Deeyah
Birth name	Deepika Thathaal
Born	August 7, 1977 (1977-08-07) (age 32) Oslo, Norway
Genres	Pop, electronica, dance
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1985 – present
Labels	Sony BMG/Arista
Website	www.deeyah.com

Deepika "Deeyah" Thathaal (born August 7, 1977 in Oslo, Norway), is a Pakistani-Norwegian singer, composer and human rights activist of Punjabi descent. Born to Sunni Muslim Pakistani parents^[1]. She is often dubbed the “Muslim Madonna”,^[2][3][4][5] a term coined by the British press tabloid The Sun. Her style contains elements of pop, metal, electronica and world music particularly fusion of Pakistani pop and classical sounds.

In her early days, she trained under the great music maestro Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan.^[6] She would later be signed by the largest independent record company Kirkelig Kulturverksted where she recorded two earlier albums with her mentors and other ustads and maestros from the subcontinent. It was then that the Muslim community got outraged and she left the country for London, United Kingdom.

Deepika has since then produced controversial tracks usually talking about free speech and women's rights and has appeared in several music videos in collaboration with various renowned producers and singers. She adopted the name Deeyah in 2002.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Birth and ancestry 1.2 Early musical training 1.3 Initial career 1.4 Success and controversies 1.5 Channeling her rage 1.6 Sisterhood 1.7 As a women's right activist 1.8 Achievements 1.9 Recent times 2 Controversy 3 Ataraxis 4 Awards 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 6 See also 7 External links 8 Interviews 9 References

[edit] Biography

[edit] Birth and ancestry

Deeyah was born Deepika Thathaal, at Ullevål sykehus hospital in Oslo, Norway to Sunni Muslim parents.^[1][7] The family later moved to Grønland in Sentrum, then to Tåsen. Her father hailed from the Punjab province in Pakistan while her mother is an Afghan Pashtun belonging to the Durrani tribe. Where her father had an extended family living in Norway (her grandfather being amongst the very first Pakistani immigrants to the land), her mother had no family in the country.

At the time of her pregnancy, Deeyah's mother was only 18-years old and could not speak the Norwegian language. She found a nurse in an elderly Indian woman(nanny) who helped her through her pregnancy and labour. The elderly lady picked the name Deepika for the child.^[8] The nanny died long after Deeyah was born.^[7] Deeyah has a brother named Adil Thathaal.^[9]

Her grandfather was one of the most well-respected Muslim elders in the Pakistani community in Norway. Proud of his familial tribal ancestry and heritage, Deeyah's father dropped his last name Hussain for Thathaal in his mid-30s when he migrated to Norway. Towards the end of 1970s, he established an organisation called the Rāga Music Society celebrating Rāga, the most basic arrangement of notes in Indian classical music, and to introduce Pakistani artists and music styles to the Norwegian musical and cultural sphere.

[edit] Early musical training

Deeyah's father was a music enthusiast and with his musical organisation well under way, he invited classical musical maestros from South Asia to teach music to young kids. He ensured that music becomes an essential part of both his children's upbringing and in 1984 entrusted his seven years old daughter under the supervision of the legendary Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan.^[6] Deeyah studied Pakistani and North Indian classical forms of music under the grand maestro who would later declare her amongst his favourites.^[10]

Khan was aware of the talent the little girl held in herself and urged her to openly sing in public. The following year, at the tender age of eight, Deeyah made her first performance on national television appearing on the primetime show Halv Sju. She would later perform at various festivals and celebrated as the youngest performer at major music festivals. Khan taught her the intricacies of the instruments used under the Patiala gharana and ghazal, thumri and khyal forms of classical music. She would usually accompany other maestros on the tanpura (pictured).

Deeyah was later signed at the age of 13 releasing two critically acclaimed albums in her native Norway. But before she could taste stardom, she had to face questions. Heads turned in the Pakistani-Norwegian community and people would ask her father why he let his daughter enter music where Islam forbade such practices. Thathaal would defend his daughter whenever he could but as Deeyah grew older, the abuses came directly to her.^[4]

I remember my dad having to defend the fact that I was doing music, even as a child. I remember this at eight, nine years old where ... various people come to the house and say, "We don't even let our sons do it, why would you let your daughter do this?"

