Ashlene

Ashlene Nand is a marketing professional and music journalist from Sydney, Australia who is currently residing in New York City. She began her career writing for local press and soon moved to New York for her career. Concentrating on the R&B and Hip-Hop music scene, Ashlene was able to capitalize on the growing demand for the music back home and shortly after arriving to New York she became the U.S. Correspondent for Urban Hitz Australia, a leading publication concentrating on urban culture and lifestyle. Ashlene also became a Senior Writer for the leading hip-hop website, allhiphop.com and her recent credits include , Hip-Hop’s leading publication.

Career
In 1996 Ashlene, who was in high school at the time, put aside her holiday earnings to publish her own magazine playfully titled Hot Ashes. With help from owners of a local hip-hop shop, she published two issues before running out of money. Two years later her sister, Anoushka Nand, offered to place the magazine online. Today HotAshes.com.au is the largest portal for South Asian youth in Australia and offers an exclusive look at the Australian Desi scene through event listings and exclusive interviews.

Ashlene continued to chase the urban market, where she found a real passion. In 2002 Ashlene began her own company MUMA: Marketing Urban Music Australia catering to the music industry and expanding the local knowledge of underground Hip-Hop artists. Through MUMA, Ashlene interviewed a range of artists such as freestyler Jin, DJ Green Lantern, and Usher.

Ashlene’s career took off in 2004, when she moved to New York City after graduating from the University of Western Sydney with a Bachelor in Business and major in Marketing. In 2005 Ashlene flew to Jamaica to interview Missy Elliott which included a candid, open conversation about her childhood. Since then she has also interviewed high-caliber artists such as Enrique Iglesias and Mary J Blige.

In that same year, Ashlene decided to expand her career and start her own record label. Ashlene, who has a Fiji-Indian background and incidentally grew up on Bollywood movies, began Bollyhood Records focusing on Indian Hip-Hop & R&B. Her first release was a compilation titled “Bhood: A Collaboration of Indian & Urban artists” and included original, exclusive musical blends such as Bhangra group RDB with Dancehall artist Elephant Man on the underground hit “Ishq Naag (Love Bites)”. The CD has been gaining critical acclaim as the first real album to fuse genres such as Bhangra, Hip-Hop, and Dancehall. Bollyhood Records continues to find its niche in the market.

Ashlene continues to pursue her career as a marketing and communications professional.

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