The State of Bhangra

Posted almost 2 years ago

Quite an academic piece really, but for anyone really interested in Bhangra in the UK this may be a valuable bit of work I put together. The overall piece of work was very lengthy so I've pruned it down. Here's part one...

The state of Bhangra

Representation and regional development opportunities (Part One)

Introduction

Overview - Historical and explanatory

A person needing a definition of Bhangra may start with a cursory web search which will lead to the obligatory Wikipedia entry. It tells us the following: -

"Bhangra (Punjabi) is a lively form of music and dance that originated in the Punjab region.

Originating in the Punjab region, Bhangra began as a folk dance conducted by farmers for expression of celebration. Bhangra commemorated the coming of the Spring and marked the birth of the new Bhang harvest, a time known as Vaisakhi celebrated by Punjabis. Bhangra ushered in a new beginning, a rebirth of the Earth, a means for farmers and the common people of Northern India to salute the new season. Today, Bhangra survives in different forms and styles all over the globe. In fact, Bhangra has been hailed by many as the world's fastest growing dance and musical form. Today, bhangra is celebrated everywhere by people of all ages and races - from the radio, to pop music, and even to collegiate competitions. As Bhangra becomes more well-known, some of its practitioners try to maintain its traditionalism while at the same time embracing its evolution as an art form."

This is perhaps a fair definition and assessment of the origins of the genre and certainly in some ways a 'legacy' which is still impacting predominantly on new generations of British Asian artists, Bollywood and with wider influences found in many areas of 'world music'.

With the early successes of British Bhangra and the development of a recorded industry from the early 80's with bands like Alaap and Heera followed much later by a brief but significant flirtation with mainstream successes of tracks like 'Mundian To Bach Ke' crossing over to western play lists and audiences worldwide. Thanks also to British television's brief but intense 'cosmetic' flirtation with all things Bollywood, the word Bhangra is far wider in popular parlance than ever before across the non Asian population.

Although it was quite a few years ago, with the Punjabi MC track and the proliferation of Bhangra beats into many other genres and advertising campaigns there is a sense that the genre and industry has indeed become well represented within the UK mainstream music industry and public consciousness.

But how much of this idea that Bhangra has become a well supported and showcased music by the regions funding agencies and civic authorities is accurate?

Most public cultural and arts based publication from these sources carry either a reference to or a picture relating to Bhangra. Many public and policies /equal opportunities strategic document pay reference to this genre as an all encompassing term for Asian music and the public perception would naturally follow that this genre is both well represented and funded.

How much of this is mere lip service to a genre, dance and performance and why is it important to look a little further in depth at it's current 'state' and future development needs?

What this document provides is a 'State of Bhangra' in the region with particular reference to the idea that an 'official' body could seek to represent Bhangra industry and engage with the regions stakeholders. The 'abstract' is by way of an introduction to bhangra, it's history and the industry supported by wide ranging consultation with many of the key players regionally, nationally and internationally.

It covers live and recorded music, innovation in the music industry, marketing, branding and new distribution channels which have arisen as a result of technological developments and draws comparisons and context from an international perspective.

Throughout the study, the assumption of any prior knowledge of music industry is by way of a parallel to western music, mainstream industry practice and public perception.

This aims to provide the reader with a context and some degree of balanced explanation of 'how the industry works' in order to then make basic assumptions on comparisons to that industry.

It is not intended that western mainstream is benchmarked and therefore any aspects of Bhangra that differ are shortcomings. In the words of Channi Singh (Alaap):

"I think what they have learned is that initially everyone wanted Rap etc to break Bhangra into the mainstream - it doesn't happen and I don't think it needs to - Bhangra is what it is".

With this in mind the approach of this study is to inform any one outside of the Bhangra industry and provide a more informed and balanced view of it's rich cultural heritage but also it's problems and the consensus of a need to reach a wider audience and develop.

There are three main aims of this document:

To provide context for regional development agencies, stakeholders and other funding providers when considering audience development, seeking to enhance their scheduling, performance and published media when referencing Bhangra and Bhangra performance.
It represents a strategic document for Bhangra In Birmingham (BiB) in seeking to define a remit for a central contact for Bhangra to the regional stakeholders and the industry itself. It will address Bhangra in Birmingham's exploratory stage in considering the role, responsibilities and possible conflicts in seeking to form a legislative body or portal for the region both in terms of inward investment and investigation and for an international promotion and representation at world music expo's and industry markets.
For a guide to establishing a legislative representation for the industry itself in moving toward mainstream support, guidance and funding opportunities and a regional perspective in terms of cultural representation and the expectations and responsibilities that come with informing the process.

