Photograph of Daler Mehndi at a Concert. Credit: Tamara Pinco

1. “Madhyalaya,” Subroto Ray Chodhwury, Madhuri Chattopadhay, Sannkha Chatterjee, Fusion – Sitar, Violin, Tabla, 2016, Indian Classical Music, India
2. “Enta Oumry,” Om Kalthoom, 1964, Egyptian Music, Cairo, Egypt
3. “Devil Do,” Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, 2007, Horror Country, United Kingdom, United States of America
4.”Ocelot,” Supervivientes and Cabo Norte, 2010, Celtic Folk Rock, Barcelona, Spain
5. “Devam,” Gentleman, Blaue Stunde, 2020, Reggae, Germany  
6. “Odo Mpa,” Lee Dodou, Classic Hi-Life-5, 2011, Burger-Hi-Life-5, Germany
7. “Ari Ari,” Bloodywood (Karan Katiyar and Jayant Bhadula), 2018, Indian Street Metal, Delhi, India
8. “Dosti,” HemaChandra, M.M. Keeravaani, 2021, Tollywood Music, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
9. “Tunak Tunak Tun,” Daler Mehndi, 1998, Bhangra Music, India
10. “Mundian To Bach Ke,” Panjabi MC, 2002, United Kingdom

At the beginning of my playlist, I choose songs that would be considered somewhat traditional or classical music in their respective countries. From the somewhat traditional songs, I jump from unconventional country to folk to finally two fusion songs generated by local African diasporas in Germany. I choose to place all songs of non-Indian origin next because they represent transition between classical and non-classical music because the Indian film industry often utilizes components of its music from Western World. Placing the more traditional songs allows me to me then to analyze examples of fusion music. I look at specifically how several of these fusion songs have been created for a specific audience, but they end up becoming far more popular among a different audience. Furthermore, through this playlist I intend to analyze the extent of success of these songs and potential reasons by these outcomes. I primarily focus on the Indian film industry and the Indian music industry.

I begin with the song “Madhyalaya” by Subroto Ray Chodhwury, Madhuri Chattopadhay, and Sannkha Chatterjee from the album Fusion – Sitar, Violin, Tabla, which was produced in 2006 in India in the genre of Indian Classic Music, specifically Madhyalaya. I choose this track because it is one of the fewer more popular Indian Classical songs that contain fusion music. If the song is a type of fusion, the question may arise about its genre. However, this song still conforms to the Madhyalaya form, which is two beats per second. This song captures my attention because it still employs influences from the Western World, for example using the violin, which has historically not been employed in Indian Classical Music. However, the song has a very Hindu and Indian feel to it. In other words, the violin is played in the exact same manner and tune that string instruments like the sitar would be played. What makes the song more intricate is its employment of a call and response mechanism that is also present in American genres such as Jazz and Blues. However, it’s not just any sort of call and response mechanism. Instead of having a rhythmic or patterned call and response system, the song starts waging this continual battle between the violin and the sitar, almost to represent a sort of struggle of the artists to maintain the Indian nature of the song while also trying to incorporate external influences.

The next song is called “Enta Oumry” by Om Kalthoom, which was produced during 1964 in Cairo in the genre of Egyptian music. Despite “Enta Oumry’s” employment of very Western instruments, Egyptians consider the song as somewhat traditional Egyptian music, involving the Egyptian political ideology of Nasserism, which is a core principle of the current Egyptian state (Burkhalter). Unlike my previous track, this song has lyrics, which is why I choose this song. The lyrics become part of a three-sided battle between percussion, strings, and vocals. However, it still has many similar mechanisms to my previous song. For instance, both songs employ this two-beat system. The first song is much clearer. However, the beats I describe are not traditional. There are two short chords played on the violin and then a quick transition to some percussion. While the instrumentals are somewhat different, the overall layout of both songs are pretty much similar. However, instead of a sitar, primarily a type of violin string instrument is employed. There is still a call and response mechanism. However, what makes this song slightly different is the employment of a Cuban style salsa. The song is even labelled by some critics as a type of salsa that is danced to in cafés in Egypt, much like other salsa music. Furthermore, this song is an example that has been adopted by the Egyptians as a classic yet has very little classical elements. There exist very little elements of Egyptian of traditional instruments, except for the percussion. The strings are played in an Egyptian style, but the continual call and response fades away the traditional elements.

Thirdly, I jump to my next track, “Devil Do” by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, which was produced during 2007 (probably much earlier but the earliest date I could find) in the England and the USA in the genre of Horror country music. I choose to place this song right after “Enta Oumry” to highlight the song’s distinct contrast despite being from relatively the same time period. The song has a clearly has a type of jolly mood that seems to lighten up the audience, rather than filling them up with emotion. I chose this song because it is one of the only few in its genre. This song connects to the question of authenticity. The tune itself is authentic and the manner in which it was sung is also authentic. For instance, it employs the very characteristic shuffle rhythm in country music. The lyrics, while still about the devil, are still about a mundane topic. Nevertheless, the lyrics themselves are not characteristic of the genre. The song is also considered somewhat of a folk song because it is made in a Disney cartoon, and once again stands out for its dark humor, which not every audience member may catch.

I then shift attention to another type of unconventional folk song for European audiences. I choose the first song given in the compilation called “Ocelot” by Supervivientes and Cabo Norte, which was produced in Barcelona in the year of 2010 under the genre of Celtic Folk Rock. This song tries to revitalize a medieval genre by adding a rock element. Specifically, I find this song very compelling because of its success in incorporating modern elements. Often, in countries like Spain, pop songs played from the guitars, bass, and drums would dominate the music industry. This song attempts to build on the pop music that was already popularized and almost commercialize folk music. By challenging the norms of folk music though, many listeners can have trouble accepting this song as anywhere close to folk music. Several traditional instruments like the fiddle augment the already present rock music in manner that is especially not characteristic of the older folk music industry.

