Punjabi songs with a touch of the West
International celebs including Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio and Drake are all part of chart-topping Punjabi hits! Wait, what? We mean, lyrically, in songs such as Difference, Bamb, Oscar, Nakhra Nawabi, High End and many more of their kind, which have a cheeky mention of these biggies.
Sample lyrics like, “Sab aakhan tainu bar bar, tu Lady Gaga vargi”, “Gaunda hai jatt Goniane da, oh nachdi fire Selena” and “Mind na karna par mere dosto ne rakh diya Kim Kardashian tera naam”.
What’s fuelling this trend? “It all depends on a writer’s knowledge,” says lyricistsinger Happy Raikoti, who has worked with Punjabi music industry big shots such as Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal, Roshan Prince, and Ranjeet Bawa. “One hears these western celebrities’ names [often in the music circuit], so sometimes the lyricists incorporate it in a song.”
Singer-lyricist Amrit Maan aka Gonianewala adds that these celebs enjoy a major fanfollowing among the youth, so their inclusion contributes to the song’s wider reach and popularity. “Teenagers, especially the Punjabi youth living abroad, love listening to Western music. For example, when I completed Difference [in Canada], I observed that the Punjabi kids there are a fan of Rihanna, Drake, DJ Khaled, and Dr Dre. So, I feel that if I use their names in my lyrics, these kids will like it. To sum it all, what the youth likes, being an artist, we have to write about it,” he says. Raikoti echoes the thought, saying, “We should appreciate the additions to lyrics that attract more listeners.”
While Maan’s Difference (45 million views on YouTube) is one of the latest additions to this growing trend, Diljit’s High End (73 mn views), too, had made waves earlier for a mention of his self-confessed crush, Kylie Jenner: “Aaj kal bai Dosanjhawala kihde naal phirey, hun Kylie [Jenner] kolo puchdi h Kim [Kardashian] ni”. Lyricist Rav Hanjra shares that when he first wrote this line, he thought “Diljit paaji won’t accept it. It’s good as a joke, but sounds too blunt.” But to his surprise, Diljit instantly liked it, and said, “No worries, Rav. It sounds nice and is realistic. I feel people will like this stanza more than anything else.”