My day-job is teaching sociology at Kingston University where my research specialism has cheifly been youth culture and pop music. I had a book out in 2006 on some of these themes. I have strayed into politics too - organised a major conference on New Labour in Power. Previously I was a lecturer at University of Manchester during which time I held a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship.

After a first degree at Cambridge, I did my my PhD at University of East London comparing youff in East London and the Alsace region of France and included a stint at Strasbourg II University.

Although I’m not the most famous Huq, I’ve dabbled in the media starting with an appearance on the BBC Schools series Look and Read when I was 8. Since then I have appeared on Channel S, Bangla TV, Channel 4 News and BBC News 24. Radio-wise have been on the Today programme on Radio 4, Radio5 Live and BBC Asian Network. I’ve also narrated a couple of documentaries: Channel 4’s Schools at Work and BBC 1 ’s Boyz Allowed on the subject of Muslim Hip-hop.

In print I appear regularly in the Times Higher Education Supplement. Have also written for Tribune, New Statesman, Progress magazine and Red Pepper.

I also have some ability at spinning the wheels of steel and have turned my hand to gigs as a DJ at various venues from Manchester’s OKasional cafe to the Contact theatre, doing weddings and can stretch to all sorts of venues and locations eg in Ghent at a happening financed by the Belgian government.

I was the Labour parliamentary candidate in Chesham and Amersham in the 2005 general election and I also stood for Labour in the 2004 European election in the North West.

My claim to pop fame is that I recorded a jingle in Bengali for the late great John Peel. The main hook was “jow Jonnie jow”!