When I were a lad growing up, a Bengali immigrant in the North-East of England, Margaret Thatcher was PM and the NF seemed to be daubing their stupid graffiti just about everywhere. Jump in the DeLorean and get back to the future - and I’m an adolescent listening to ‘It takes a nation of millions to hold us back’ while on holiday in Bangladesh. The volume is cranked and Chuck D is rapping about, amongst other things, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and the Nation of Islam. As well as changing my perception of music, politics and people, that record also made me question my sense of identity.The echoes of that quest for identity linger today, stronger than ever. In an increasingly multi-cultural society, some strive to pronounce their uniqueness, often using culture as a means to define the self. So? As Corey Glover (Living Colour) said on ‘Pride’ “It’s my culture, so naturally I use it”. In the mid ’90s there was an elevated interest in all things Asian - which goes some way to explaining the success of Apache Indian. But, mocking aside, it did show the immediate tendency for Asian youth to latch on to Afro-Carribean culture - much like the white working class did when ska first hit the UK. Of course, this is not to discredit any Asian artists who work solely within their genre: after all, the heavyweight Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a much sought after collaborator by Western artists in the early ’90s.In 1997, Talvin Singh unleased ‘Anokha’ on the world. Subtitled ‘Sounds of the Asian Underground’, it presented a coalition of Anglo-Asian artistry riding the wave of the drum n’ bass movement. Nitin Sawhney won multiple awards for his ‘Beyond Skin’ album in 2001 and now, in 2009, Nasha records have unleashed this valuable insight into the new Asian underground. Again, a loosely connected mix of artists are presented here - all falling into the categories of Drum n’ bass or Dubstep.The enormously talented Sukh Knight features heavily here with his massive dubstep anthems providing respite from the frantic pace of this eclectic mix. Ges-e and Sukh Knight’s collaboration on ‘Vengeance’ starts the album’s proceedings: a moody and ethereal affair featuring Asian inspired violin licks and female vocals, it’s a suitable introduction. From there, The Nasha Experience bring a little old-skool flavour, mixing jump-up drum n bass with more traditional Asian flavours. Veterans Osmani Soundz hold the Dn’B mood until Shandy’s tabla-fuelled electro-dubstep ‘Experience East’ arrives to slow things down.It’s after this point that Sukh Knight drops the phenomenal ‘Knightlife’ on us. The Bomb Squad (Public Enemy’s production team) have been DJing dubstep exclusively lately, and on hearing this track, I e-mailed Hank Shocklee (one of The Bomb Squad founders) a link to this tune. He mailed back with this: “that song is on fiya right now son” [sic]. Surely, there can be no higher praise? Well, maybe there can.With the willingness of people to embrace other cultures to create their own individual identity, comes great art. The new sound of the Asian underground has arrived: it’s fast, slow, dutty, hard and heavy. Drawing on Bollywood film samples is great, but mixing it with the blunt edge of the more tech side of drum and bass is even better. Thankfully, The Nasha Experience do just that on ‘Devastate’ to show us their ability to effectively straddle styles.At a time when Slumdog Millionaire is picking up awards, globally, I am overjoyed that there is a label who are willing to put out a representative and inclusive release. Though it may not be as ‘heartwarming’ as the film, Nasha V3 is certainly more heartfelt. 80%Nasha on MySpace