SPOTLIGHT
RAOUL’S ON A ROLL
Award-winning Canadian radio programmer and Emmy-nominated TV music supervisor Raoul Juneja.
Raoul Juneja is an award-winning Canadian radio programmer and Emmy-nominated TV music supervisor with over 25 years of experience in the media and music industries.
Highlights of his career in the industry include creating, producing and co-hosting Canada’s first South Asian music TV show V-Mix on Omni Television in 2011; curating CBC’s first South Asian music streaming channel, South Asian Mix, in 2014 on CBC Music; and providing music supervision for the popular series Indian Matchmaking on Netflix.
Credited with giving many of today’s prominent South Asian Canadian artistes their first TV appearances and first mainstream radio plays, Juneja picked up several awards for his work.
He continued showcasing South Asian Canadian artistes with his subsequent foray into Hollywood as a music supervisor, most recently working as a music consultant on the hit Crave series Late Bloomer. He was also seen on national Canadian TV as a judge on Afroglobal TV’s talent show Open Mic, on national American TV as a music expert in several REELZ documentaries, and as a consultant for Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution.
He was also a music columnist for many prominent Canadian publications including The Globe & Mail, WORD Magazine, Chart Attack and NOW Magazine.
Born in Toronto and raised in New York, Juneja returned to Toronto in high school. He chose to study media at Western University after being offered his own college radio show during his first visit to the campus. He also began interviewing South Asian and hip-hop artistes for Western’s college newspaper, and hosting the artistes’ campus tour dates.
In the 2000s Juneja worked for the Toronto Olympic Bid and had a hand in founding many of Canada’s first South Asian music and film festivals catering to younger South Asian Canadian demographics.
He also founded a Hip-Hop Literacy campaign with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund Canada, speaking at schools and recruiting artistes for fundraising efforts. He subsequently received a Toronto District School Board accolade, an Ontario Volunteer Service award and a commendation from President Nelson Mandela.
In the 2010s he served as one of the first South Asian Canadian judges for the Juno Awards, the Prism Prize and the Toronto Independent Music Awards. Juneja was the keynote speaker of an anti-bullying tour of Ontario schools that reached thousands of students.
He holds the honour of being one of the first South Asian Canadian voting members of The Recording Academy, through which he continues to mentor South Asian artistes. He is also a member of the United Nations’ Artists United Against Human Trafficking initiative.
He recently moved back to Toronto to help launch SiriusXM Dhamaka, an all-new international South Asian channel, available across North America on channel 796 and on the SiriusXM app.
SiriusXM Dhamaka blends the rich music of South Asia with modern North American sounds to create an exciting listening experience, in a multitude of genres from Hindi, Punjabi, Pakistani, South Indian, Bengali and West Indian artistes who make up the global South Asian diaspora.
The channel will feature a variety of content, including exclusive artiste interviews and live performances, plus talk programming and comedy, all curated to celebrate the diverse tapestry of South Asian culture and languages. You’ll hear Canadian artistes such as Karan Aujla, Jonita Gandhi, AP Dhillon, Gurinder Gill and Ikky, along with international stars such as Diljit Dosanjh, Divine, Vidya Vox, Ali Sethi, A. R. Rahman and many more.
The channel is programmed by Juneja.
With Jonita Gandhi at the Junos.
“This channel has been in the works for some time, and we are so proud to finally announce its launch,” said Michelle Mearns, Senior Vice President of Programming and Operations, SiriusXM Canada.
“SiriusXM Dhamaka showcases not only our incredible South Asian talent right here in Canada, but also international artistes, giving listeners the opportunity to discover new and emerging music from around the world.”
For more information, visit sirius xm.ca/canadian-channels.