The fifth song I choose is “Devam” by Getleman in the album Blaue Stunde, which was produced in Germany during the year 2020 as a Reggae song. The folk-rock song in the previous track at least incorporates some elements of Folk music. However, this song is different as it only incorporates the structure of Reggae music, which itself is a very broad genre. What immediately strikes me as the listener is how the song actually is in German rather than English, which is the traditional sung language of many Reggae songs. Furthermore, the song continues to employ electronic rhythms and chooses to omit any percussion, which is very atypical of a Reggae song. Yet, this piece of music represents an attempt of a diaspora community to recreate their own culture. Specifically, while the artists are from an African-Caribbean diaspora group living in Germany, and the fact that they do not have access to more traditional instruments is understandable for an audience of the Reggae genre. They instead choose to incorporate more German characteristics. This song serves as an interesting example of how diaspora groups try to maintain their own roots while also attempting to assimilate with their new environment.

Another song created by a diasporic group in Germany is “Odo Mpa” by Lee Dodou from the album Classic Hi-Life-5 produced in the year 2011 in the genre of Burger-Hi-life-5. My previous song was about people from the African diaspora in the Caribbean. This song pertains to another African diaspora from Ghana. The song is mostly a Western song in the sense that it incorporates mainly Western string, brass, and percussion; however, the lyrics are in a local African dialect, which does make the song in the hybrid form. The musicians adopt a very Blues/Jazz call and response format when playing the song. What mostly stands out to me in this song is its success. Unlike the previous song, which was popular only in Germany, this song and album ended up reaching more broadly, including concerts in Ghana. This could potentially negatively impact the presence of traditional instruments that have been waning in African songs, especially pop music. However, it is not in my place to judge the potential results of these influences because I am neither from Ghana nor familiar with the local culture.

My next song also employs heavily Western influences in its piece. It is called “Ari Ari” by Bloodyood (Karan Katiyar and Jayant Bhadula) produced in Delhi, India in 2018 under the genre of Indian Street Metal. Unlike many Bollywood songs, this song holds a very distinct Western influence with its decision to incorporate the highly non-Indian form of heavy punk. Differently from the previous two songs, this piece of music does incorporate the Indian dhol, but its effects are largely diluted by the loud screaming and Western drums. The song did gain some popularity in India; however, the government of India has recently condemned the song as being too violent. The song is somewhat of a protest not of the government but of Indian society. It hits out at the very traditional caste system while also promoting local Indian film industry, claiming that Indian films have better stories than HBO’s Game of Thrones. I choose this song because it is one of the very few heavy metal songs present in India, and one of the few that attempt convey a sort of message to the audience.

My eighth song called “Dosti” by HemaChandra and M.M. Keeravaani, which is produced in India during the year of 2021 under the genre of Tollywood music. This song represents a more successful attempt to bring in Western influences into a music piece. The violin attempts to create a sense of suspense and glory. The instruments are not present just to entertain the audience but also in a sense subvert the audience’s emotional response. The audience sees a type of traditional Indian poetry about friendship between two contrasting entities. The song at the same time ends up preserving Indian traditional instruments and rhythms. This song could be a gamechanger in Bollywood because it could set a trend for how songs can incorporate Western influences.

The second to last song is a much older song called “Tunak Tunak Tun” by Daler Mehndi, which is produced in India in 1998 under the genre of Bhangra music. The main reason why I highlight this song in comparison to the other songs is because of the song’s attempt to include visuals, which is the mean reason why it became popular (Shrestova). The musical components are very traditional (Roy). However, the dancing was meant for a Punjabi audience. This audience ended up becoming extremely popular throughout the world as a sort of joke or cringe pop. This represents an example when a different intended audience ended up viewing the music more often.

The final song is titled “Mundian To Bach Ke” by Panjabi MC released in the UK in 2002 under the genre of Bhangra Alternative Hip Hop. This song is an example of a more popular song, unlike Tunak Tunak Tun, which also used Punjabi elements. This song became very popular even in North America and other foreign countries with rappers like Jay-Z using this song for their albums. One reason why this song perhaps became popular outside of India is because it was created outside of India. This song provides a blend of both rapping in Punjabi and Western electronic music, which continues to make Indians question its authenticity (Varma). However, interestingly enough, many Indians still play it at weddings and dance to the song. I choose this song ultimately because it represents a song not originally from India and from a diaspora group but ends up becoming popular.

Sivakrishna is a first-year student at the University of Chicago. He plays Blues and Jazz music on the drums and enjoys listening to Indian Classical music in his leisure time. 

Bibliography:

1. Roy. 2014. “BHANGRA’S MANY AVATARS FROM THE RADIO ERA TO THE AGE OF THE MUSIC VIDEO.” Studies in Humanities, Issue 1/2, Pages 5-10
2. Varma. 2005. “Quantum Bhangra: Bhangra Music and Identity in the South Asian Diaspora.” Limina, Pages 17-27.
3. Shrestova.2004. “Dancing to an Indian Beat – ‘Dola’ Goes to My Diasporic Heart.” Dance Research Journal, Issue 2, Pages 243-261
4. Burkhalter. 2012. Local Music Scenes and Globalization Transnational Platforms in Beirut. Routledge, Pages 257-259