Zack Knight

Last updated

Zack Knight
Also known asZeekay (until 2011)
Born (1991-11-22) 22 November 1991 (age 32)
Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Genres
OccupationsSinger, songwriter
Years active2011–present
Labels
Website iamzackknight.uk

Zack Knight (born 22 November 1991) is a British-Pakistani singer and songwriter. [1] [2] [3] Formerly known by the stage name Zeekay (before 2011), Knight is known for songs such as "Bom Diggy", "Ya Baba", "Galtiyan", "Nakhre" and "Enemy".

Contents

Life and career

Knight was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, to a Pakistani mother and a father of African descent. He moved to Haywards Heath in 1999, studying at Oathall Community College, and was present during the visit to the school by the then-Prince Charles. He describes his music as R&B infused style with a crossover sound, [4] with Bollywood and Middle-Eastern influences. Knight cites Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men and Usher as the main inspirations behind his music. [5] He also produces, composes and engineers his own music. [6] Knight is a multilingual artist, chaining together lyrics in English, Urdu and Punjabi, and Hindi, as well as elements of Arabic and Bengali.

2007–10: The Zeekay Years

Operating under the stage name 'Zeekay'/'Zee Kay', Knight began his career primarily as a songwriter, writing songs for artists such as Tinie Tempah, Ginuwine, Stylo G, IYAZ and various X Factor contestants. His first major success was with writing the hit single "Baby (Dil Deewana)", for US R&B artist Ginuwine, released in 2007. Shortly after, he started producing several R&B/Hip-hop singles himself; his debut single My Moment(Produced by Pcru, Flipnotez), released in 2008, reaching third in the Myspace R&B charts, [7] which consequently led to him landing a production deal with "Mr Skills, creator of Big Brova's, with whom he had been working on his debut album. [8] From here, Knight produced several other singles across the span of 2 years, including "In Denial (which he performed at various Live shows), Love U Right ft Tinie Tempah, Save It and Inspiration. [9] [10]

Knight supported the likes of Taio Cruz, Mario and Jessie J in live concerts and shows. [11] Simultaneously, he was studying for a degree in Economics, which he had to put on hold in order to concentrate on his musical aspirations. He eventually graduated; however, after 2010, he had to re-brand his music from under his stage name/alias, Zeekay, to under his real name, Zack Knight, as he is still known by now. [12]

2011–14: Re-branding, Covers and Albums

After 2010, Knight, now operating without his stage name/alias, produced several singles and albums. As a result of the re-branding, he was now working with different artists and producers, therefore his style of music changed, with a less of a focus on hip-hop mainstream music to more of a pop music sound. [13] He received regional and national support from his debut single "All Over Again" in 2012, and his second single "Who I Am" was also featured as one of iTunes "New & Noteworthy" picks of the month, which was followed by his third single "When I'm Gone". [14] [15] (although these three singles later become incorporated into his 2016-released album On Repeat). He was also active in producing his own covers, as well as remixes of popular songs, on his YouTube channel. [16] As well as this, he produced two albums: "Poison In My Sleep" (2014) [17] and "On Repeat" (released 2016, although the songs dated back to 2011-12). [18]

2014–present

In 2014, Knight signed a deal with T-Series. Under this record label, he produced several popular singles, including songs like "Dheere", "Nakhre", "Enemy", "Looking For Love", and "Tere Naam", most of which topped the BBC Asian Network Charts. He collaborated with various high-profile artists within the BBC Asian Network Industry, including the likes of Raxstar and Jasmin Walia amongst others. He has also collaborated with artists outside the United Kingdom, such as rapper Badshah, playback singer Mohammad Irfan, and American YouTube personality Adam Saleh. After being appointed BBC Music Ambassador in 2017, he successfully sold out both of his own UK headline tours in the following year.[ citation needed ]

During this period, Knight also wrote and produced "Bom Diggy", featuring Jasmin Walia, amassing over 1.1 billion views on YouTube (as of April 2021). [19] This track also appeared in the Bollywood comedy Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), albeit it being a re-make. This was accompanied by 2 Top 5 peaking singles in the UK R&B iTunes charts ("Ya Baba", "Tears"), 1 Top 10 UK Dance iTunes chart ("Love Controller"), three Consecutive Number ones on the BBC Asian Network Download Chart ("Nakhre", "Lamhe", "Enemy"), [20] [21] [22] and 10 top five singles in the World/Asian Charts.

He createz remixes, mashups and medleys. His remixes typically follow the style of compiling several Bollywood songs and mixing them with English R&B fusion, [23] or making acoustic-type covers and remixes of popular songs or his own songs. [24] [25] [26]

On 28 February 2021, Knight released a new song named "Para Rum Pa", in collaboration with Jernade Miah and Kayes Rashid, on YouTube, reaching over 200k+ views on its release day, and over 1M views within 2 weeks. [27]

On 14 October 2021, Knight released a 3-track album titled 'Dear Dad', in memory of his beloved father, who died in August 2021. He is currently working on another album, which is due to be released in December 2021 named 'iamzackknight'. His latest cover is Kahani Suno 2.0 and Bollywood Medley 9.

