August/September 2008

Feature Story

Jay Gatzby & Urban Desi Music

By Anita Chatterjee

It's a cold Saturday night in early February and a huge crowd pours into New York City's world-class venue, the Canal Room. International performers unite along with hundreds of people from all over the world who have come together to celebrate Urban Desi Music, a movement in the music scene, and the birthday of one of the key figures behind it, Jay Gatzby.

I had the privilege of meeting with Jay Gatzby, also known as Nihar Kulkarni, at an NYC lounge on the lower east side. Dressed to impress in his urban threads, the debonair Gatzby was eye candy for all the ladies. Hearing about his reputation and conducting my own research about the South Asian music movement, I learned this creative mastermind has made quite a name for himself in the music industry around the U.S. and abroad.

Desi, a South Asian term that means "from the homeland" (India, Pakistan, Bang-ladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries in that region) is used to refer to people or things of South Asian decent. "Urban Desi is defined as Hip Hop and R&B that comes from an artist of South Asian decent," says Gatzby. "The music doesn't necessarily have to have a South Asian influence, it just come from someone of that ethnicity.

Being 'Desi' is a part of who they are and their identity translates through their music." As an Indian man, I wondered if it was difficult for Gatzby to gain respect in the American urban music industry. Gatzby acknowledged his struggles and shared past experiences when he first started out in the industry. As a college student, Gatzby's passion for music led him to an internship in Los Angeles. While interning, Gatzby met a music executive and yearned to get some professional advice, so he kept bugging him until the executive agreed to give Gatbzy five minutes. Gatzby's charm got him more then five minutes, but during the conversation the executive's partners came in with a music demo. Already impressed by Gatzby, the executive asked his for his advice about the demo. After hearing Gatzby's advice, a partner stared him straight in the eye and said, "What does a clean cut Indian boy know about music?"

Situations like this did not stop Gatzby from pursuing his dreams. After graduating from the University of Michigan he started an internship with Schrewed Marketing in Chicago. Like a starving artist, he earned just enough to make ends meet. However, the amount of his paychecks didn't affect the level of dedication Gatzby put into his work. He continued to make contacts in the music industry in an effort to move closer to his goals.

Soon Gatzby's love for music led him to the city of dreams, New York, where he worked in entertainment promotions. Through networking and perseverance, Gatzby eventually got an internship with Power Moves, Bad Boy Entertainment's in house promotions group. While working on major campaigns for P. Diddy, Gatzby soon realized there was a music movement going on in his own community where the artists needed recognition and acceptance in the urban music Industry, primarily in the U.S.

Gatzby founded Komposit Entertainment, the premiere South Asian urban music group and an infrastructure for South Asian artists. Through Komposit, many of Gatzby's client's have collaborated with mainstream artists and their work has been praised and recognized by some of the industry's best.

"Today Komposit is a music mecca for the urban Desi scene," proclaims Gatzby who's also the Marketing Director of Desi Hits , a web site that contains music channels with content about mainstream artists, such as Fifty Cent, and up and coming urban Desi artists. Like the Great Gatsby, Jay Gatzby continues to work relentlessly towards achieving his goals, one being getting the popular South Asian influenced music culture recognized in mainstream America. With passion and motivation such as his, we're sure to hear more about Urban Desi Music and the many emerging voices. ~

Also visit www.myspace.com/kompositinc or www.desihits.com.