International Villager

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International Villager
International Villager (album cover).jpg
Official album cover
Studio album by
Released11 November 2011
Recorded2009–11
Genre pop, pop rap, bhangra, R&B
Length55:42
LanguagePunjabi, Hindi, English
Label Speed Records
Times Music
Yo Yo Honey Singh chronology
International Villager
(2011)
Desi Kalakaar
(2014)
Singles from Studio
  1. "Dope Shope"
    Released: 10 November 2011
  2. "Gabru"
    Released: 11 December 2011
  3. "Angreji Beat"
    Released: 29 December 2011
  4. "Goliyan"
    Released: 25 January 2012
  5. "Brown Rang"
    Released: 28 February 2012
  6. "Get Up Jawani"
    Released: 30 April 2012

International Villager is the debut studio album by Yo Yo Honey Singh. The album containing 14 tracks was officially released on 11 November 2011. [1] It was one of the first Indian rap albums to reach commercial and mainstream success. [2]

Contents

Production

From 2009-10 onwards, while producing music for several Punjabi artists, Singh had simultaneously started work on his own debut studio album. Singh being an award winning music producer in Punjab for 3 years, wanted to create an album which would be according to his own thought and his own taste. In an interview with Radio City, Yo Yo Honey Singh stated that the song "Brown Rang" was originally written for Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh. He claimed that he co-wrote the song and created its beats with Dosanjh in 2010, and had even offered him the opportunity to sing the track. Diljit denied stating that the track had parts of English and was too futuristic for him. Singh then took it to Jassi Sidhu who sang it on a higher scale than what Singh had conceived for the track. At last, Singh himself performed it. [3]

In December 2024, Speed Records released the original music video for the track "Angreji Beat" from the album, which was originally shelved by Gippy Grewal and Singh due to the music video's supposed transgressive nature. The two instead, chose to release a low budgeted music video instead involving a story of Fake Singh and Gippy Grewal called upon to a marriage function to perform. [4]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Brown Rang" Yo Yo Honey Singh 3:31
2."Angreji Beat"Yo Yo Honey Singh, Gippy Grewal, Veet Baljit4:16
3."Goliyan" Diljit Dosanjh, Yo Yo Honey Singh3:37
4."Dope Shope"Yo Yo Honey Singh, Deep Money3:13
5."Gabhru"J Star3:38
6."Aashke"Money Aujla3:35
7."Beautiful" Malkit Singh 5:36
8."Yadaan" Sardool Sikander, Yo Yo Honey Singh3:59
9."Garaari"Meet Malkit3:54
10."Sambhle"Manak Ali3:40
11."Head Banger"Yo Yo Honey Singh, Escape4:52
12."Yaad" Romey Gill 4:46
13."Get Up Jawani" Badshah, Yo Yo Honey Singh3:48
14."Mujh Ko Jaane Do" Raj Brar 3:12
Total length:55:42

Reception

The album catapulted Singh, to superstardom. The album's hit track, "Angreji Beat," became an anthem for party-goers across India and beyond. Honey Singh soon became a household name, with his songs dominating the charts, whether it was in Bollywood films or independent releases. Tracks like "Brown Rang," "Dope Shope," and "Desi Kalakaar" showcased his versatility as an artist, blending different musical styles and languages to create music that was uniquely his own. [5] [6] [7]

International Villager became one of the highest grossing Punjabi albums of all time in 2015. [8] One of the album's track "Gabru", featuring J-Star, quickly climbed to the top of the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts. [9]

The track "Brown Rang"'s music video was released on 28 February 2012 and became YouTube's most trending video of 2012. It won the top spot in the list of YouTube's most watched videos of 2012 in India with over 10 million views. The song has received over 600 million views on YouTube. [10] [11] [12] [13]

The track "Angreji Beat" from the album, featured in Saif Ali Khan's 2012 Bollywood film, Cocktail. [14]

By 2012, Singh set a record for the highest fee ever paid to an artist for a Bollywood song, reportedly receiving 7 million rupees (US$84,000) for tracks in the movies Cocktail and Mastaan. However as film Mastaan got shelved he eventually sang his first Hindi song in Cocktail. [15] [16]

