Long before Jay-Z appeared on Panjabi MC's "Beware of the Boys" or MIA sampled Bollywood soundtracks, DJ Rekha started her internationally celebrated Basement Bhangra DJ nights in New York. Mixing hip-hop and traditional Indian/Pakistani music, her 2007 record (PLUG-nominated for Best DJ Album of the Year) and live sets define dance music's capacity to unite diasporic, multi-cultural elements. So you're just as likely to hear about her on NPR as you are in URB. Still, for all the weighty cultural implications Rekha conjures, none of it would matter if there weren't a bangin' bhangra dance party at the core.