‘I’m not a trained singer’: DJ Akbar Sami on his new track and moreJan 14 (AZINS) After spinning music since the 1980s, Akbar Sami went behind the mic for the first time only last year with his single Kabhi Kabhi. Now, he has Tu Meri Senorita coming up, apart from three more compositions. Over to the winner of DJ of the Decade Award by India Nightlife and Convention & Awards about his works. 

Spanish meets Bhangra

Spanish music has been my favourite and has universal acceptance. Songs by Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin have been floor-fillers. Bhangra falls in the same category. My partner Adnan Ali and I had been brainstorming for months to get a new flavour in the sound and came up with this idea of fusing Spanish and Punjabi in one song, Tu Meri Senorita. Honey Pahwa wrote the lyrics and Spanish swings were lined up to the melody by my arranger Preetom.

How he turned singer

I was in the Maldives for a shoot and we needed to record the song — Kabhi Kabhi — but the singer was not available at the time. The recordist suggested that I dub a rough cut to finish the shoot and later, re-record the final version with the singer. I had no option but to agree. After the corrections were done on the soundtrack, I was told there was no need to redo it with another singer. The track, dialect, pronunciations and even the feel were perfect. That’s how I started singing. I’m not a trained singer.

Future projects

I’m working on three other projects simultaneously — Kishore Kumar’s Nach Meri Jaan Fataafat (Main Sundar Hoon), which I’ll sing. It has a rock and roll and blues treatment. There’s Dard-E-Dil (Karz) — a melodic deep house tune and a Q-Funk qawwali that will be sung by Krishna Beura and myself. My production house has a festival film Patangbaaz and an untitled movie on sports lined up.