DJ Nihal

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DJ Nihal
Nihal, talking to the crowd at a Radio 1 event in Preston
Born	Nihal Arthanayake June 1, 1971 (1971-06-01) (age 38) Harlow, Essex
Occupation	DJ, Radio and Television Presenter
Website http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/review/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bobbyandnihal/

DJ Nihal (born Nihal Arthanayake on 1 June 1971 in Harlow, Essex) is a British Radio and TV presenter, as well as club night promoter and DJ, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Asian Network.

Career

Before Radio

Nihal, born June 1, 1971, to Sri Lankan parents, began his involvement in the music industry as a promoter of rap shows in his native Essex while studying at Burnt Mill School, Harlow.

After graduating university, he began an unsuccessful career as a recording artist. He was briefly a member of alternative hip-hop outfit Collapsed Lung. Nihal attempted to find fame as a rapper and worked with Fun Da Mental and Punjabi MC (in 1995), Badmarsh & Shri, Mentor, Sona Family, and DJ Sanj and has worked as a freelance music journalist, having written for Asiana, Eastern Eye, The Face, Mixmag, Hip Hop Connection and The Observer. After failing as an artist, in the late 90s, he turned to music promotion working for artists as diverse as Nitin Sawhney, Judge Jules, Mos Def, and Elton John and it was while working for the groundbreaking Asian Beats record label Outcaste Records he promoted, amongst others Badmarsh & Shri's seminal 'Signs' album.

Radio career

Nihal joined the BBC Radio 1 in 2002, to become co-host of a night time 'Asian Beats' show with DJ Bobby Friction coming under the specialist DJ category. The show went on to win a Sony Radio Award in 2003 - achieving Gold standard in the Specialist Music Category for their show: 'Bobby Friction & Nihal Present'. At the end of 2004, they released a compilation album as a reflection of the music they play on the show. After an initial high profile start, the show was re-scheduled to the early morning 'graveyard' hours. Eventually the show was dropped alltogether.

Nihal became the presenter of the Weekend Breakfast Show on Radio 1, in October 2007, currently the only one of two DJs to present both a mainstream and a specialist show on the channel, the other being Annie Mac, and infrequently provides holiday cover for other Radio 1 colleagues. In September 2008 he was moved from weekend breakfast to weekend afternoons 1pm-4pm on Radio 1. On September 21 2009, Nihal was moved from weekends to a brand-new review program, named "BBC Radio 1's Review With Nihal". The weekly show reviews the latest music, films and games. He also became the sole presenter of the specialist Radio 1 Asian Beats show after Bobby Friction left. His former weekend slot has been filled by Jo Whiley.

In addition, Nihal, as a life-long Tottenham Hotspur supporter hosted his own show on the BBC Asian Network called 'Kickin Off...With Nihal', a weekly football talk show, and occasionally appears on the BBC Radio Five Live sports-related show Fighting Talk hosted by Colin Murray.

In May 2007, Nihal left 'Kicking Off...' to become the host of the daily phone-in talk show from 9am-12pm on the Asian Network. In April 2009 his show moved to 1pm-3pm as part schedule changes.

Club Promotion

Following on from the success of the Radio 1 show, he launched his own club night called Bombay Bronx in May 2004 as an opportunity to showcase his love of rap music - but with a distinctly Asian perspective. Since its creation, Bombay Bronx has seen some of the biggest artists on the 'Asian Beats' scene perform live, such as Swami, Raghav, Jay Sean, and The Mentor Kolektiv, as well as giving a platform for unsigned artists such as Sunit, Raxtstar and Serese.

As well as DJing at a variety of events up and down the country, Nihal has DJed the Isle Of Wight Festival, Glastonbury Festival and Bestival in the UK. Internationally, he has performed in Bangladesh, Dubai, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, and toured the U.S. with Bobby Friction and Raghav.

Television

Nihal's TV appearances began in 1999 alongside Emma B on BBC2's 'Webwise'. Since then he hosted his own rap show 'The Drop' on MTV Base, and three hours of live TV every Saturday for digital television channel CBBC entitled The Saturday Show: Extra.

Nihal has co-presented three series of BBC2's flagship Asian music arts and culture show - Desi DNA alongside Adil Ray and Anita Rani since 2004 and it is through this show that Nihal has interviewed Karsh Kale, Padma Lakshmi, Outlandish, and DJ Pathaan, as well as presenting special features on Jay Sean, Ms Scandalous and Freeform Five. In August 2005, he appeared on BBC2's Art School, alongside celebrities Ulrika Johnson, and Keith Allen, to spend two weeks at the Chelsea School of Art and learn about modern art.

With inside knowledge of the music industry he is regularly asked provide talking head commentary on various music and culture related topics from the 'BRIT Awards' 'The Culture Show' and Five's 'The Wright Stuff' to MTV Base's 'Hip Hop Candy' and has appeared as a guest panellist on music comedy quiz 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' twice.

He is the voiceover for the Slumdog Millionaire album.

Other Projects

In 2005, Nihal and friend and colleague Bobby Friction represented London as members of a team of cultural ambassadors during the successful 2012 Summer Olympics London bid.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2009)

Nihal is an avid supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., and regularly talks of his love for the club on his radio show and also writes a column in the Hotspur magazine

External links

• Nihal's Radio 1 Webpage
• Bobby Friction and Nihal on Radio 1
• Bobby Friction and Nihal on V2 Records
• Nihal interview with Destitunes4U
• Burnt Mill School Visit