Joi initially consisted of brothers Farook (born 24 October 1968) and Haroon Shamsher (14 November 1965 – 8 July 1999), born in
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and brought up in the
East End of London to a Bangladeshi father and an Indian mother. Their passion for music developed at a young age, as their father was a professional flautist who had a shop in
Brick Lane selling saris and musical instruments he imported from India. He also had Hindi, Indian classical, and traditional
Bengali music records, Their father would organise sessions and record with
Baul artists, They grew up listening to people such as
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and were influenced by
reggae,
hip hop, and
soul. Out of this Bengali youth movement In 1983, they mixed these elements together and began DJing at clubs as the Joi Bangla Sound System, before becoming the more dance-oriented Joi six years later, bolstered by
Arts Council funding and aiming to promote Bengali youth culture. After 10 years as club DJs, the pair began recording their own material in their father's studio. In July 1999, Farook told
The Independent, "We're about politics, race, religion, and music all-in-one". ==Recording==