In 2022, Knight collaborated with Nora Fatehi for the song "Dirty Little Secret". [28]

Discography

Singles

TitleYearFeaturingLabelRef.
"Runaway Now"2013Prestige Records
"Smoke & Mirrors"
"Pyaas"2014KhizaHi-Tech Music Ltd
"Tere Naal"Khiza, Soni J
"Dheere"Khiza, Kumar Sanu T-Series
"Makin 'em Mad"Shad Star ?
"Who You Are" Kirk Norcross  ?
"Superhuman Lovers"Juvey, ErlandoQuantize Music
"Women"2015Shide BossMerci Records
"Lamhe"Hi-Tech Music Ltd
"Green Eyes"SCALESMixmash Records
"Snap"Quantize Music
"MVP"Jernade Miah ?
"Looking for Love (Main Dhoondne)" Arijit Singh T-Series [29]
"Nakhre" [30]
"Main Aur Tum"
"Queen" Raxstar
"Your Name (Tujhe Bhula Diya)" Mohit Chauhan  ?
"Tears" Adam Saleh Naz Promotions
"Dum Dee Dum"2016 Jasmin Walia T-Series [31]
"Ishq Mubarak (Refix)"
(for Tum Bin II)		 Arijit Singh [32]
"Enemy" [33]
"Tere Naam" [34]
"BomBae" Fuse ODG, Badshah Off Da Ground
"Ya Baba"Rami BeatzQuantize Music [35]
"Chahat"
"Love Controller"Dayne SRevolve Records [36]
"General"2017Joe KillingtonRevolve Records [37]
"Cry for Me" [38]
"Bom Diggy" Jasmin Walia Saavn [39]
"Gimme That" Adam Saleh Naz Promotions
"Galtiyan"Quantize Music [40]
"Bom Diggy Diggy"
(for Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety )		2018 Jasmin Walia T-Series [41]
"Till I Met You"Revolve Records [42]
"Need Your Love"Nicolina?
"Instagram Famous" Adam Saleh Naz Promotions
"Thumka"Ayesha MughalRevolve Records [43]
"Bills"
"Gotta Go"2019Revolve Records
"Angel"
"Tumhari Jagga"
"Dua"2020Revolve Records
"Dil Diya Laya"
"Crash and Burn" Adam Saleh
"Beautiful To Me"
"Adhura"
"Para Rum Pa"2021Jernade MiahRevolve Records
"Armani" Amar Sandhu
"Ego"
"Stand With You"
"Yaar Tu"2022Revolve Records
"Dirty little secret" Nora Fatehi Nora Fatehi

Awards

YearAward Name
2015Best Breakthrough Act, Brit Asia TV Music Awards [44]
2015Pakistan Music Media Awards [45]
2017Best Urban Asian Act, Brit Asia TV Music Awards [46]
2018Best Music Director, International Indian Film Academy [47]
2018Album of the Year, Mirchi Music Awards, IN [48]

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References

  1. ↑ Zack Knight readies debut single. Music-News.com (5 February 2012). Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Benkovic, Andrew. "Zack Knight: Taking Risks, Touring, and 'Makin Em Mad'". Huffingpost. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Jasmine Walia's new single with Zack Knight 'Sahara' crosses 1.2 million views". RadioAndMusic.com. IndianTelevision.com. 2 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "iamzackknight - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "New Music Showcase - Zack Knight". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Get ready to groove on Zack Knight-Jasmin Walia's 'Bom Diggy'". www.outlookindia.com/. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "ZeeKay - My Moment". Desi-Box.com. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Exclusive 'Zee Kay' Interview". Bhangra Website. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Zeekay biography". artistwiki.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "ZeeKay (Zack Knight) All Songs - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "iamzackknight - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "Zack Knight clears the air about his name". Desi-Box.com. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Admin (19 September 2015). "The talented Zack Knight's bollywood medley". British Muslim Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  14. ↑ Admin (19 September 2015). "The talented Zack Knight's bollywood medley". British Muslim Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Zack Knight releases 'When I'm Gone' | Asian Sunday Newspaper" . Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "iamzackknight - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "Poison In My Sleep LP/Album - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "On Repeat - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  19. ↑ "Bom Diggy Diggy (VIDEO) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "Nakhre". ITUNES. 18 May 2015.
  21. ↑ "Lamhe". ITUNES.
  22. ↑ "Enemy". ITUNES. 27 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "Bollywood Medleys - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "Acoustic Renditions - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  25. ↑ "Covers - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  26. ↑ "Live Sessions (BBC Asian Network) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  27. ↑ Zack Knight | Jernade Miah - Para Rum Pa (Official Video) , retrieved 1 March 2021
  28. ↑ "Nora Fatehi's dance on 'Dirty Little Secret' takes YouTube by storm; hits 5 million mark". Daily Times. 13 June 2022.
  29. ↑ "Looking For Love (Main Dhoondne)". iTunes. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  30. ↑ "Nakhre - Single". iTunes. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  31. ↑ "Dum Dee Dum - Single by Zack Knight & Jasmin Walia". iTunes. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  32. ↑ "Ishq Mubarak Refix". YouTube.
  33. ↑ "Enemy - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  34. ↑ "Tere Naam - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  35. ↑ "Ya Baba (feat. Rami Beatz) - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  36. ↑ "Love Controller (feat. Dayne S) - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  37. ↑ "General - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  38. ↑ "Cry For Me - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  39. ↑ "Bom Diggy - Single by Zack Knight & Jasmin Walia". iTunes. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  40. ↑ "Galtiyan - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  41. ↑ "Bom Diggy Diggy (From "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety") - Single by Zack Knight & Jasmin Walia". iTunes. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  42. ↑ "Till I Met You - Single by Zack Knight". iTunes. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  43. ↑ "Zack Knight Thumka Song". YouTube.
  44. ↑ Laws, Roz (7 October 2015). "Who won at the BritAsia TV World Music Awards 2015?". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  45. ↑ Laws, Roz. "Zack knight @ Pakistan music media awards 2015". Birmingham Mailyoutube. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  46. ↑ "BritAsia TV World Music Awards 2017 celebrated". New Asian Post. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  47. ↑ "Best Music Director". www.imdb.com.
  48. ↑ "Album of the year". www.imdb.com.
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