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Respect Due
DJ Ritu
Season 1, Ep. 3
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Samenua Sesher speaks with the brilliant DJ Ritu: broadcaster, event producer, co-founder of Outcaste Records and world-renowned disc jockey.
As a DJ and bandleader, Ritu has performed at some of the prime venues and festivals like WOMAD, Roskilde, Sfinks, Tate Britain, Spiritland, and the Royal Festival Hall. Her weekly morning show ‘Bhangra in Beds’ ran for over 22 years on BBC Three Counties and was later syndicated to Germany, Sweden and Turkey where it was enjoyed by a growing World Music scene. She went on to co-found the record label Outcaste Records. Today, DJ Ritu is a Concert Producer at SOAS and a member of the Mayor’s London Music Board and the European World Music Charts panel. She still manages two leading London club nights - Club Kali and Kuch Kuch.
DJ Ritu was nominated by the arts and culture journalist Tara Joshi. Tara is the music editor at gal-dem and is a regular critic for the Observer and The Quietus, and also contributes to the Guardian, VICE, Dazed, Notion, and others. She writes: ‘The UK music industry has rarely made ample space for South Asian women, and yet DJ Ritu has thrived and supported her community in spite of this. A key player in Britain's 1980s and ’90s South Asian underground music scene as a DJ, as well as a broadcaster at the BBC, Kiss FM and more, Ritu has also worked in more behind-the-scenes roles – for example, she worked at Outcaste Records, which signed the likes of Nitin Sawhney. DJ Ritu was also a founding member of Club Shakti (now Club Kali), a prolific British South Asian LGBTQI+ organisation and party, which has given a space for queer people in our communities to come together and dance to South Asian music. To this day, Ritu continues to champion global sounds on the radio, while Club Kali continues to provide a safe haven, both online and in-person.’
This episode is presented by Samenua Sesher and produced by Stella Sabin. It is a production for the Museum of Colour www.museumofcolour.org.uk
The music in this series is by Soweto Kinch.
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11. Bonus Episode: Unheard Clips
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10. Lucy Sheen
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9. Hallam Ifill
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8. Ranjit Sondhi
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7. Stella Dadzie
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6. Maureen Roberts
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5. Hilary Carty
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4. Ferdinand Dennis
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