Born in London, raised in Queens and Westbury, Long Island, Rekha Malhotra (aka DJ Rekha) is one of the pioneers of New York's South Asian music scene. As founder of Basement Bhangra™ and co-founder of Mutiny she has been instrumental in introducing the sounds of Bhangra and British Asian music to North America. Having always viewed her involvement with music as inseparable from community activism, Rekha lectures extensively at colleges and institutions about Bhangra and South Asian cultural production. In May of 2000 she spoke about the evolution of Bhangra music for the Smithsonian Institute's first ever South Asian public program. She has also given a talk and demo at the Museum of Natural History on hip-hop and the South Asian music scene and has given numerous DJ workshops to youth nationwide, including the well-known Take Back the Decks. Her latest project, Your Attention Please, is a monthly fundraiser that partners with organizations addressing such issues as human rights, domestic abuse and police brutality and gives her a chance to bring classical, non-dance oriented South Asian music into a club setting.