North America’s first mainstream South Asian radio station premieres April 8, 2019
Rukus Avenue Music Group, North America’s first South Asian record label founded in 1996, has partnered with DJ Skee and Dash Radio in Los Angeles to launch North America’s first mainstream South Asian radio station, Rukus Avenue Radio. The station will begin broadcasting worldwide April 8, 2019 on Dash Radio.
Notable Canadian music personalities joining Rukus Avenue Radio include JUNO winner Kiran Ahluwalia, Sanjay Seran (of Delhi 2 Dublin), and XD Pro (producers of the Gully Boy film theme song with rap icon Nas). Toronto FM veterans Baba Kahn, Tricky Moreira and Amita Handa are also making the move to become some of the first Canadian personalities to join DASH’s digital radio platform.
Additional Ontario personalities include JUNO nominee Tony Singh (formerly of Punjabi By Nature), influencer Kay Ray, DJ Fizza, DJ TNT, Gurpreet Chana, Anuj Rastogi, Daniel Pillai, All Mixed Up and The Guru Brothers as well as veteran Canadian journalist Raj Girn, iTunes New & Noteworthy podcaster Natasha Chandel and Dr. Amitha Mundenchira, who provides Rukus Avenue Radio’s “Medical Minute” segment.
From coast to coast, Saskatoon‘s Jas Ahluwalia joins Vancouver‘s Krystal Kiran, DJ Emenes and DJ Heer alongside Montreal‘s Robina Dhindsa and Sikh Knowledge (music producer for Lilly “Superwoman” Singh).
Rukus Avenue’s Vice President & COO, Raoul Juneja, was born in Toronto and has been active in Canada’s media industry for over 20 years, creating and producing South Asian content for the likes of OMNI Television and CBC Music while also serving as a judge for The JUNO Awards and Prism Prize. Raoul is responsible for producing over 80 shows a week on Rukus Avenue Radio, and manages their editorial team who stretch across Toronto, Los Angeles, New York and India.
“There’s so much anticipation around this station and especially this business venture,” says Rukus Avenue Founder & CEO Sammy Chand. “We’re honored to be partnering with Dash Radio through the establishment of this platform, and are thrilled about presenting our South Asian culture to a worldwide market – the prospect of the social impact our community of over 80 celebrity hosts can have is very exciting to us.”
Designed for anyone with an affinity for South Asian culture, Rukus Avenue Radio listeners can expect to be entertained, inspired and informed. Boasting over 80 original shows hosted by some of the world’s most prominent South Asian music artists, DJs, journalists, comedians, activists and influencers, Rukus Avenue Radio offers something for everyone.
Interviews with of some of the world’s most sought-after South Asian celebrities, including Priyanka Chopra, Russell Peters, Rupi Kaur, Anoushka Shankar, Deepak Chopra, Sunny Leone — and many more — will mark the historic launch.
Bhangra, Hip Hop, Bollywood, Electronic and Devotional are some of the music shows on tap, in addition to a weekly Top 20 Countdown. Listeners will also have access to world-class hosts and opportunities to engage in compelling and timely conversation about various topics relating to the South Asian diaspora such as wellness, feminism, politics, relationships, business and LGBTQ issues, to name a few.
Rukus Avenue Radio can be listened to 24-7 through the Dash Radio app available on iOS and Android, as well as on the Dash Radio platform at DashRadio.com completely free-of charge and commercial-free. Dash Radio was created in 2014 by world-renowned DJ Skee (Scott Keeney) and is currently the world’s largest all-original digital broadcaster, with over 80 curator-championed stations and a monthly audience of over 10 million listeners.
“Dash has always been successful focusing on often overlooked genres,” says Dash Radio Founder & CEO DJ Skee. “The potential for Rukus Avenue and the music of India is massive with an underserved market ripe for premium live audio content – we are excited to welcome them into the Dash family.”
For Rukus Avenue Radio’s official web site, visit www.rukusavenueradio.com
For Rukus Avenue Music Group’s official web site, visit www.rukusavenue.com
About Rukus Avenue
Founded in 1996 by Sammy Chand, Rukus Avenue’s confluence of cultures has had a signature musical expression that has been noted for its cultural contribution to America. Its storied history has featured artists that have been recognized by the New York Times, Smithsonian Museum, BBC, FOX, CBS News, WNYC, KCRW and more while its music has been showcased in over 60 different film and television shows from around the world. Considered the conduit of the South Asian music movement in North America, Rukus Avenue collaborated with the White House in 2016 on an anti- bullying album for President Obama’s “Act To Change” Initiative. In January 2017, Rukus Avenue released the album “Artists UNited Against Human Trafficking” with the United Nations featuring some of the world’s biggest artists including Quincy Jones and AR Rahman. In July 2018, Rukus Avenue marked its 24th release with their soundtrack for the film “The Black Prince” featuring the likes of Talib Kweli and Nelly Furtado.
About Dash Radio
Dash Radio features 400+ shows across 75+ stations featuring talent including Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, Oscar De La Hoya, Monsters Of Rock, & the Isaac Hayes & Rick James estates. It also features special seasonal pop-up stations, including the Michael Jackson Diamond Celebration pop-up celebrating the 60th birthday of Michael Jackson in conjunction with Cirque Du Soleil. On the programming side, NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp and Hip-Hop Icon Too Short are joining the Dash Radio family with weekly shows.
Dash Radio has over 40 distribution outlets including deals in place that put Dash inside almost every new connected vehicle. Dash is also available via home speakers including Amazon Echo, SONOS, & Google Home, as well as Pluto TV, Chrome, Fire Stick, Apple TV, and more. Dash operates a flagship
Los Angeles storefront studio at the DREAM Hollywood and is now available inside every DREAM Hotel room. Dash also launched Build-A-Bear Radio complete with a storefront radio studio inside Build-A-Bear Workshop’s store next to the Empire State Building.