What it does not seek to do is to provide either a directory reference of the industry as would appear in the mainstream music publications like 'the unsigned guide' or 'music week directory'. Nor does it seek to resolve economic, business or retail solutions for the companies generating physical or digital product - that, as with the trend away from 'buying' any music would not be achievable.

It looks at the similarities and differences between western and bhangra industry practice and problems arising from an industry which often does not follow western mainstream methods, representation or intellectual property issues.

The report tries not to make the assumption that the Bhangra industry in totality has an aim to reach mainstream music audiences - nor that everyone who is Asian is concerned with Bhangra.

However, from the aspirations of BiB and the analysis called for in the tender document there is specific reference to methods to achieve this.

Research Methodology:

The research draws on Primary research based on interviews, anecdotal evidence, the presence of Bhangra in mainstream arts and economic development planning documents and key delivery strategies supported by secondary research drawn from publications, journals, newspapers, magazine articles, online resources, Bhangra websites, regional media and program scheduling, television broadcast representation and my own knowledge of the music industry and regional development and funding provision.

The research has led to quite specific views on the characteristics of Bhangra and the community in which it operates and, although the aim of this work is to provide a 'snapshot' of Bhangra, I may 'interpret' the research in order to add context or provide a counter point to largely accepted western mainstream music practice. At all times I have arrived at these through a considered and methodical approach.

Context and Heritage:

UK Bhangra, since the 1970's has been seen as both an identifiable and socially unifying genre primarily for those whose origins are from the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent.

Birmingham and the Black Country developed early as a centre and burgeoning community of the 1^st generation Indian immigrants who, out of the whole of the UK, settled here for specific reasons. The main one being language. For many, English was not the first language and this limited the employment opportunities available. The lure of industrial and manual labour employment where English was less of a consideration made it easier to gain employment and therefore an income. This was enhanced by a secondary factor, that the population were raised on a 'survival' ethos which breeds hard work and long hours, for them the opportunity to have regular work was attractive and they worked hard to build a family base. This quickly developed into families, then communities.

Harjit Singh (Azaad Dhol Group):

"Bhangra was invented here in the 80's by the media it is essentially a dance. It has become many aspects of the music but basically it is 'lok Geet' (the peoples music)".

These communities needed to maintain their cultural identities and the social scene inherently lead to forms of traditional entertainment

Gurcharan Mall who founded the Dhol Blasters, was performing prior to his family leaving the Punjab and describes the early days;

Gurcharan Mall - (Dhol Blasters)

"The reason is the first people who came to the Uk were uneducated. They wanted better things for their children but if you can't speak the language what do you do? So they headed for Birmingham and Black Country where the work didn't require spoken English - it was laboring".

As the younger members of the family grew and eventually the 2^nd generation reached an age where they were marrying this presented further opportunity for the development of an 'entertainment' base. This use of the term 'entertainment' is deliberately as what was to become a sound, genre and industry is very much founded on a work ethic as described. The western notion of musicians as 'artistes' was not and in many ways is still not measured in the same way by the Asian audience in reference to performers/ entertainers. It is a commodity, a service provided without the artistic or intellectualisation that the west attributes. In many ways when you pay for entertainment, there was little difference from any other 'trade' such a builder and the 'value for money' was inherited from the origins of performers and dancers being less highly regarded in social circles in the Punjab.

Gurcharan Mall:

"In those days though, musicians were thought of low cast and were not valued. As musicians you used to have to be in the background and the singer was the star. This shaped the way the bhangra industry worked and the Asian music industry".

Palminder Dhami (Heera):

"It Came from folk routes but when Indians came to the UK it was not that popular by the 70's & 80's, 30 - 40 years ago. I wanted to get the younger generation interested in their culture again."

Regional Population:

The Midlands region from recent statistical socio economic data shows that as a whole have a 12% population from ethnic non deciduous backgrounds. 30% being the figure for Birmingham alone. And of these specifically of Indian origin nearly 10% up to the age of 30. There exists a wide ranging and increasingly younger Asian population than ever before.

