DJ Sharad & DJ Juicy has been dropping quality content all year round. One of their most impactful passion projects include the Butter Chicken Podcast, where they interview influencers and trend-setters from all walks of life. From Raja Kumari, Jaz Dhami, Raxstar, Heems, & Anik Khan to world-renowned directors like Shomi Patwary, the Butter Chicken boys have focused on Brown excellence like none other.
Over the past few decade (or more), the rise of Hip Hop & urban culture among Desi people have grown rapidly all over the world. This growth has slowly flourished into quite a movement which celebrates the marriage between the best of Desi culture wrapped around a global urban culture.
As this urban Desi culture started to grow and spread, we started to see it spread into Desi music, fashion, movies, trends, and every thing in between. As the urban Desi culture moved forward, so did Hip Hop artists, Pop musicians, Entrepreneurs, and artists from the community. It also gave rise to publications like Desi Hip Hop, ScoopWhoop, Brown Girl Magazine, and more recently, The Butter Chicken Podcast.
‘Butter Chicken Podcast’ was started by 2 New York based DJs with a simple idea to share the unique stories of Desi influencers, creators, & trend-setters .
“As some of the trailblazers of the Desi Music and Fashion scene here in the states, we felt that it was our responsibility to inform the masses with the stories of those making great impact and culture and society. After much deliberation, we established that engaging in casual conversation with our guests with podcast format would be the best way to get these stories heard.” said DJ Juicy about why they embarked on their podcasting journey.
LISTEN : SEASON 1 | BUTTER CHICKEN PODCAST
In recent years, podcasts have had a major come-back. As people got busier in our fast-paced world, audiences around the world started to revert to consuming content in long-form audio while commuting or taking care of errands. This is one of the main reasons for the success of audiobooks, podcasts, and long form content on YouTube.
DJ Sharad, DJ Juicy, and his team took advantage of the trends and jumped on to the idea for creating quality content that focuses on the Desi community to inspire the next generation of artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs.
DJ Sharad went on to mention that “It is really important for us to document everything. We studied hip hop since the days of Funk Flex being in the Tunnel Breaking artists like Jay Z and Lil Wayne. When we google this information its easy to find because it was documented.”
“There is so much that happened in the Desi music scene that is not documented. We felt it was only right to build this platform as a center of cultural story telling as a starting point for the next generations coming up under us. Our kids, and the generations to follow.”
LISTEN : SEASON 2 | BUTTER CHICKEN PODCAST
In the 2 seasons of the Butter Chicken Podcast, the team covered multiple people from all walks of life. They interviewed global break through artists like Raja Kumari, Jaz Dhami, Raxstar, & Anik Khan; world-renowned directors like Shomi Patwary; entrepreneurs and think tanks like Ani Hustles & Trisha from Brown Girl Magazine; they even have an episode highlighting the work of internationally known chef Gaurav Anand.
When asked about which episodes were their personal favorites, both DJ Sharad & DJ Juicy had a tough time picking just 1 or 2 from the slew of guests they’ve had.
“Each story is unique and inspiring. One theme to me that has really hit is that the women of our community are making great impact in music, fashion, tech, and journalism.” added Sharad, when DJ Juicy interjected and went on to say, “Its really hard to select one guest, since all the stories have been inspirational. However, the one that stood out and spoke to me was the conversation we had with our brother Suraj Kaufmann. The way he dealt with adversity and obstacles that were not anticipated speaks to his resilient nature and optimistic outlook. His story is incredible!”
The butter chicken guys are on a journey to create something new and thirst-quenching for Desi audiences around the world. So, I decided to ask them one final question about how they face challenges, to which DJ Juicy said, “With all new ventures and passion projects, there will be hurdles that you will encounter. I think its important to embrace the struggles. People are hyper focused on their destination; However, the butter chicken boys are all about acknowledging the journey and process.”