– Deeyah in an interview with David Mattingly for CNN.^[4]

[edit] Initial career

Although she had been singing for national television for quite some time charting a couple of hit singles,^[4] her talent was finally recognised in 1992 when she sang at the opening ceremony for Norway's TV2 in front of an audience that included Åse Kleveland, the then Minister of Culture and the Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Following this, she was taken on as a student by the esteemed Ustad Sultan Khan.^[11] Khan would later appear with Deeyah on her first solo album I Alt Slags Lys. She was only fifteen when she released the album under the Norway-based independent recording giant Kirkelig Kulturverksted. The album was a fusion of Pakistani classical sounds with modern influences^[12] and featured many a prominent ustads including her mentors. She also collaborated with Knut Reiersrud, Reidar Skår, Paolo Vinaccia, Audun Erlien, Ustad Sultan Khan and Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan from Pakistan.^[13] From the beginning of her career Deeyah has been called a limitless and ground-breaking artist.^[14]

One of the creepiest and scariest things that I have been told to my face was how this person would like to cut my stomach so that another whore like me is not born and that the same should have happened to my mom.

– Deeyah in an interview with David Mattingly for CNN.^[4]

[edit] Success and controversies

She appeared in her first solo concert the same year at Vossa Jazz.^[15] Following the success of her first album, she came out with another in September 1995 under contract with BMG/Arista.^[16] The music videos from this album caused uproar among conservative Muslims who claimed Deeyah was misleading Muslim women by showing her uncovered back. She and her family were threatened and harassed. And worse, during a concert she was attacked on stage. Petty abuses soon turned into death threats and Deeyah considered leaving the country for London in 1996. Threats lingered on and she soon realised her past had caught up with her.

Deeyah was working on an album in the late 90's when the chairman of Warner Music UK of 20 years who had signed Deeyah lost his job, resulting in Deeyah's contract being terminated. Her manager and friend Steven Fargnoli died due to an illness in 2001. Deeyah decided to give up her music career because of these circumstances, but her musical nature wouldn't allow her to do that. These events made Deeyah even more determined to pursue music, which led to her working with Grammy winning producer Darin Prindle. Together they co-wrote and co-produced the double a-side single Plan Of My Own/I Saw You. However she was dogged with more controversy when these videos aired on music channels, causing Deeyah to take a break from the scene. It was then that she decided to change her stage name form Deepika to Deeyah in 2002 ^[17].

[edit] Channeling her rage

With the threats she received the singer decided to travel to Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} Once she reached America, she worked on more music videos and songs in collaboration with LA-based rapper Young Maylay. This would be her controversial single “What Will It Be”.

[edit] Sisterhood

To further protest against involvement of women of Muslims origins in music, Deeyah came back to the UK and collaborated with some of the rising Muslim stars, all of them women. Gathering Pakistani women rappers, Egyptian singers and other such women from around the world who defied their cultural traditions and have spread in the world of music. She then asked them to sing for her and collected their sounds on a mixtape she called Sisterhood. Due to lack of sufficient funding, the singer had to produce the venture herself and labeled it under her name.

[edit] As a women's right activist

Celebrating her success and recent works for women against the norms of Muslim tradition, she was asked to contribute more of her music to the cause of women's rights. When she came to Birmingham, UK, she was made a patron for a women's shelter in the city where she contributes some of her time and support to the victims.

[edit] Achievements

Deeyah is now considered amongst the very few female students to train under the classical Pakistani music maestro Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Sultan Khan. The former called her a favourite.

With collaboration with leading industry men, some including the likes of Jan Garbarek, David Lindley, Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, Talvin Singh, Rick Nowels, A.R. Rehman, Knut Reiersrud, Adrian Sherwood, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Bonecrusher, Guy Sigsworth, Martyn Ware,Zakir Hussain, Nick Sillitoe, Audun Erlien, Reidar Skår, Inder Matharu Goldfinger, Ustad Nazim Ali Khan, throughout her career,

[edit] Recent times

In the recent history, Deeyah travelled back to the USA to collaborate with some other musicians on her next album title Ataraxis. Having scrapped all previous material, she worked with various producers to produce a new, more Pakistani sounds.

[edit] Controversy

Initially complaints and the Muslim community's disapproval was expressed to her parents but when Deeyah started getting older it came directly to her as well. Deeyah's choice in profession, the way she dressed and that she was considered an outspoken modern young Muslim woman was considered unacceptable. Deeyah's behavior was considered to be setting a bad example for other young Muslims ^[18]. Deeyah was followed everywhere she went, she was harassed, threatened and intimidated every time she would set her foot outside her home. Deeyah was attacked with pepper spray at one of her own concerts in Oslo. After being in several physically threatening and dangerous situations for both her and her immediate family Deeyah made the decision to buy a one way ticket to London in 1996 ^[19].

Hoping things would be different for her in the UK she continued working on her music in London. In 2004 her first videos started getting high rotation on Asian music channels B4U Music and Zee TV ^[20]. The more her popularity grew the more unpopular she became in some Muslim circles in the UK with the same controversy and problems haunting her in the UK as they did in Norway. The controversy in the UK started with the video "Plan Of My Own" which shows Deeyah dancing seductively with a male dancer, Deeyah claims this caused outrage among some Muslims in England and brought on her the same harassment and threats as she received in Norway.

In February 2006, Deeyah hired bodyguards for her UK tour after receiving death threats.^[21]

The Muslim Council of Britain questioned whether they or any other Muslim body had a problem with her and accused the Independent on Sunday newspaper of having fallen for a "publicity stunt by a wannabe pop star at the expense of stirring up hostility towards ordinary British Muslims".^[22] The press release stated that Inayat Bunglawala had challenged her on live television over why she had not reported the "death threats" to the police and she failed to give a coherent response. Thathaal told the Sunday Times that she had agreed to a joint interview with Bunglawala on GMTV on the understanding that he would support her - but that once the live show was underway, he criticised her instead.^[23]

Deeyah responded with a song and music video "What Will It Be", much later put out for limited digital release in the UK only.^[24]

[edit] Ataraxis

In 2007, Deeyah collaborated with legendary musicians Bob James, Andy Summers and Nils Petter Molvær on her critically acclaimed album Ataraxis. This album is a blend between Deeyah's Pakistani classical music training, folk styles from Pakistan and Afghanistan and electronica [1]

[edit] Awards

In 2008, Deeyah was one of the runners-up for the Freedom to Create Prize for her video "What Will It Be".

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• In All Kinds of Light as Deepika 1992
• Deepika as Deepika 1996
• Plan of My Own 2005 (Unreleased/Shelved)
• Ataraxis as Deeyah 2007/2008 (Heilo/Grappa Records)

[edit] Singles

• Get Off My Back 1995
• History 1996
• Plan Of My Own/I Saw You 2005 UK #35
• What Will It Be 2006 Download Only

[edit] See also

• Pakistani pop music
• Norwegians of Pakistani descent
• Women's rights
• Women and Islam
• Islamic feminism

[edit] External links

• Official Deeyah website - deeyahpoint.co.uk
• Deeyah on Myspace
• Muslim Madonna Blog

[edit] Interviews

• Freemuse interviews DEEYAH
• PerContra talks to the Muslim Madonna
• Deeyah interview by Ashanti OMkar

• Deeyah Interview with The World Forum on Music and Censorship Freemuse [2]
• Deeyah Per Contra Interview [3]
• Norwegian Press articles dating from 1992 to present: [4]
• VG article
• About Deeyah from Music Information Centre Norway
• By Amanda Craig The Times UK [5]
• Written By: Jostein Pedersen [6]
• Ragas and Sagas by Richard Byrne [7]7

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[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	Deeyah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Deepika Thathaal (birth name); Deeyah (pseudonym since 2002)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Norwegian English Urdu Pashto Singer-Songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH	August 7, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oslo, Norway
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH