Friday, April 18, 2003

JAM OF THE WEEK: If you haven't heard Panjabi MC's "Mundian To Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" yet, you will.

Welcome to the multicultural age, where a 27-year old bhangra DJ born Rajinder Rai, born in Coventry, England can take a 15th-century dhol drum, contemporary bhangra music from India's Punjab region, and add heavy sampling from Busta Rhymes' sampling of the "Knight Rider" theme, and create a totally addictive international hip-hop hit that's starting to penetrate America.

I mean, totally infectious. Just watch the video here and enjoy.

(If you want to download the song, I believe there's peer-to-peer software that will allow you to do so.)

The lyrics ain't much; they translate down to "you're a hot young woman, so watch out for predatory boys", but who cares? It's a dope beat with some wicked sampling and lyrical attitude that work in any language. If anyone still doubted hip-hop's global reach and lasting importance, that argument is long over. We're all just one big dance floor now.

Panjabi MC's success here (it's already MTV's Jam of the Week) follows on the heels of Truth Hurts' success with "Addictive" last fall, which borrowed heavily from Hindi song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" for its hook. Unfortunately for Ms. Hurts, however she seems to have had some problem clearing her sampling rights.

PMC got Hasselhoff on board, fortunately. It's a wonderful world.

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