Un!dentified is the newest hip-hop/rap group coming out of Vancouver, British Columbia. The members include Justin Dosanjh, Harman Sandhu, and Sukhan Sandhu. These three like-minded artists were brought together by a shared vision: to make music. Justin and Harman are childhood friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. They went to high school together and played on the same ice hockey team. Through a shared goal to become hip hop artists, they started to create music together under the name 14/21, which represented their jersey numbers on the team. As time went on, their writing and recording skills improved and they knew they were onto something that would be special, but they still felt as if they were missing something. That is how they reached out to Sukhan Sandhu, a local producer who was working with different local artists at the time. He helped the boys produce one of their tracks for them. From there, he became part of the team. They started working on music together, learning each other’s styles in the process. During their few studio sessions, they realized they were in the making of what would soon be Un!dentified’s sound. These three describe the band’s formation as ‘gradual and organic’ because it was the process of three talented artists who were brought together to create a unique sound and eventually adopt the moniker Un!dentified. In the end, they all shared a passion to become musicians and become mentors to the younger generation. Sidedoor was able to connect with the members of the band to learn more about their journey.
Members of Un!dentified 1
Why did you choose Un!dentified as a band name? What does it mean?
“Un!dentified was chosen as the name to represent our group as it embodies our mission to always be on the search for the sound that connects with people the most. Un!dentified’s music is a representation of Justin Dosanjh, Sukhan Sandhu and Harman Sandhu as artists and the same way their development as artists continues, their music evolves as well. Thus, listening to Un!dentified’s music is a journey through anecdotes, catchy lyrics, and hard-hitting beats. We plan to make sure this journey never stops, and our music never put “in a box”. The direction of our music, and route for this journey, will always be unidentified.”
How would you describe the music that you create?
“It’s hard to describe the music we create through words, as we don’t pay much attention to those. This may be surprising coming from a hip-hop/rap group as the genre has based itself on lyricism through its history. However, we believe that what connects the most with people listening to music is a feeling. Every song is made with a unique and special feeling, or vibe, in mind. Whatever sounds, beats, lyrics, and flow best emulate that feeling is what makes the cut. Whether it be a high-tempo up-beat dance song with a lot of melodies, or a grimy trap song with a darker flow and captivating lyrics, we have the versatility as a group to cover any genre/style and make it sound good. “
What inspires you when you are making music?
“The greatest inspiration for our music is our lives. Trying to make it in the music industry is no easy feat. It takes a lot of time, thinking, and smart decisions to even have a close shot at making it. So, you can only imagine, three guys on the grind to make it come up against a lot of things every day. There are many wins and many losses, and depending on what we, as a group, feel like fits where we are mentally the best is what will be the vibe for our next song.”
What is your song writing process?
“We got many different writing processes to be honest with you. Since there are three of us, there are always so many song ideas being pitched which is a good thing because when it comes time for us to start writing, we’ll have a list of ideas to work with. The biggest tool in our writing process is letting our lyrics come naturally to us and not trying to force them. We rather take time creating one song rather than trying to force multiple causes because we want our fans to love every song we put out. It’s always been quality over quantity for us. However, we are continually working on music in our own time and when we’re together. Ideas are circulated between us and whatever feels the best at the moment, as far as connecting with us personally and what we feel the fans want to hear, is what we work on and release. Having three artists who write their own music and also with Sukhan on the production side of things, there is never a lack of ideas or resources when it comes to writing, producing, and recording our next song.”
What makes you different compared to other boy bands?
“Most of these groups that are coming up have a very similar sound, meaning they are either trying to imitate someone else or they only have one style of music. For us, we have the versatility going from club bangers to love songs to radio songs which we believe is a great skill to have as an artist. Moreover, each of us has a very unique story which we try to tell through our music. As musicians, we have learned to adapt our style to different genres and moods so that we are never boxed-in creatively. The final aspect to why we are different from some other rap/hip hop groups or collectives is that although we use autotune, we try not to rely on it too heavily, so that the individual characteristics in each of our voices are still noticeable. None of us sound the same, when it comes to cadence, flow or anything else; but when we hop on a track together it just works.”
