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The Bilz Kashif
Please introduce yourselves to our readers:
 We’re The Bilz Kashif. We love music and have been doing it individually for over 10 years. Together, it’s been 3 years and we’re known for the hit single, “2 Step Bhangra” that broke Canadian mainstream radio charting next to Justin Timberlake & Beyoncé. Now, we’re a household phenomenon. YouTube us!
How did you get together as a group? What does Bilz stand for?
Vicious: I used to DJ all over North America and I built my growing fan base that way with my mixtapes. I was the first South Asian DJ in Canada to feature Kardinal Offishall, Pitbull and The Rishi Rich Project in Canada. I met Master-D in college, he was part of a successful college band and all the girls went crazy for him. I also knew that Master-D was an extremely talented producer
so I approached him on forming a partnership. We started off doing bootleg Indian remix mixtapes called “Insomnia” for fun but they actually gained a huge response in our local market. The buzz grew nationwide, and we then started to work original remix for local and international acts. One was for a BMG recording Artist, Keshia Chante that featured Foxy Brown and it blew up
on radio. We then contracted a dance remix for an international artist, Chantal Chamandy, and that charted on Billboard Top100. I think that’s when we realized
that we’re married to music hence “The Bilz” (brother-in-lawz).
I met Kashif in high school and we were good family friends. After his contract with “N-Motion” was up, he approached me when he heard the Keshia Chante remix and said he wanted to come over and jam with us in the studio. Ever since then, we’ve been making history as a group, so we now tour as The Bilz Kashif internationally.
 Tell us about your album Breaking Barriers; what was the inspiration behind the album?
Breaking Barriers has a universal global pop fusion sound. That’s what we are known for so we wanted to keep that signature versatility. The album consists of 19 tracks and we are extremely proud of the music we have created. From electro Pop to Bhangra, Bollywood and R&B, we wanted an album that would go down in history as a masterpiece. The album also features platinum selling rapper from Houston – Lil’ Flip on Rags 2 Riches. The album took us 3 years to make since we were busy touring and recording the new album in between.
We think that actually helped us create an album for our fans since we were inspired by sounds we heard partying at the after-parties for our shows. We always say the music speaks for itself and it did. On May 24th, when the Breaking Barriers album released, it debuted at #6 on the Top 10 World Album charts. That was a great feeling!
What has been the most popular song from this album?
Kashif: Honestly that’s really hard to choose. When we write music, we make sure every song is a hit. And so far, the fans just love the album. They tweet us saying, they just can’t stop listening to the album and it’s worth every dollar they spend. I think as artists, the fans are what drive you to create great music and you have to make it memorable. As we tell everyone, if all three of us do not feel the record we’re doing, we scrap it and start from scratch. Nothing should be forced. So, for the fun if it, our most popular song right now would be “On the Dancefloor” & “Single”. They were also great single to shoot videos for.
Tell us about your music, what would you categorize it as?
We we could categorize it as World Pop. However, we’ve broken barriers charting on Top40 radio not only in Canada, but in Singapore and recently in Amsterdam on Fun-X Radio with “Single” charting next to Jay Sean, Jason
Derulo and Eminem. At the end of the day, we think of our music as universal similar to how Dancehall and Latin music crossed over. We like to bring our culture to mainstream, and we’ve done that not only on radio, but also licensing “Kuri Punjabi”, a song from Breaking Barriers that’s in a Hollywood movie called “The Rebound” starring Catherine Zeta Jones.
Have you done any concerts and tours? Tell us where you have toured and what the experience has been for the band?
Yes we tour extensively in North America. Last year we also did Holland & Germany. We’ve been to all the major cities, but we love visiting new places and we hope to visit new countries with the release of “Breaking Barriers”.
We notice how our fan base has grown around the world every month. This year was the 1st time we received tons of orders for our CD from Japan! We guess it’s the power of internet. As for the experience, touring is one of the best moments for artists. It’s just great to connect with our fans, perform live and put on a show that they’ll remember. Furthermore, we get to meet all the media outlets, just like you guys that have supported our movement from day one being a successful North American group with a global sound. Our shows are filled with energy and chorography. We always like to set trends for the Urban Desi scene and we’ll continue to change it up for the new Breaking Barriers tour.
 You are also part of a charity, tell us about that and how did you get involved?
We started a campaign site called OneVoiceFoundation.com. On that site, 100%
of profits from the “One Voice” single downloads and clothing from our partner at Desiwear.com go straight to WarChild Canada. The idea all came along when we first went to India for business. During our stay, you would read the newspaper and notice the amount of wars that were taking place, the depression from the economy along with the poverty, not only in India but around the world.
We realized that sometimes you can easily forget about these realities. So as artists we think it is our duty to promote a positive message around the world via
music. So we wrote that song when we were in India, and finished it when we came back to Canada. We then reached out to WarChild Canada through Lyrical
Knockout Entertainment. We wanted to partner with a charity organization that focuses about these issues in the world. Furthermore, they’re main focus was also
to protect the children of the future. So when WarChild, saw the video, they were extremely pleased and we started the One Voice campaign. It was great since we
were the 1st South Asian artists to partner and raise a good amount of money with them alongside other campaigns they’ve worked with Bryan Adams and Avril
Lavigne. That also led us to perform in Amsterdam at the Martin Luther King Achievement Awards alongside Elvis Crespo. Ever since, the “One Voice” video has been a huge inspiration for our fans and people around the world. Recently, even Deepak Chopra tweeted about how great he thought the message was, so we’re glad the message is getting across.
What projects are you currently working on?
Right now, we just finished shooting our 3rd single – Tera Nasha. It should be out mid-October. It’s one provocative love story. Tera Nasha just entered the FILMI Festival in Toronto. It’s the longest running South Asian North American film festival. FILMI will be the 1st to gain pre-screening before the official release date for our new video for the elite filmmakers in the industry. So that’s a great honor.
We’re also touring extensively, and promoting the brand new album – Breaking Barriers that’s out worldwide on iTunes and on our site at
We just came back from New Jersey since we were the musical guests of honor alongside Malika Sherawat for the India’s Independence Day parade. It was an awesome experience. We’re also constantly working on more extraordinary music and that never stops. Expect some more mind blowing music videos. This is only
the beginning of our story so make sure you check out all our videos on YouTube and add us on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Bebo!
You all come from South Asia; do you plan to go there for a concert tour?
We totally would love too. Although India is more Bollywood driven, we have a few things in the works, along with a record deal offer for India. These things take time to negotiate, but we’re definitely looking forward to go there, so stay tuned by constantly checking our website, Facebook and Twitter sites.
Do you have any plans to tour the US in the near future?
North America has been one of our biggest supporters. So we’re always looking forward to tour the US. We’re also working on an official US tour soon after our
3rd video – Tera Nasha is out.
 Lastly what message would you like to give to the readers of The Saturday Post?
We first would like to thank The Saturday Post for supporting our movement and helping us connect with your readers. So, we urge all of your readers to go
check out music now. Don’t wait, hurry! (laughs). It’s mind-blowing! We’re making music for the masses and we’re here to bridge the gap with Hollywood and Bollywood. Check us out on youtube.com/bilzmusic to see for yourself. From the quality music videos, energetic performances on stage, to behind the scenes madness! You can also download our album Breaking Barriers on ITunes or from our website at www.bilzmusic.com. We promise you won’t be disappointed. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’re socially connected so catch us on Bebo and MySpace, we’d love to hear your reaction! And last but not least, keep reading The Saturday Post, because they always got you coveredLastly what message would you like to give to the readers of The Saturday Post? We first would like to thank The Saturday Post for supporting our movement and helping us connect with your readers. So, we urge all of your readers to go check out music now. Don’t wait, hurry! (laughs). It’s mind-blowing! We’re making music for the masses and we’re here to bridge the gap with Hollywood and Bollywood. Check us out on youtube.com/bilzmusic to see for yourself. From the quality music videos, energetic performances on stage, to behind the scenes madness! You can also download our album Breaking Barriers on ITunes or from our We promise you won’t be disappointed. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’re socially connected so catch us Bebo and MySpace, we’d love to hear your reaction! And last but not least, keep reading The Saturday Post, because they always got you covered!
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