Punjabi rap, with its explicitly violent and crude lyrics, has invited ringing condemnation from established singers. But the kids can’t get enough

Jaspreet Nijher & Ruhi Batra | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; October 2, 2011)

 

The latest Punjabi hit song, Gaddi moudan ge, by Mika, poster boy of Punjabi cool, celebrates hooliganism, while the explicit titles of some of the latest chartbusters — Gippy Grewal’s Gangster and Hathiyaar, KS Makhan’s Badmashi, Preet Brar’s Desi gun — point to a trend that packages violence as a fast moving consumer good. In a radical departure from a tradition rooted in folk, Punjabi songs that once extolled golden mustard fields, pretty girls and brave men, are today littered with words like ‘bandookan’ ‘dunali’ (guns), ‘daru’ ‘bootlan’ (liquor), and gangsta rap phrases such as ‘signal todah ge’ (we’ll break all rules) and ‘chak laan ge’ (we’ll kidnap the girl).

High on testosterone and low on taste, such songs revel in being youth anthems and are meant for those who think it’s cool to cuss crudely. Sociologists attribute this to the love of notoriety and risk-taking that is embedded in the Punjabi psyche. “This region of North India faced the maximum onslaught, whether of foreign invaders or the Partition,” says Dr Archana Sachdeva, a retired sociology professor. “Land and women became a prized possession. Hence, just like all music reflects the state of its people, Punjabi music too acquired characters of violence that eventually came to embody heroism.”

Critics are quick to blame the source of this brash new sound of Punjabi pop: Afro-American rap. “Punjabis were always greatly influenced by the West, in this case the influence comes from American rappers,” says Satinder Satti (see pic right), the brown-eyed Punjabi singer. “Black rappers were aggressive because of the repression they suffered and vented their pain through rap. Since our Punjabi youth, who are now singers, grew up with rap and hiphop, they’ve imbibed the rapping style into their own songs.”

If America has Busta Rhymes, we have Baba Sehgal. The first-ever rap star that India saw, Sehgal sees these lyrics as just another marketing gimmick. “Everyone here is trying to outdo the other since there is so much competition,” he says. “And what is the best way to grab attention? Go abusive. Isn’t that what Bollywood is doing these days with numbers like ‘Bhaag DK Bose’?” Sehgal, whose hits include Thanda Thanda Pani, says swearing makes you cool. “In Punjab, the only thing that is considered cool is a Jatt, unfortunately. Hence, if the Jatt calls himself a rule breaker, he becomes the trendsetter. So you have a whole breed of singers who emulate this and glorify this in an effort to be ‘cool’.” It wasn’t long before the song, Banda Maarnaby Balli Riar featuring Honey Singh, was blaring out of car stereos on the streets of Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The young and charming Riar sees the lyrics as a reflection of Punjabi society. “Any Punjabi would know that the expression Aaj banda marne nu jee karda hai (Today I feel like killing someone). We just picked it up and converted it into a song.” Though Riar agrees that aggressive lyrics are a money-making trend, the music video tends to tone down things. “Aggressive lyrics are attracting younger audiences,” says Balli, whose fans include eight-year-olds. “My track has been accepted all over the world wherever there are young Punjabis. While most Punjabi songs show alcohol, guns and violence, our video only shows a guy fighting for his girlfriend who has been teased. The underlying message is, the guy says if you tease my girlfriend, I can even kill you.”

However, the dashing Canadian Punjabi singer, Mann, is heavily critical of this trend. “What kind of lyrics are these? They all portray the Jatt (upper caste, landed Sikh) in a negative light since all of them are extolling the vices of this community. Young minds feed on these violent lyrics and are thus corrupted.”

Singer Hans Raj Hans rues, “Such lyrics talk of a world where love is fading away, dying away in life and poetry… the light is going, giving way to darkness. It is the misfortune of this generation that it has to listen to such music.”

Manu Rishi Chadha, who wrote the dialogue both for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye and the gritty Yeh Saali Zindagi says these lyrics lend “unnecessary toughness to what is a sweet language. Gaaliyan do par becho mat (Abuse by all means but don’t use the words to sell yourself).” Singer Jasbir Jassi hopes that like any other fad, this too will fade. “It’s like forcing pizzas and burgers down our throats everyday,” he points out. “You will grow tired of the foreign diet after a while.”
(For more stories, log on to www.timescrest.com)