Hardik Dave might sound like a new name to you. Trust us, its not! In fact, Hardik has been dropping mixtapes from the time when audio cassettes were still a thing. Hardik, widely known as iQ or Guju Bhai, is an American-Indian from San Francisco, California. Furthermore, Guju Bhai played the role of store owner that you’ve seen in the video of Bohemia and Haji Springer’s “Koi Ni Parwah”. Yeah, now you know what’s up!

In fact, Hardik has been low-key shaping the desi underground hip-hop scene worldwide. His vision of starting DesiHipHop.com was solely to bring the desi hip-hop culture forward. Since then, a lot of renowned desi hip-hop artists from around the globe have seen him working selflessly. As we have mentioned above, Guju bhai is himself a recording artist before being a CEO. His debut album Rebirth came out about a decade ago.

Guju bhai turned a year older today. To celebrate his birthday the hip-hop way, we’ll take a look at his finest works so far. So, without any further ado, lets get right into it.

I Am Gujubhai

“I Am Gujubhai” came out in the June of 2012. It was a tribute to all the Gujaratis and was a way to celebrate his roots. iQ instantly became famous as Gujubhai when this track came out. This was the first time when a Desi rap artist actually flaunted a Tilak in a hip-hop video.

Other famous thing from India, Paan, was also used as a prop in the video. PakSlap produced this amazing flute-driven instrumental to deliver that perfect Indian-vibe. Hardik opened up the track with lyrics written in Gujarati.

Watch the music video of “I Am Gujubhai” by iQ here:

Chalo Chalo – iQ (feat. Bohemia)

If you’re a true Bohemia fan, you must have heard this track. On the other hand, if you haven’t, don’t worry. “Chalo Chalo” is one of the best tracks by iQ and Bohemia’s verse on this track was marvellous. US based producer – Saheer delivered this amazing project with iQ on Rebirth.

Stream “Chalo Chalo” by iQ and Bohemia here:

Chura Liya

“Chura Liya” is one of the most bouncy tracks by iQ. While a lot of you might have been guessing that its a remix of famous Bollywood track “Chura Liya” from the movie Yaadon Ki Baaraat, it’s not! It features a sample of “Yeh Ishq Hai” from the Bollywood flick Jab We Met. Its another track from Rebirth but has a completely different vibe. The way the sample has been used is magnificent and enchances the vibe of this track.

Watch the music video of “Chura Liya” by iQ here:

International Gujarati

“International Gujarati” is so amazing because of its hook and lovely Gujarati rhythms. Now Kali Denali Music producer – Haji Springer produced a straight fire beat for this one. The way iQ composed it is worth the appreciation. The video itself is one of a kind. iQ once again brought the comic Gujarati don to the front. This character is both loveable and funny. You can actually notice that iQ was doing slow-mo dance moves in the video.

Watch the music video of “International Gujarati” here:

40

“40” is not a track. In fact, “40” is the latest album by iQ which came out today as a surprise on his birthday. Its a 7 track long album with a playback time of more than 22 minutes.”40″ is packed with brilliant songs and is sure to give you the classic American hip-hop vibe. The album is available for purchase on digital stores and you can buy it from here. The link also contains a stream link for the demos that you might like to check before actually buying the album.

We, at DesiHipHop.com are blessed to have a CEO like Hardik Dave who is definitely a visionary. In fact, a visionary who works way too hard to run this business. Desi/South-Asian underground hip-hop owes him a lot and to show some respect, we’d like you all to wish him on his birthday today.