Awards

Controversies

In an interview with Raaj Jones of OYE! 104.8 FM on 16 June 2015, Badshah discussed the work he had done with Honey Singh, including the song "Brown Rang." He stated that he and Honey Singh co-wrote the track together. [19] Badshah in recent years has gone back on this claim and has instead stated to have written the entire track and also accused Singh for not giving him proper credits for the track in several podcast and interviews. [20] Badshah also allegedly left Mafia Mundeer a few months after the release of the album, while also stating that Singh was instead only focusing on his own career. [21]

Singh has denied these claims reiterating that the song "Brown Rang" was originally written for Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh and was co-written with Dosanjh in 2010 while its entire music was produced by Singh himself. Singh also clarified that Badshah was never a part of Mafia Mundeer as he was not a talent picked up from the streets and instead was just a client for him. [22]

Former member of Mafia Mundeer and fellow rapper, Raftaar split from Mafia Mundeer due to credit-related problems, most notably for the track "Dope Shope" from Singh's album, which Raftaar claims writing the rap part. [23] He also appeared in the music video for a few seconds and alleged that his scenes were also cut. [24]

After the release of Singh's track "Party With The Bhoothnath", Raftaar released his track "Swag Mera Desi" in 2013 with Manj Musik. The line in the track "Ab yeh karke dikhao" (transl.Now try to do this) from the song was interpreted as a subliminal directed towards fellow rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh, [25] who used the same phrase in his song. This led to a dispute between the two rappers in media. [26]

References

  1. "International Villager (Yo Yo Honey Singh)". Spotify . Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  2. "Honey Singh is YouTube's most trending Indian of 2012". NDTV. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  3. Radio City India (21 July 2022). Yuvi Di Khabbi Seat - Episode 1 ft. Yo Yo Honey Singh talking about working with Badshah again? . Retrieved 25 July 2025 via YouTube.
  4. "Yo Yo Honey Singh, Gippy Grewal's Angreji Beat by Times Music is Back After 13 Years. Music Video Out Now". 10 December 2024.
  5. "The Rise and Evolution of India's Rap Sensation". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  6. Singh, Daljit. "Yo Yo Honey Singh Announces New Album 'Glory'". Pz10 Music News. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  7. "Pop revivalist & controversy's favourite child: A look at Yo Yo Honey Singh's spectacular rise and fall". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  8. "15 facts to know about Rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh". Hindustan Times. 15 March 2015.
  9. "Asian Music Chart on 25/12/2011". Official Charts .
  10. "Brown Rang on YouTube". YouTube . 27 February 2012.
  11. "PUNJABI RAPPER HONEY SINGH'S BROWN RANG IS THIS YEAR'S YOUTUBE STAR". NDTVMovies.com.
  12. "Yo! Yo! Honey Singh tops the chart of trending videos of 2012". India Today. 18 December 2012.
  13. "Honey Singh's 'Brown Rang' most trending video of 2012". www.realbollywood.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  14. "Honey Singh grooves Bollywood 'Angreji Beat Te'". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. "Honey Singh set to conquer Bollywood". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  16. "Honey Singh paid highest fee for song". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  17. "MTV award for Yo Yo".
  18. "Honey Singh sings Brown rang for desi girl Priyanka". India Today. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  19. Raaj Jones (16 June 2015). BADSHAH - MUST WATCH INTERVIEW (TALKING ABOUT BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN & MAFIA MUNDEER) . Retrieved 25 July 2025 via YouTube.
  20. "Badshah reignites feud with Honey Singh over 'Brown Rang' credits: 'I wrote it, not him'". The Times of India. 24 July 2025.
  21. "Badshah opens up about his beef with Honey Singh, says he was self-centered". The Times of India. 18 July 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  22. "यो यो हनी सिंह का बड़ा खुलासा, "बादशाह कभी भी 'माफिया मुंडीर' का हिस्सा नहीं था"". 31 August 2024.
  23. Ghosh, Sankhayan (1 November 2015). "Style south, Operation north: Rap star Raftaar on his Malayali roots, popularity in Punjab". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 May 2025. "I wrote most of Dope Shope and was promised that I'd be given my due. When the final product appeared, Honey appeared all over the video, even singing lines that I'd sung," — Raftaar said.
  24. Kavya (12 October 2024). ""Honey Singh made me feel very small", says Raftaar. Exclusive". mirchi.in. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  25. "Yo Yo, Raftaar rap up another row". Hindustan Times. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  26. "Yo Yo caught in a fresh controversy with Punjabi rapper Raftaar". India Today. Retrieved 8 May 2014.