AP Dhillon (in grey) with Republic Records’ founders Avery Lipman, Monte Lipman and Universal Music Canada chairman and CEO Jeffrey Remedios (from left to right). Photo: Courtesy of Universal Music
Punjabi hitmaker AP Dhillon has signed with Republic Records and will release his upcoming album The Brownprint on Aug. 23, with the lead single “Old Money” arriving this week, on Aug. 9, with the music video featuring Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
Dhillon — who released his last EP Two Hearts Never Break The Same in 2022 and followed it up with singles like “With You” last year — is reportedly the first India-born artist of Punjabi lineage to sign with Republic Records. The artist says in a press release statement, “Republic Records got and understood who I am from day one. We’re all in harmony when it comes to this new music, and now I just can’t wait to show everybody what we’ve been cooking up.”
The “Brown Munde” artist joins the likes of Nicki Minaj, Drake, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift and Post Malone who are part of the Republic Records roster.
The news comes on the back of Dhillon performing at Coachella 2024 in April this year in California. While the guitar-smashing antics were a highlight, the performance was also preceded by the collaborative single “Problems Over Peace” with U.K. grime star Stormzy. “We had a mutual friend reach out and then the rest is history. He sent me his verse, and fuck, it’s cold. It’s hard. I’m happy with it ,because sometimes collaborations really seem forced, like labels making this shit happen,” Dhillon told Rolling Stone.
While the artist was part of a docu-series called AP Dhillon: First of a Kind on Prime Video last year, the Dhillon has turned director for the music video to “Old Money,” which stars Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, although no further details have been revealed at the moment. Dhillon adds, “I came up with a concept that was influenced by all my favorite action movies, and Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt showed up and killed it. ‘Old Money’ is the perfect way for me to start my next era, especially with going big for the music video. I hope you love it as much as I do.”
The press release adds that Dhillon serves as co-producer on The Brownprint, which has producers like DŹŁ (who has worked with hip-hop artists Future, Central Cee), Luca Mauti (produced for J.Cole and Eminem) and AzizTheShake (whose credits include BIA as well as Central Cee) also contributing to the upcoming album.
Dhillon told Rolling Stone India ahead of his Coachella performance, “The whole goal is to bring our music to where Latin music is, to be honest. There’s a lot of similarities, culture-wise. I feel like slowly we are progressing.”
