Cup of tea to hand, laptop at the ready and knuckles cracked; I sat down and prepared myself with a deep breath.

There has been much speculation surrounding the artist that is ‘Usman Rehman’ on my Twitter timeline recently and his debut single in which he has collaborated with Rishi Rich, is something I have certainly been waiting for.

The debut single titled ‘Jadon Holi Jai’ is indeed very familiar to me and must be to many especially from my parent’s generation as it is originally a Bollywood classic taken from the 1970’s film ‘Att Khudha Da Vair’.

An interesting choice of track; originally sang in female vocals by the late Noor Jehan, I question whether this was really the best choice for a way to unleash Usman’s vocal skills to the world.

Although his voice is in harmony and well composed, I feel slightly let down that the ‘remix’ has overtaken what really should have been his explosive introduction to the Asian music scene. He has chosen the safe option of taking a great, already much-loved song and putting a modern twist to it when really I was ready to hear him throw some agonising, pain-filled lyrics and vocals at me.

Don’t get me wrong, he has a nice voice and his experience as a vocal coach has served him well but there are many artists who can sing already embracing our radio’s and music channels, for Usman Rehman to stand out he would have had to produce something spectacular and for me this wasn’t it.

I have heard him singing to covers with an acoustic accompaniment on various YouTube videos and I have been blown away by his ability to adapt to different genres, any guy that can sing to a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song without ruining it, deserves some respect.

But in his videos he has always embraced the simplicity of the song and enhanced it, ‘JHJ’ unfortunately does the exact opposite and does not do justice to his talents.

MY Verdict: I’m still not quite sure why this was considered the best song for his debut single when I’m sure there are so many more that would have showcased his skills properly. I can’t give a verdict on this song as I KNOW he has so much more to offer than what has been done here. So for now, with my cup of tea in my hand… I shall sit on the proverbial fence.