If I had been in high school then, I know I’d be one of those screaming, swooning fans that one sees in newsreel footage of those early Beatles concerts in the US. But, I was pretty much the right age for the next British musical invasion from the UK…into my world anyway. I was at a cousin’s wedding when I first heard the Bally Sagoo remix of Malkit Singh’s Hey jamalo—bhangra that’s been kicked up a notch, I thought. When Hey jamalo came on, I watched a multi-ethnic crowd go crazy—the bride was of Italian-American background and the groom a born-&-bred in the US Indian-American. It seemed as if everyone, old and young, Indian and not, got up to dance (or if they didn’t, their shoulders were rocking and their feet tapping). I’d not seen anything like it in my Bollywood music and Indipop world. The next day I started gathering up all of the bhangra I could find (I’d asked the DJ about the track, saw the CD cover-it was Wham Bam-and I was off). In the end, I mostly collected the Bally Sagoo CDs but a few others as well, established bhangra artists in the UK by that time, since I discovered this stuff after it had been around for several years already. And, I did turn into a screaming fan (well, you didn’t really scream at these events) when I was finally able to see Bally Sagoo live in the US in the md-1990s. I also lost my hearing for a few days, if I remember correctly.
Now, they call that music, old bhangra. God, that makes me feel old. Or it did, until I heard the latest music out of the UK desi scene. I’ve wanted to write about for awhile but wasn’t sure if I just liked a few tracks because the music was so different than the non-filmi stuff coming out of India in recent years, which hasn’t been all that great, in my opinion. It’s been a year since I started listening to the BBC Asian Network via the Internet at work. It’s perfect, by the time I get settled in at work it’s the evening drive time for Londoners. Lucky them, stuck in traffic listening to Nikki Bedi and a fantastic mix of music, news, discussion and…did I mention music? Sure, there are the usual Bollywood songs, mostly recently released flimi music but the tracks that grabbed my attention were songs and artists I’d not heard here in the US. Maybe if you live in New York, Los Angeles or in Canada, or as it turns out, in India, this music is old news for you. I wouldn’t be surprised. I find I’m usually about 2-5 years behind the curve nowadays. Now that makes me feel really old.
On the other hand, this sound isn’t what I’ve heard or seen in the past year even when I have gone to Los Angeles or San Francisco to shop for desi music. In fact, I tried for weeks last year to find some of the songs I’d gotten hooked on listening to BBC. My desk at work has little post-its all over on which I scribble the artist, the song track’s title and, if I hear it or remember to look it up on the radio show’s website playlists, the CD album. I take these with me when I go shopping in Little Indias around the US (and to shop online) but except for one or two CDs that were available in India as well as the UK and North America, I couldn’t find the songs I wanted. I kept hearing shop owners say, “No, we don’t usually get the stuff produced there.” Meaning , in the UK.
So, what is this music? Well, that’s the thing. I’m not even sure what to call it. I tried to describe it to a cousin several months ago, someone who lives in the UK. I had come to realize that the only way for me to acquire these CDs was to have him go find them there. And that’s when I realized I couldn’t tell him what the genre was. It’s not ‘old’ bhangra, but it is bhangra. It’s definitely not those insane nonstop dance remixes although some of these tracks do make it into such compilations. It’s not fusion…spare me the Talvin Singhs and Nitin Sawhneys, please. But, it’s not pure desi, the ‘real’ bhangra, usually filed under the “Punjabi” section at your local desi music store in the US, I think. But, you will find the vocals done by some of the same Punjabi folk singers. What I did find when trying to figure out what to call this, was a host of terms like urban Asian, Asian R&B and hip-hop. I thought the most logical choice might be British Asian and while some of the artists I’m going mention have, it appears, have made it big on the “British Asian” music scene, I found out that the term seems to refer to the fusion music of Talvin Singh, et al, although this new group of artists may change that over time.
