AP Dhillon

If the rise of Canada as the hotbed of popular Punjabi music were to be encapsulated in the success of a single artist, a prime candidate would be singer-songwriter, rapper and producer AP Dhillon. Like thousands of aspirational Indians in search of a brighter future, Dhillon moved from his home—in his case, the village of Gurdaspur—to North America as a university student in the 2010s. While in Vancouver, he made friends with three fellow immigrants with similar dreams of careers in music. Shortly after, rappers Gurinder Gill and Shinda Kahlon, producer Gminxr and Dhillon set to work in a tiny home studio, forging a new sound that blended the slick production styles of the West with the earthy vocals and soulful lyricism of the East. When labels weren’t interested, Dhillon doubled down on his DIY attitude and launched his own company, Run-Up Records. The Punjabi music scene was relatively quick to catch on to the groundbreaking vibe, but things really took off when “Brown Munde” and its celebration of south Asian identity went viral and turned India into the collective’s largest market. Chart-toppers such as “Insane”, “Excuses”, “Summer High” and “With You” followed, each a new configuration of pop, hip-hop, R&B and electronic dance music that found audiences around the globe who streamed them in the millions—and flocked to live shows across the India, Canada, the US and the UK. Such was Dhillon’s dominance of the musical landscape of 2022 that he had as many as five hits in Apple Music’s year-end top 10 for India. There’s no doubt more to come.