Asian underground is a term associated with variousBritish Asian,South Asian Canadian,South Asian American andDutch South Asian musicians (mostlyIndian,Pakistani,Bangladeshi andSri Lankan) who blend elements ofWestern undergrounddance music and the traditionalAsian music of their home countries inSouth Asia. The sound has roots in theSouth Asian Diaspora, and many notable musicians within the genre are immigrants or children of immigrants.[1] The first well-known mention was thecompilation albumAnokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground released in1997 and masterminded byTalvin Singh and Sweety Kapoor.[2] It is not a strict musical genreper se, since the specific sounds can vary wildly (fromCornershop'sBollywood-influencedBritpop toPanjabi MCs'bhangra-influencedjungle).
In the 1980s, performances of folk music evolved into thebhangra music genre, which would later become more mainstream in the 1990s and 2000s.[3] In the1990s, Asian underground was consideredhip and broke through to the mainstream, with artists such asApache Indian andCornershop frequently entering the UK charts, with the former's "Boom Shack-A-Lak" (1993) appearing in many popular movies and the latter topping the charts with "Brimful of Asha" in 1998. The genre and other forms of South Asian music began to influence Europe's pop mainstream as acts likeBjörk,[4]Erasure, andSiouxsie and the Banshees all released singles or remixes featuring South Asian instrumentation.Talvin Singh, known for his innovative fusion ofIndian classical music withdrum and bass, subsequently won aMercury Music Prize for his albumOK in1999.[5]
Asian underground music initially had only little influence onpopular Indian music on the sub-continent, where it was usually branded underworld music.[6] While several Asian underground artists such asApache Indian, Trickbaby andBally Sagoo gained fame in India, it was only afterPanjabi MC's international hit "Mundian To Bach Ke" that British-Asian underground music could compete with domestic Indian artists likeShankar Mahadevan andRemo Fernandes, in addition to attracting worldwide audiences.[7] It was followed by the globally successfulRishi Rich Project, consisting of producerRishi Rich and artistsJay Sean,Mumzy Stranger,Juggy D andVeronica Mehta. They were one of the first groups to fuseBhangra music withcontemporary R&B and found tremendous success in India after their songs were featured in mainstreamBollywood soundtracks such asBoom,Kya Kool Hai Hum andHum Tum. Since then, Asian underground music has exerted some influence on mainstreamIndian pop music.[8]
Asian underground music has also influenced mainstream Americanhip hop, R&B andurban music in the 2000s, including artists such asTimbaland,Truth Hurts,Jay-Z,Snoop Dogg,Missy Elliott andBritney Spears. According toDJ Green Lantern, "Indian beats have now become a fixture on the R&B scene".[9] Music produced by theAsian Dub Foundation has also been featured on the soundtracks for popularvideo games such asNeed For Speed Underground.[10] Several former Asian underground artists such asM.I.A. andJay Sean have gone on to achieve mainstream success in the North Americanmusic industry, where they produced mainstream songs such as "Paper Planes" and "Down" that have charted highly on (and in the latter case, topped) theBillboard Hot 100.[11]
Asian underground uses many traditional and relatively new instruments. Its primary ones aresitar andtabla, and almost all artists use an electronic or acousticdrum kit and/orsynthesizer. Some groups likeTabla Beat Science use anelectric bass. Various other instruments, including thedholak,sarangi, andbansuri are also sometimes used. Vocals can be found as an instrument of emotional expression on many Asian underground recordings.[12]
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