lane selling saris and musical instruments he imported from India. He also had Hindi, Indian classical, and traditional Bengali music records, Their father would organise sessions and record with Baul artists, They grew up listening to people such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and were influenced by reggae, hip hop, and soul. Out of this Bengali youth movement

In 1983, they mixed these elements together and began DJing at clubs as the Joi Bangla Sound System, before becoming the more dance-oriented Joi six years later, bolstered by Arts Council funding and aiming to promote Bengali youth culture. They remixed "Sweet Pain", a track by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, for inclusion on the Star Rise tribute album in 1997. and made a series of field recordings, which Farook used as the basis for We Are Three, which was released in October 2001.

Performance

In between working in the studio, Joi had been taking their sound system to clubs around London, as well as supporting Spiritualised on their '98 British tour. Their sound system helped promote their fusion ethic regardless of trends within the music industry. Over the years the duo worked with various other artists and DJs, including Asian Dub Foundation, Athletico, Mixmaster Morris, Plaid, and Spring Heel Jack.

Awards

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"

! Year

! Work

! Award

! Category

! Result

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1993

| "Desert Storm"

| NME magazine

| Single of the Week

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1999

| One and One Is One

| BBC

| Asian Music Award

|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 2006

| Farook Shamsher

| UK Asian Music Awards

| Commitment to Scene

|

|-

|}

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details

! scope="col"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Certifications

|-

!

|-

! scope="row" | One and One Is One

|

  • Released: 12 April 1999
  • Label: Real World Records
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download

|

|-

! scope="row" | We Are Three

|

  • Released: 25 September 2000
  • Label: Real World Records
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download

|

|-

! scope="row" | Without Zero

|

  • Released: 18 February 2007
  • Label: Real World Records
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download

|

|-

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single

! scope="col"| Chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Label

|-

!

|-

! scope="row"| 1988

! scope="row"| "Taj Ma House"

|

| scope="row"| BPM Records

|-

! scope="row"| 1988

! scope="row"| "Funky Asian"

|

| scope="row"| BPM Records

|-

! scope="row"| 1992

! scope="row"| "Desert Storm"

|

| scope="row"| Transglobal

|-

! scope="row"| 1996

! scope="row"| "Spiritual Get Together"

|

| scope="row"| ZYX Music

|-

! scope="row"| 1998

! scope="row"| "Fingers"

|

| scope="row"| Real World Records

|-

! scope="row"| 1999

! scope="row"| "Asian Vibes"

|

| scope="row"| Real World Records

|-

! scope="row"| 1999

! scope="row"| "Deep Asian Vibes"

|

| scope="row"| Real World Records

|-

|}

EP

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details

! scope="col"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Certifications

|-

!

|-

! scope="row" | Bangladesh EP

|

  • Released: 1988
  • Label: Nation Records
  • Formats: CD

|

|-

|}

Collaborations and contributions

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! Year

! Title

! Artist

! Album

! Label

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1997

| Goddess

| Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

| Eastern Uprising

| Sony

|-

| India

| Various Artists

| Global Explorer

| Zip Dog

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1998

| Sweet Pain

| Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

| Star Rise

| Real World Records

|-

| Shanti

| Various Artists

| Further East-Westercisms

| Law And Auder

|-

|}

See also

  • Asian Underground
  • British Bangladeshis
  • List of British Bangladeshis

References

  • Joi on Real World Records