Delhi Sultanate Seeks Crowdfunding To Build India's First Reggae Sound System

Taru Dalmia has been pushing the sound culture of Jamaica in India for years as Delhi Sultanate, BASSFoundation Roots or when he’s fronting the ever-popular ska, reggae and rocksteady band - The Ska Vengers. Delhi residents would also remember him from our Echo club nights, where he recently played with Deep Medi Musik prodigy Compa.

Delhi Sultanate’s mission to push sound system culture has encouraged him to undertake an ambitious new project that aims to provide India with its first, proper mobile sound system with emphasis on bass so that it’s not just heard, but physically felt. He’s already built the essential wooden framework with his own resources and is now seeking the help of music lovers across India to turn his vision into a reality.

The idea behind this is that music should be experienced as an open community. Professional performers and DJs are dependant on venues and corporate sponsors to provide the space and necessary funds to rent a decent soundsystem, which are normally quite expensive. Dalmia states in his video that “this severely effects where music is being performed and who gets to hear the music”. If funded, the mobile soundsystem could potentially bypass those problems and open music to anyone who wants to listen, anywhere in the country.

Check out Delhi Sultanate’s Indiegogo campaign in more detail here and if you’re on board with their idea, you can contribute (starting with the humble sum of $1). The rewards on offer are also pretty great for music lovers out there and include T-shirt/Hoodie gift packets for relatively modest sums, as well as tons of music, dubplate specials and even a special vinyl mixed by legendary dub pioneer Scientist, which was recorded on Delhi Sultanate and Begum X’s trip to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2014.

The campaign goal is to raise $16,300 in the next 60 days. Click here to contribute and know more. Delhi Sultanate and Begum X are currently on tour in Japan till the end of month. Check out their Facebook page for more and listen to Delhi Sultanate’s ‘India-2-Africa Bootleg Versions’ EP here. Watch the campaign video below: