February 17, 2002

True definition of pop!
Anywhere else but in Pakistan is it easier to break into the world of showbiz. Be it the West or across the border, the new performers, especially actors and singers, get at least one chance to prove their mettle. The media, largely comprising of satellite channels, gives unremitting support to the neophytes resulting in a relentless supply of new talent. Even if one out of hundred succeeds, it makes up for the gap. The role the music channels play in elevating the new singers is not dispiriting and since they need something to feed their twenty-four hours of transmission too, both singers and music channels end up scratching each other’s back!

Tomboyish Falguni Pathak has been singing for around fifteen years. For the first decade or so, she performed at private gatherings and national functions. After being proclaimed the uncrowned princess of dandiya, she hatched dreams of pursuing an appropriate singing career. After her debut hit single Yaad piya Ki captivated audiences, she came under the spotlight of fame.

Falguni’s new album opens with Sawan main, a sweet song capturing the true spirit of the album. O Piya, the best song, follows with a tempting combination of her voice and lilting melody appealing to senses. Cham Cham Payalia, a well-composed song, takes into account limitations of her voice without requiring her to vary the pitch, tenor or surs!

The album has all the ingredients that her compeers like Tanya, Anamika, Rageshwari, and others have excelled in creating a market for: commercially viable music, pedestrian lyrics, and engaging videos. The only downside to this fad rampant is that none becomes a collectors item and all are a literal definition of the word pop — their popularity bubble pops within a few months and they have to come up with regular releases to stay in peoples memories. —Jawad Daud

Jazzy’s life
In the braggadocio world of South Asian music, bhangra rap is surely the one way ticket to stardom. Habitually confined to a lavishly choreographed video, supporting a hoard of scantily dressed women along with a remarkable lack of musical talent, the so-called Punjabi mundaas are a lucrative investment for the record labels. A few have managed to break the cycle and qualify for critical acclaim. A rather novice entry on the dissidents’ list is of Jazzy B.

Jazzy B is different in the way that he bridges the gap between Bally Sago and Sukhvinder Singh, between conventional Punjabi accent and a Glasgow district’s discotheque. With his second album Oh Keri, Jazzy B exhibits his profound art of fusion on tracks such as Dil and Oh Keri. The songs are infused with catchy upbeats and equally well delivered lines. The strongest virtues of the compositions are not only the music and the lyrics, but an amazingly accurate Punjabi accent. This permutation is what supersedes conventional works by competitors such as Sukhbir and Daler Mehndi.

But not all the spots of Oh Keri offer a joyride as quite a few tracks advocate their presence as mere album fillers. There’s a lot of room for improvement in songs like Naag as Jazzy B has given them a very sloppy treatment in terms of music. But over all, Oh Keri manages to get away with more As than Cs. If your collection is bhangra pop, then Oh Keri definitely deserves a place among them. —Arsalan Zaheer