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future? Who are your biggest influences?
Justin
“My dream collaboration in the future would have to be with Travis Scott and The Weeknd. Both are artists that I’ve looked up to growing up. Anytime they’d come out to Vancouver, I could never miss it.
I’d have to say that my biggest influences are Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Drake, Nav, and Migos. These artists all have a huge impact on my decision to start creating music. Seeing what they’ve been able to accomplish over many years has inspired and kept me motivated. Considering all the highs and lows that come along in the music industry.”
Harman
“As for a dream collaboration, it would definitely be with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. After opening for him and speaking with him. He’s definitely an artist that I would love to make a song with.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Drake, Lil Baby, and YNW Melly are all artists that have an influential impact on myself. This being they all have melodies and lyrics that catch the ears of a listener, something I try to do when writing up a verse.”
Sukhan
“I would love to collaborate with anyone who is serious about their music, has a story to tell, and whose music I personally am also a fan of. If I were to choose a dream collaboration, it would be with Kanye West. He’s been a massive influence for me in my music but also in fashion, design, and even life. Like him, I started out as a producer who found his way to rapping and watching Kanye’s career and story has been nothing less than inspirational. Other influences of mine for music include Drake, Travis Scott, Future, Nav, 50 Cent, Cam’ron, Nas, Three-6 Mafia, and Pimp C.”
What are your upcoming goals and plans? What do you hope to accomplish?
“We want to inspire people just like us who are trying to chase their dreams. It takes courage to chase your dreams and especially coming out of the generation where we are growing up with everyone being so judgmental. We want to bring the mainstream hip hop scene to Vancouver. We love this city and feel like it’s missing that sound. Even if your dream isn’t music-related, we want to prove that no matter how many odds are stacked against you, if you work hard, believe and don’t give up, you can achieve whatever you want in time. And there are a lot of odds stacked against us, whether it be us being Canadian, East-Indian descent, or a group act, there’s never been someone who looks like us to successfully accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish. There’s never been someone we can look up to and follow or emulate. We’ve had to figure it all out on our own. We love making music, and we always will whether there’s 1 person listening or 1 million. As long as whoever is listening finds something meaningful in our music and we can make them feel something, we’ve accomplished our goal.”
What’s your next song, “Thinking Bout You” about? What inspired the lyrics?
“Thinking Bout You is a song that is a crossover between tropical dancehall and hip hop with Un!dentified’s signature sound and production. It is definitely a song that you can turn up to at any time, whether that’s when you’re alone driving in your car or with your friends getting ready for that party tonight. This song is the first of its kind by Un!dentified and embodies our ability to express ourselves through various genre styles. Everyone has that one guy or girl that they love, or once loved, that crosses their mind every now and then and leads them into deep thoughts and feelings. The song “Thinking Bout You” is talking about literally just that. It’s sung from the first-person perspective to a loved one who you miss or want to see. Because of the up-tempo beat and production of the song, it’s not a sad vibe but a happy and “looking forward to seeing you soon” vibe. When writing the song, each one of us thought of that one person who we miss, or would love to see at the moment, and pretty much wrote whatever we would want to say to them in the lyrics.”
What can fans expect for the future?
“They can expect a lot of music dropping starting on October 16th. We are getting ready to drop every month. We are coming with new sounds and styles that we are very excited for our fans to hear. This will be accompanied by a lot of visual content as well for the fans to watch. Also, depending on the COVID situation, we are ready to begin performing at venues across Canada and America again and bring that Un!dentified sound to a venue near you.”
Finally, what is a message you would like to say to your fans?
“We got a lot of new music on the way. We’ve been working very hard on these upcoming songs and we can’t wait for you guys to hear them. Thank you for being patient, we promise you’ll enjoy what we got coming!”
Cover Art for Thinking Bout You 1
Check out ‘Thinking Bout You’ on YouTube now!
Un!dentified Socials
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/officialunidentified?igshid=sg9clzutszr2
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/offunidentified?s=21
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzo423rFh3laj9L0FRZQAw
