Nihal Arthanayake skillset is diverse and far reaching. He cut his teeth in the music industry as rap recording artist MC Krayzee A when he released ‘Into The Music’ on Hard Core One on BPM Records. In 1995 Nihal joined The Muddie Funksters and released EP Brown Like Muddie on GO! Discs Records and I’m The M The B The S The B for Hip Hop Connection Magazine. Nihal has also written music articles for Eastern Eye, The Face, Hip Hop Connection, The Observer and The Sunday Times.
Joining BBC Radio 1 in 2002 as the host of Asian Beats with DJ Bobby Friction established the start of a successful career in radio for Nihal. Bobby Friction & Nihal Present won a Sony Radio Award in 2003 and achieved Gold standard in specialist music– which became Asian Beats with Nihal when Bobby left. In 2007, Nihal became the presenter of the Weekend Breakfast Show on Radio 1 which was later moved to weekend afternoons. Nihal was given his own show BBC Radio 1’s Review with Nihal in 2009 which won Best Radio Show at The UK Asian Music Awards (UK AMAs). Nihal is one of only two radio DJs to present on both a mainstream and a specialist show, the other being Annie Mac. Nihal has also made several documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. Alongside his fantastic radio career Nihal has had many opportunities to DJ all over the globe, including Bangladesh, Germany, Sri Lanka, the Isle of Wight Festival and Glastonbury.
After making his first TV appearance in 1999 on BBC2’S Webwise, Nihal has had a steady flow of TV opportunities. Hosting his own rap show The Drop on MTV Base, the live CBBC show The Saturday Show: Extra and Celebrity Masterchef. He was also a co-host for three series of BBC2’s Asian music, arts and culture show Desi DNA alongside Adil Ray and Anita Rani. In 2004 Nihal presented Channel 4 documentary Where’s Your F*****g Manners? And BBC2’s Art School alongside Keith Allen and Ulrika Jonsson. Nihal has also appeared as a guest panelist on music comedy quizzes Never Mind The Buzzcocks and BBC4’s We Need Answers.
Nihal has garnered fantastic reviews as host of Radio 5 Live’s Afternoon show – Nihal Arthanayake, Asian Network’s Big Debate (on Fridays), and the daily Headliners podcast. His extensive knowledge of music, and inimitable storytelling enable him to secure outstanding interviews. Nihal can also be heard on the official Penguin Books podcast, interviewing some of the top authors in the UK today, including the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Romesh Ranganathan, Suggs, John Boyne and more.
In 2022,Nihal Arthanayake released a book called Let’s Talk. The book blends Nihal’s experiences as an acclaimed interviewer with expert and celebrity opinion on the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. From tracing the evolution of dialogue to discovering what lights up in the brain when we’re enjoying a good discussion, Nihal speaks to conversational authorities including Lorraine Kelly, former president of Ireland Mary McAleese, Professor Tanya Byron, internationally bestselling author Johann Hari, Matthew Syed, and many more, to find out why good conversation has eroded over time and how we can fix it.
Click Here to order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Have-Better-Conversations/dp/1398702226
In this Episode!
00:00 Intro
00:01:48 Let’s Talk
00:04:00 The Art of a Great Conversation
00:04:50 BBC Asian Network
00:06:40 History of Conversations
00:08:29 Becoming a better writer
00:09:15 Process of writing a book
00:10:12 Talking & Unpacking Emotion
00:13:03 The Right To Change Your Mind
00:14:44 Social Media is not real life!
00:15:20 WhatsApp Group
00:18:37 I have no time! Poor Excuse
00:21:09 A Young Nihal
00:22:34 Journey into music
00:26:22 Music in the family
00:28:22 The Privilege to buy music
00:29:53 I’m concerned for the Asian Music Scene
00:32:45 Bobby & Nihal deserve recognition
00:34:01 Is there a solution for Asian Music
00:35:33 The problem with Asian Music
00:42:42 Prash & Harpz kaur
00:44:17 The Future of Asian Network
00:48:00 Bhandwagons’
& Much Much More!!!!!
Bhandwagon Podcast Platform links
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