Punjabi MC

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Panjabi MC in London 2010

Panjabi MC (born February 14, 1970 or 1971 in Coventry , England, as Rajinder Singh Rai ) is a British pop musician of Indian descent who mixes the traditional Punjab music style Bhangra with hip-hop . During his many years of studying music at the University of Bangladesh, he developed his own rap style.

Life

From 1993 he released albums, the success of which was mainly limited to the Asian music scene in England, but was also shown in northern India and Pakistan. It wasn't until 1998 that the album Legalized attracted more attention, also on the Internet, especially because of the song Mundian to bach ke .

This title (translated roughly: "Beware of the boys") is based on the theme song of the TV series Knight Rider , mixed with bhangra chants. At the beginning of this millennium it found its way onto a sampler from the Buddha Bar series, which was then at the height of its popularity. The piece soon became an insider tip and reached the top 5 as a single at the end of 2002, first in German-speaking countries and then in Great Britain. A version with Jay-Z was able to place itself in the USA in 2003.

The follow -up single Jogi , which samples the ethnic track Im Nin'Alu by Ofra Haza , was also able to hold its own in the charts, but lagged far behind the success of Mundian to bach ke . Although Panjabi MC can look back on a ten-year career as a musician, it is an economic one-hit wonder .

Punjabi Hip Hop is its own style within hip-hop music. Artists of Indian origin come mainly from London or Canada, while in India itself Madras (Chennai) is a stronghold of Punjabi Hip Hop. This style of music has an enormous influence on the Asian underground and is at the same time interwoven with Indian culture.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Mundian to bach ke
  DE 2 
gold
gold
12/09/2002 (17 weeks)
  AT 2 12/08/2002 (23 weeks)
  CH 4th 
gold
gold
12/15/2002 (28 weeks)
  UK 5 
silver
silver
12/29/2002 (16 weeks)
Beware Of The Boys (Mundian to bach ke) feat. Jay-Z
  US 33 04/12/2003 (12 weeks)
Jogi
  DE 12 06/09/2003 (11 weeks)
  AT 10 06/05/2003 (14 weeks)
  CH 8th 06/01/2003 (16 weeks)
  UK 25th 06/29/2003 (3 weeks)
  • Rootz
  • Souled Out (1993)
  • Another Sell Out (1994)
  • 100% Proof (1995)
  • Grass Roots (1996)
  • Mirza Part Two (EP, 1997)
  • Legalized (1998)
  • Switchin ' (EP, 2000)
  • Dhol Jageroo Da (2001)
  • Desi (2002)
  • Indian Breaks (2003)
  • Mundian To Bach Ke (2003)
  • The Album (US title: Beware , 2003)
  • Steel Bangle (2005)
  • Illegal (2006)
  • Indian Timing (2008)
  • The Raj (2010)

Awards

  • Dance Music Award
    • 2003: in the "Most Successful Newcomer" category
    • 2003: in the category "Most successful dance hit" (Mundian to bach ke)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1970 at Allmusic (English), 1971 at laut.de.
  2. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK
  3. ↑ Awards for music sales: DE CH UK
personal data
SURNAME Punjabi MC
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rai, Rajinder Singh (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British pop musician
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1970 or 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Coventry , England