Ms Scandalous is a British Asian

British Asian

British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...

 bhangra/rap

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 artist.

She was born in Southall

Southall

Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...

, West London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, to a Punjabi

Punjabi people

The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...

 family, and was signed up by Panjabi Hit Squad

Panjabi Hit Squad

Panjabi Hit Squad are a group of Asian artists signed to the UK imprint of Hip-Hop giant, Def Jam. The members all grew up in Southall, UK. As well as working with various high-profile acts such as Mariah Carey, Ashanti, and Sway, they also work with community projects such as youth project BBC...

 after she was spotted working part-time at a music store in Southall, and asked to audition on the spot. She debuted in October 2002 on their album The Streets, performing the MCing

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 for the second-to-last track, the garage remix of "Hai Hai".

Her first full-length album, Ladies First

Ladies First

Ladies First is the debut album of Desi/British Asian rapper Ms Scandalous, recorded almost three years after her first appearance with Panjabi Hit Squad with the track Hai Hai on their 2002 album The Streets. PHS produced and co-wrote the album...

, came out in May 2005; at the time Ms Scandalous was in her final year at university, and she juggled producing and promoting the album with studying for her degree in Arts Management. The video for the second track, "Aaja Soniyah," entered the MTV Base

MTV Base

MTV Base is a 24-hour music and general entertainment channel from MTV Networks International. The channel focuses primarily on music from the world of R'n'B, hiphop, reggae, soul and urban. The MTV Base brand first launched in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland on July 1, 1999,...

 top ten at No.4. The album itself topped Asian music charts everywhere and launched Ms Scandalous as the First Asian Female rapper.

Ms Scandalous released her second album Aag in late 2008 after a three-year break from the music industry. The album features the hit single "Aag"; Panjabi Hit Squad and Alyssia produced the album and provided vocals.

Discography

• The Streets (with Panjabi Hit Squad
  Panjabi Hit Squad
  Panjabi Hit Squad are a group of Asian artists signed to the UK imprint of Hip-Hop giant, Def Jam. The members all grew up in Southall, UK. As well as working with various high-profile acts such as Mariah Carey, Ashanti, and Sway, they also work with community projects such as youth project BBC...
  
  ; 2002/Tiger Entertainment)
• Ladies First (2005/Desi Jam Recordings)
• Aag (October 2008/Major Moves)

External links

• Official site