History of Popular Music Recording Dhādī and Dāstāngo groups recorded the first records of Punjabi popular music in the 1930s. They chose to record arrangements of weighty ballads that were appropriate listening entertainment because they were often performed at a fair or at a wedding. Shortly afterward, cinema with sound became available in India, and throughout the 1930s-1950s film songs dominated the recordings of popular music in Punjab. These songs were accompanied by Indian instruments and Western instrumentation. Many of the most famous actor-singers in India came from Punjab, including
Kundan Lal Saigal,
Noor Jahan, and
Shamshad Begum. In the 1950s, commercial recordings of folk-style Punjabi music began.
Lal Chand “Yamla Jatt” was among the prominent voices of these recordings. In the 1960s, a new type of popular “folk song” began to be recorded. The majority of these songs were not orally transmitted, anonymous compositions, and many were composed by contemporary songwriters, in a parallel to the folk movement in the UK and the United States. The songs themselves were considered “folk” because they were simple and in Punjabi language, but the accompaniments and musical settings mimicked film-song instead of rural music. An example of a singer in this style would be Singh Mastana, who really emphasized Punjabi identity. Another famous example is
Surinder Kaur, who was born into a Sikh, Jat family that did not approve of singing, but who had a very successful career. By the 1980s, the introduction of affordable cassette players made it possible for independent music labels to flourish in Punjab. These independent labels had lower operating costs, so they were able to offer more regional music. In contrast to previous music that only had explicitly Punjabi content in the songs in order to make the music Punjabi, this new music had a Punjabi instrumentation and rustic vocal tone to make the music sound Punjabi. Some examples of artists who made this style of music include K.S. Narula and Charanjit Ahuja. A popular format in the genre were duets recorded by artists like Chamkila and Amarjot.
Bhangra evolution from folk to pop Bhangra describes dance-oriented popular music with Punjabi rhythms. The name refers to one of the traditional and folkloric Punjabi dances. Thus in bhangra music the emphasis is usually on the music (i.e. rhythm for dancing) and less on the singer and the lyrics. Shift from folk instruments to pop started to happen since the 1980s, since then Bhangra dance music developed into a popular pop genre appreciated all over the globe, specially among the Punjabi diaspora.
Punjabi pop Punjabi songs in recent years have entered mainstream Indian culture, as well as in the UK and U.S., and its inclusion in Bollywood songs. The rise in popularity in Punjabi music in London and in the suburb of Southall, which has a sizeable South Asian population, can be attributed to the diaspora of immigrants from both the east and west Punjab to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. By the 1980s, Punjabi music, many types of which were now being referred to as “bhangra,” started to be played in discos. In addition to the UK, Punjabi music has also gained popularity in the United States. This inclusion of Punjabi music in popular culture has continued and become more salient today, as exemplified by UK-based Panjabi MC's “
Mundian to Bach Ke” becoming a Top 40 hit in the United States, being listened to widely by non-Punjabis. Punjabi music has also made its mark in mainstream Hindi cinema. It has typically been characterized as “an ethnocultural signifier of Panjabi celebration,” and more recently, “a national signifier of fun.”
Diaspora developments Although the diaspora of Punjabi music to western countries such as the United Kingdom first became popular in the 1980s, the trend continued into the 1990s. In the UK in particular, Punjabi music became intertwined with American and British popular music, as Punjabi youth connected their western experience with their cultural roots. It became an important medium through which Punjabi youth could navigate their unique identities as British Indians. The British press sporadically became aware of trends in Punjabi music, especially with the rise of popular artists such as Panjabi MC and Apache Indian; that said, however, the diaspora of Punjabi music was primarily a local phenomenon, limited to Punjabi communities in the UK. The 1990s marked a significant shift in Punjabi music pertaining to production styles and lyrical content. The decade was marked by a musical style that contained consistent elements of traditional music including instruments such as the dhol, tumbi, and algoza. However, the 90s were the first time that elements from other genres such as reggae and disco/club type of instrumentals were incorporated in the music. This is seen as the decade that produced the birth of what is commonly referred to today as “fusion” Punjabi music. Many more prominent Punjabi artists and producers broke through into mainstream Punjabi music during this time. They included
Bally Sagoo,
Sukshinder Shinda, and
Jazzy B. Bally Sagoo became famous for his productions and remix. Shinda became renowned for his production ability and inclusion of vigorous dhol beats, while Jazzy B exemplified the influence hip-hop had in Punjabi music in his image and tough lyrics.
Global Punjabi music industry Diaspora music has been spread back to India through media, including radio, cassettes and the TV channels MTV and ETC Panjabi. ==See also==