Steel Banglez isn’t really stroking his ego when he tells Apple Music that One Day It Will All Make Sense is ahead of its time. As the London-born producer explains, the title of the 2025 EP refers to the fact that his story will “make sense” one day “because I feel like I’m ahead of my time.” Banglez was born Pahuldip Singh Sandhu and raised in Forest Gate, East London. The UK hip-hop scene influenced his musical tastes from an early age, but so did his Punjabi heritage. He first established himself as one of UK rap and grime’s most inventive producers in the 2000s, after he started making beats during a period in prison, eventually collaborating with MCs including Ghetts, Wiley, and Krept & Konan. He has constantly developed since then until today—when ever-increasing numbers of Indian-origin acts are breaking out on the global stage—becoming one of late Punjabi hip-hop star Sidhu Moose Wala’s go-to producers. Among his defining works is the 26-track 2023 album The Playlist, which brought in bars from the likes of Giggs, MoStack, MIST, and Tion Wayne, while another huge moment was Moose Wala’s posthumous hit “Mera Na,” a collab with Burna Boy released in April 2023. One Day It Will All Make Sense was recorded at Banglez’s studio at a farm just outside London, where he’s proud of his two horses and all-round “relaxed and spiritual” vibe, reminding him of Indian village life. His goal on the EP was to represent his British Indian Punjabi heritage and to work with rising African artists too. He deftly balances a range of celebrated voices, whether it’s Indian pop adventurer Sid Sriram and hip-hop legend Nas on the sweetly powerful “TIMES,” or Indo-Canadian rapper/singer AP Dhillon and Nigerian Afrobeats star Omah Lay on the understated “NEVER LET YOU GO.” Indian rapper Ikka joins singer/MC Stefflon Don on the silky “ONLY ONE” and even actor/rapper/DJ/singer/megastar Idris Elba makes an appearance alongside London R&B star Shae Universe on the melodic outro. “I think no one’s done this before,” says Banglez. “I may not be able to get every Indian and every African artist, but I’m sure I can be the first to quickly introduce, on a short project, the vision of leaving real art and not worrying about what’s trending.” Read on as he talks through the project, track by track. “NEVER LET YOU GO” (with AP Dhillon & Omah Lay) “I’m a huge fan of AP Dhillon. I really love what he has done, especially during the start of the COVID era, when he showcased his talent and projects with Shinda Kahlon and Gurinder Gill. I reached out to him in 2018 or 2019. I had this beat and I sent him the song and he vibed with it and sent it back. The song sat for a couple of years, I’d say, with no feature or direction. We had a chorus from AP but my angle was trying to keep the Punjabi or desi vibe while also trying to make it commercially appealing, so we didn’t end up keeping the chorus. A few years later, Omah Lay came through in the Afrobeats scene, and I reached out to him and linked with him in a studio in London, which is owned by Paul Epworth, who has produced for Adele. African people are really in tune with India because of the [popularity of] Bollywood in Nigeria and Ghana. These guys grew up listening to Anu Malik, Sonu Nigam, and Pritam’s music. They know all these songs and melodies, and they even have a style of music there which comes from the Indian scale. So Omah was really down. I was really proud of how it turned out.” “MOHOBBAT” (with Afsana Khan & Lojay) “I love Afsana Khan’s voice. I wanted to pay respect to our culture, especially the women. I don’t know how to explain it but I kind of gravitated towards Afsana Khan because she has this raw voice that we’ve heard from Nusrat [Fateh Ali Khan] and Atif [Aslam]. And then [Nigerian singer-songwriter] Lojay—I’ve been a huge fan ever since he did [2021 single] ‘Monalisa.’ I just felt like trying to create a duet style with some African influence. Afsana came to the studio, I made her some desi tea and then when Lojay came, I cooked for him, because I’m a big fan of cooking. I made jollof rice and chicken tandoori. So it’s like a collab again right there. I feel like, production-wise, ‘MOHOBBAT’ is ahead of its time. I could see it being used in a film. I want to get this type of amapiano, bassline-drop record to the masses instead of dumbing it down. I feel like I’m leaving a blueprint for the future.” “ONLY ONE” (with Stefflon Don & Ikka) “It was a conversation with Ikka that led to him including more English in his bars on this song. I’ve known Ikka since 2010, back when he was writing for many people. He’s such a great guy. I’m so happy that he’s having his moment and his establishment within his scene in India. When I heard ‘ONLY ONE,’ I wanted to bring Ikka to this project, not just because he’s a great rapper but he’s also like a little brother to me. I wanted to repay Ikka with a collab between myself and Stefflon Don because I feel like he deserves it and he is on that level. He was like, ‘Paaji, I want to do some [rap] in English, some in Hindi and stuff.’ So I was like, ‘OK, cool, you just be yourself. Just do it.’ It’s important to bring in familiar faces and people that are my good friends. That’s how Stefflon Don became involved—and she brings that vibe to the record.” “FLOWERS” (with Pheelz & Talwiinder) “When Talwiinder was here [in the UK] for a show, that was the window. When I heard his voice the first time, I was like, ‘This is so unique.’ We met up, played a few records and we’ve done a few songs. He’s a very calm, very spiritual guy. I was really drawn to his melodic style. Then, Pheelz was in London, he heard the record and just laid it so super fine. I feel like their vocal melodies match. Talwiinder could have sung Pheelz’s parts and Pheelz could’ve sung Talwiinder’s part and they would still sound cool. There was romance they found in these melodies.” “TIMES” (with Nas & Sid Sriram) “I grew up listening to hip-hop and it’s my main inspiration. Just to be able to work with Nas and [executive producer] Peter Bittenbender on [entertainment company] Mass Appeal with this project is an honor for me. I’ve worked with one of the gurus, the prophets, the doctors of hip-hop, you know? When I did the joint venture deal with Mass Appeal, I knew there was a chance I could get a record to Nas. So, one of my friends, Aarti—she’s from London and she’s like my sister—told me about Sid Sriram. I watched his Tiny Desk [concert] and I couldn’t believe that someone of Indian descent is singing ragas or South Indian classical music—but in English. I know how much he has done within that community in South India and the films, and I know what he has delivered there, but it was just nice to see him level up and show what he is and what he can do. We got in the studio and I told him, ‘I’m going to make a beat that’s kind of like a Nas-style beat but then someone can sing on it too, like an old-school New York hip-hop beat.’ I told him about how I’ve been going through a hard time and I think a lot of people are going through a hard time and how I wanted to write an honest song. That session was super special to me. Nas heard the song. It touched him. And within two days, I had the verse and it was amazing. I had people around me at the time, like Burna Boy, my manager, some of my close friends, especially one of my close friends and his girlfriend, who started crying to the song even when I did. It’s like the song does something to everyone.” “ONE DAY IT WILL ALL MAKE SENSE” (with Idris Elba & Shae Universe) “I originally wished I had connections in Bollywood so that I could get someone like Amitabh Bachchan or a recent actor to do a duet with Idris. I wanted to have two famous voices doing the outro, speaking about their time in acting and when it was hard and when things made sense for them and what they feel about or what they can say on the perspective of ‘one day, it’ll all make sense.’ And that’s what Idris did. Shae is British Nigerian and she’s a friend of mine—and I knew that she was a good fit for the song because the theme is like India and Africa [together].”