Delhi Dogg

Snoop Doggy Dogg is expanding to India. Snoop will be featured rapping on the title track of a new Bollywood movie called “Singh is Kinng.” The song mixes rap with the bhangra style of Indian music commonly found in Bollywood movies.

Snoop didn’t actually go to India. His part of the song was recorded not in Chennai, but Chicago. Through this semi-cultural experience, he did pick up on the importance of music and movies to the Indian culture. “I really dig how much music is infused with the movies,” said Snoop. He also looks forward to making “more movies with some of my Bollywood homies.”

Rap/hip-hop is not all that popular in India. Foreign artists such as Coldplay, Eric Clapton, and Madonna have a much larger Indian following than rap artists. At least if cd sales are revealing anything. So mash-ups like this are really a great way to build more of a rap following in India.

Snoop isn’t the first to collaborate with bhangra artists. A few years ago, Jay-Z collaborated with bhangra artist Punjabi MC on the song “Mundian To Bach Ke” (Beware of the Boys). Here is the video:

The influence is also going the opposite way across the world. We in the USA are also seeing bhangra influences in some of our music. Obvious examples are in Aerosmith’s “Taste of India.” But other examples include Alanis Morissette’s “Baba” and Missy Elliot’s “Get Your Freak On” which both have bhangra music influences.

Snoop also had this to say about his experience – “Snoop Dogg’s got love for everybody. I like how the Punjabis get down; the way they dress is fresh and they got a real appreciation for music.” Hopefully Snoop will make the trip to India and see for himself. I’m sorry but recording in Chicago is not going to do the trick. However, this is a great way to bridge the music gap between countries. Hopefully this song gets airplay in the USA as well.

For more info, please check out the NY Times article about Snoop.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com