Photo Credit – Wikipedia
Before I continue to talk about most favorite topic in the world, I will start off with a simple geography lesson. Okay, I know what your thinking, this is supposed to be a music blog, but in order to understand my blog more effectively, you must understand what “South Asia” consists of. South Asia is the Southern part of the Asian continent which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Countries like Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, and Iran are sometimes also considered a part of South Asia. Just like any place in the world, beautifully crafted music comes from these countries and I will break down the basics, and write about the greatest in the Progressive South Asian music scene!
When is comes down to it, I am of Indian origin and my expertise lies in music from India. Instead of naming this blog “Indian Musicality” I’ve decided to go with a broader title because I would no want to discriminate against other great music! I listen to all types of music and in fact, there is much ado about the melodious music which comes from the rest of South Asia. This blog started off as a class project for my New Media class, but I have a feeling it will take me to greater heights. This blog is a place where I can share my passion for South Asian music and explain to the rest of the world about the traditional and now, new age sound of South Asian music.
There are plenty of South Asian music genres, here is a list of some that I will cover in my blog:
- Bollywood – music from the world’s biggest film industry based in Mumbai, India
- Bhangra – a celebratory dance music hailing from North India and Pakistan
- Urban Desi – a genre of music started in the 1990′s which is popular among the young South Asian population - combines Rap, hip-hop and South Asian music
- Asian Underground – A blend of western underground dance/electronic music and traditional South Asian music
- And more…
Bollywood, Bhangra, Urban Desi and Asian Underground
If you were to ask anyone not of South Asian origin if they could name a South Asian music artist, a couple of names may come in mind. For example, the classical sitar player Ravi Shankar got much notoriety in the 1960′s during the “hippy revolution.” Ravi Shankar was one of the first South Asian musicians to become recognized outside of South Asia. Most recently, South Asian music composer A.R. Rahman has gotten very popular in Hollywood after he produced the musical score for “Slumdog Millionaire” which was an 11 time academy award-winning film in 2008. South Asians are slowly making their way into the American mainstream, including pop singer Jay Sean, whose real name is Kamaljit Singh Jhutty. Jay Sean goes down in history as one of the first South Asian artists to be signed by one of the biggest hip-hop music labels in the world, Cash Money Records. In terms of South Asian female artists, MIA has done a great job representing South Asian women in mainstream American music and fashion.
As many South Asians make their way through mainstream music, there are many South Asians who produce Grammy winning music, who just don’t get enough publicity. That is why I am here, I will touch upon the latest and greatest South Asian music makers in the world!