If you’ve been watching the new crop of kool films out of Bollywood you’ve already gotten a taste of this music that I can’t label succinctly (and that says a lot about the style and the artists in itself!). Examples include Dil mera (One night) in Kya Kool Hai Hum by Jay Sean and the Rishi Rich Project or, before that, U and I (Mere dil vich hain hum tum) from Hum Tum featuring Rishi Rich, Juggy D and Veronica. But I’m also talking about, actually, I’m mainly talking about music that has nothing to do with Bollywood, like the Bombay Rockers' (not completely British) Ari ari or Raghav’s (Canadian-born but now in the UK) Angel Eyes. It’s also Dr Zeus’ Kangana, Juggy D’s Sohniye and Veronica’s Dil legeya. All of these, by the way, are in Vibes2 released by Times Music, India, remixes but you’ll get an idea.
Juggy D is, so far, the most successful, it seems, as the first Punjabi artist to perform on a British music chart TV show (Top of the Pops). His hit single Sohniye from the album Juggy D (his first) has the right combination of vocals, rhythm and that mass appeal, a feel-good song. It reminded me of the first time I briefly heard this music, Stereo Nation’s I’ve been waiting/Don’t break my heart. Juggy D’s Meri jaan, another track on the album, is why I like this music so much. Sung with Jay Sean, the two go from English to Punjabi so easily, like so many of us who have grown up in two cultures do between our mother and adopted tongues. Call it fusion or call it a natural tendency, to switch back and forth between languages, it’s how, I think, our brains work. Meri jaan is another sweet song like Sohniye.
Tu hi tu hai meri jaan
Tu hi tu hai meri jaan
Lately things don't seem
The way they used to be
Between you and me
Girl, I'm missing you
You say I'm never home
I'm chasing my own goals
And you just don't know
That it's all for you….
Ek gal ta sun meri jaan
Meri manlo hun meri jaan
Mera dil na thod meri jaan
Tu hi tu hai meri jaan
But, ‘Akheer' is, I think, the best track on this album. Written by Juggy D with lyrics, reportedly, that speak to the issues facing British Asians growing up in the UK—I wish I could verify this but sadly, my Punjabi isn’t so great. The vocals are emotive, the violin by Kartik, the classical feel to the vocals—all make this track unforgettable. Take these three songs from Juggy D and you can see why it’s difficult to peg the sound with just one label. Raghav’s single Angel eyes falls in to the same group; he has a style that is as unique as his background…a little Asian, hip hop, R&B, all on top of a classical Hindustani vocal training. His album Storyteller is a fixture in music stores from India to North America. Again, in addition to the beat and the vocals, lyrics which go seamlessly from English to Hindi and back, strike a chord.
Well now I've been down and lonely
I wish if only the whole world could feel my vibe
We all need one simple reason,
Something to believe in
I know that I've got mine
'Cause my baby's got Angel eyes
Yeah my baby's got angel eyes
Teri baaton mein, teri baaton mai
Teri baaton mein aisa uljha jiya
Baithe hi baithe maine dil kho diya
However, just when I think I’ve got it down, this music, along comes Northern Lights and their 2005 release Sparked. Forget everything I said above because here’s a sound that is in a class by itself. While called bhangra by some, it’s really not. But it is all about the dhol, the rhythms and the Punjabi vocals. Northern Lights is Lil Dev (Dev Singh Pabla) who started playing the dhol at age three and went on to the dholak, tabla and other percussion instruments. Add in the influence of Punjabi folk music, hip hop and reggae and you understand what makes Sparked …explode. The other half of Northern Lights is Tarv (Tarvinder Singh Nijjar) who brings a DJ background and mixing to the duo. Both live in Scotland and are, hopefully, basking in the success of this album. I’ve not ever used the word ‘wicked’ to describe music of any kind, but, having seen other Northern Lights fans do so, I have to say, the word definitely applies. After hearing tracks like Janaab, Billo tere nakreh and…and Wrong Number (the best on the CD, I think) for weeks online, I spent as much time trying to locate the CD in the US, in stores and online. Finally I ordered it from the source, VIP Records and have been in heaven since (thank you, guys!). With bhangra and hip hop, some rapping and traditional folk songs, you are simultaneously in Punjab, the UK and somewhere in between or beyond.
While I won’t be lucky enough to catch any of these artists perform—Juggy D, Raghav and Veronica (notice how few female voices I’ve mentioned? there are some) are touring the US in the spring of 2006, if you can catch a show, don’t miss them. Or, pick up some of the CDs or listen online (but don’t download illegally, please). I’m sorry I didn’t years ago, but better late than never!
Check out BBC Asian Network