Asian / Asian British in Birmingham accounts for nearly 20% of the population - the largest of any of the non indigenous population.

Bhangra as a genre, music business, performance and cultural aspect of the community it was born of is inherently contradictory. It's origins as with most of history reads differently depending on whom you ask. For many it's roots are from the Midlands, for some the early pioneers of Southall but whichever is chronologically correct one thing is true - that the Midlands has produced at least two iconic genres and sounds that will forever be associated with this largely industrial heritage; Heavy Metal and Bhangra.

Dalvinder Singh (Singer):

"Coming from Birmingham the contacts were all here - it is a good place to start. As I said my father performed in a band and the contacts we all accessible."

"I listened to a lot of my fathers music and used to sit in rehearsals with his band so for me it was like normal to be around it. The people who I would be aware of were DCS, Malkit Singh and generally the Midlands scene".

For many of the pioneers the break from the traditional style of Punjabi folk music came when Alaap began to mix this with the disco beats heard in the mainstream charts, clubs and media at the time. The effect was to ignite an interest in how the music could move forward from the folk music and the performing opportunities of wedding and function based 'social' music of the first generation migrant population towards a more integrated sound that the new generation could call their own and affiliate with musicians of other genre's and other social / society circles.

Shin - (DCS):

"I was from a generation who had grown up listening to The Beatles as well as the traditional Punjabi music. When I first heard Alaap it was amazing, I heard a really 'dancy' bass line and suddenly here was something that was about dancing to a disco beat. It was not just the music of weddings anymore".

It ignited his passion in creating a new sound himself and whilst entering a Mohammed Rafi competition he met the other members of what was to become DCS. They took the mantle that had been created by Alaap and also began to incorporate synths, electric guitars and a break from the traditional dhol music.

A key piece of work charting the look and feel of the emergence of Bhangra would be 'Bhangra: Birmingham and Beyond' By Dr Rajinder Dudrah a Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at the University of Manchester.

This work was produced with Punch records Ammo Talwar and photographer/ writer Boy Chana who produced the Soho Road to the Punjab photography exhibition and website and although there has been some from the industry who quite publicly criticized the book for various reasons and it's reliance on the excellent imagery at the expense of what they see as historical fact, it remains one of the only publicly accessible stories of Bhangra and for the 'uninitiated' is informative and enjoyable.

The book makes specific reference to a link between Bhangra and other 'displaced' music movements such as Jazz and Northern Soul when referencing impact of a social and creative reaction to Thatcher's Britain. However, from the start of this analysis it can be felt that despite the similarities in collective popular consciousness when defining such movements as the Wigan Casino - Northern Soul gigs or Jazz scenes both of which predate the Bhangra scene, there is felt to be one major difference with Bhangra; to a large extent Bhangra is something you grow up with.

Other genres can be arrived at out of the social context and community from which they were created. They are more accessible in an abstract way as genres and can be enjoyed largely by a population who are remote from the origins and meaning of the music and lyrics.

Bhangra, by contrast, appears to be so ingrained in the psyche of the Punjabi Indian heritage as to make its crossover to a popular culture in western terms very difficult. That is not to say that there are not certain levels under which a non Asian audience can appreciate it and these 'superficial' stylistic references define the West's understanding of what Bhangra is. The Dhol and the Tumbi etc. These elements translate well into other genres and are used to great effect in anything from Reggae to Rap - instantly recognizable.

To focus on the 'State' of Bhangra it is necessary to provide a context measured against western music practice and appreciation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhangra#cite_note-9

² http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CJjAuKDnQM

³ http://www.bhangrainbirmingham.co.uk

⁴ http://www.theunsignedguide.com

⁵ http://www.musicweek.com/mp_index.asp

⁶ What is now accepted as the music genre 'Bhangra' as apposed to the origins of the dance.

^{7 http://punjabgovt.nic.in/WELCOME.html}

^{8 http://www.dholblasters.com}

⁹ http://palvinderdhami.30feb.com/

¹⁰ http://medweb4.bham.ac.uk/websites/key_health_data/2003/chapters/ch02.htm

¹¹ http://www.gos.gov.uk/national/