On his album “Immigrants” the British producer and composer Nitin Sawhney creates a unique sound between hip hop, classical and world music. Born to Indian parents in Kent, England, Nitin Sawhney faced xenophobia and marginalization from a young age. He escaped these experiences with music and learned to play the piano, guitar, sitar and tabla as a child. The themes of “identity” and “cultural heritage” also form the basis for his album “Immigrants”. It features guest artists as diverse as the cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, the singer Abi Sampa, the singer-songwriter Natty, the violinist Anna Phoebe and the producer Aisling Brouwer.
Nitin Sawhney’s career is as complex as his music. As a producer, he has worked on the albums of artists as diverse as Norah Jones, Hélène Grimaud and Nicki Wells. The album “Traces of You” by Anoushka Shankar, which he produced, was nominated for a Grammy. As a remix artist, co-producer or co-songwriter, he has among others Paul McCartney, Sting, Imogen Heap, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Jeff Beck, Shakira, Will Young, Joss Stone, Taio Cruz, Ellie Goulding and Natty helped create new sounds. Nitin Sawhney is also successful as a composer and producer of film and series soundtracks, theater productions and advertising. Most recently he wrote the music for “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” for Netflix and advertising campaigns for Nike and Sephora. Nitin Sawhney has six honorary doctorates from British universities, has received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award and the Order of the British Empire and has won the Mercury Price, UK Asian Music Award and EMMA Award.
Immigrants is a unique celebration of immigrants around the world. Showcasing works inspired and contributed to by artists who either identify themselves as immigrants, are from immigrant heritage, or wish to express support for those international immigrants who have found themselves judged or disadvantaged by pure accident of birth. Nitin has always intended Immigrants to be a sequel to his 1999 seminal album Beyond Skin.
Since the release of Beyond Skin, Nitin has successfully navigated a career in the arts that can only be described as polymathic. Nitin holds six honorary doctorates, two fellowships, an honorary degree, the 2017 Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award & a CBE. As a composer Nitin is a BAFTA and Academy member & he was also recently announced as the new Chair of Trustees for the PRS Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new music & talent development.
