Warmth of tradition

Jasmine Singh

lthough it’s the beginning of 2019, the high notes of Punjabi music are already creating waves. Still playing at invariably all parties, office get-together, weddings and discotheques, there are some Punjabi songs that refuse to burn out. 

Make some noise 

Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh opens his account in the first week of January with Thug Life, a peppy dance number written by Ranbir Singh. The music has been given by Jatinder Shah. The song already has 17,099,615 views. Putt Jatt Da with 60,412,171 views and Hi-end with 75,374,684, his songs are on top of the charts. 

DJ Goldy calls the singer the life of every party. “Whether it is Laembadgini, Putt Jatt Da, Gulabi Pagg or Thug Life, his songs can make even people with two left feet dance,” he says. 

Young guns

Young Punjabi singers are dominating the music scene for sure. Their songs throw in a generous mention of high-end brands; their songs are shot in exotic locales, with flashy cars and sexy models in the backdrop. Young Punjabi singer Jass Manak sits on the top with his song Prada enjoying 399,104,422 views. Punjabi singer Gurnam Bhullar wooed a pretty girl in his song Diamond that has the second highest views 280,843,378 views, hile Jassie Gill and Neha Kakkar’s Nikle Currant went viral with 278,178,974 views. 

Yet another, Heartless by Badshah, featuring Aastha Gill and directed by Gurdas Maan’s son Gurickk G Mann, remains on the top of the charts with 128,834,959 views. It would be mandatory to mention heartthrob Garry Sandhu’s song Yeah Baby, which enjoys 116,110,963 views. “We now have a sharp focus on adding regional content to our library, given that most new users coming online are from smaller towns and villages. We are already seeing a massive surge in volumes of regional songs being streamed on Wynk and believe that this trend is set to play out in a big way in the coming years,” says Sameer Batra, CEO — Content and Apps, Bharti Airtel. 

Jatt’s the way 

And you thought, Jatt and his swag was out of fashion? Well, this young singer from Mansa, Sidhu Moose Wala, gets 29,815,121 views for his song Jatt Da Muqabala. The song has a hidden arithmetic game, ‘count the number of times Jatt Da Muqabalacomes in the song’. Close behind are infamously famous singer Mankirt Aulakh’s songs Daaru Band and Daang, still topping the music charts with 84,994,837 views and 69,491,539 views, respectively. 

Kulwinder Billa’s Light weight and Guru Randhawa’s Tere Tey enjoy an equal popularity, with 67,590,900 views and 67,489,008 views, respectively. Gurpreet Singh, the man behind One Digital Entertainment, has seen a marked change in the kinds of Punjabi music people have started enjoying, “It is very young and definitely foot-tapping. The lyrics are also relatable.”

jasmine@tribunemail.com