Punjabi by Nature | |
---|---|
Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Bhangra |
Years active | 1993 | –2000
Labels | Westpark |
Past members | Raffa Dean Paul Dhanjal Chris Hess Tony Singh Tesfa Campbell Jason Filiatrault Shameema Soni Ivana Santilli |
Punjabi by Nature was a seven piece bhangra band founded in Toronto in 1993. [1] They were nominated for a Juno Award for Best Global Album at the Juno Awards of 1996, for their album Jmpn For Joy. [2]
Punjabi by Nature were unique in the bhangra genre in that they were emphatic that their music was not targeted exclusively toward ethnic Indo-Canadians, but people of all nationalities and ethnic groups. [3] They blended traditional bhangra with hip hop, reggae and dance elements, featuring both Punjabi language lyrics sung by lead singer Tony Singh and English lyrics sung or rapped by the supporting musicians. [1]
Singh recorded the demo cassette Goonda Gardi in 1993 before putting together a full band to record Jmpn for Joy. [4] Other band members included Raffa Dean, Paul Dhanjal, Chris Hess, Tesfa Campbell, Jason Filiatrault, Shameema Soni and Ivana Santilli, with Singh noting that he chose his collaborators based on what they could play rather than their race or skin colour. [5] They performed as a backing band for Lillian Allen at the 1994 Kumbaya Festival. [6]
Jmpn for Joy received widespread airplay on Canadian radio and MuchMusic, particularly for their bhangrified cover of KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)". [7]
They followed up with the album Raise the Roof in 1999, [8] although by this time they were perceived as having missed the wave of interest in Indian music sparked by Cornershop's 1997 hit "Brimful of Asha", [8] and the album did not meet with the same success as Jmpn for Joy.
They subsequently broke up, although they briefly reunited in 2011 to perform at a special event celebrating the premiere of Breakaway , a comedy film about an Indo-Canadian hockey player. [9]
Bhangra is a type of non-traditional music of Punjab originating from the Punjab region.
Chutney music is a fusion genre of Indian folk music, specifically Bhojpuri folk music, with Caribbean calypso and soca music, and later with Bollywood music. This genre of music that developed in Trinidad and Tobago is popular in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, and South Africa. Chutney music emerged mid-20th century and reached a peak of popularity during the 1980s. Several sub-genres have developed.
Music of Punjab reflects the traditions of the Punjab region associated with Punjabi language. Punjab is currently divided into two parts: East Punjab, in India, and West Punjab, the most populous province of Pakistan. The Punjab has diverse styles of music, ranging from folk and Sufi to classical, notably the Patiala gharana. Contemporary Punjabi music has tended to include more modern hip-hop and R&B sounds. While this style of music is obviously most popular in Punjab, it has seen popularity across the subcontinent and areas with large Punjabi diaspora populations, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Manmohan Singh Heer(Manmohan Waris) (born 3 August 1967) is an Indian Punjabi folk/pop singer. He is the elder brother of record producer Sangtar and singer Kamal Heer. Waris is considered one of the most gifted singers of Punjabi folk music.
Swami is a British Indian electronic music/ bhangra/ world music act from Birmingham, England. "Swami" is also the pseudonym of the DJ producer Diamond Duggal. Swami currently performs as a hybrid electronic DJ act with special world music guests and collaborations including Deep Forest and PunjabTronix.
Kuldeep Manak, also spelled as Kuldip Manak, was an Indian singer best known for singing a rare genre of Punjabi music, kali, also known by its plural form kalian or kaliyan. Manak is generally regarded as one of the greatest Punjabi artists of all time. His high pitched strong voice was unique, and instantly recognisable. A statue of Manak has been erected in Ludhiana near his residence as a tribute.
Harcharanjit Singh Rupal, known professionally as Channi Singh, is a British-Indian bhangra musician, known as the "godfather" of bhangra in the West.
No Reservations is the debut studio album by British-Asian musician Apache Indian, released in January 1993 by Island Records and their subsidiary Mango. The musician and singer recorded the album primarily in Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios with producers including Simon and Diamond, Bobby Digital, Phil Chill and Sly Dunbar. It follows, and includes, Apache Indian's 1990–91 singles – "Move Over India", "Chok There" and "Don Raja" – which saw him pioneer a fusion of Jamaican ragga and Indian bhangra later known as bhangramuffin.
Sukhbir Singh is an Indian singer. He is often referred to as the "Prince of Bhangra". His Bhangra music varied from fusion to pure Punjabi at times.
Bikram Singh is an American bhangra music artist. A graduate of Touro Law School, he also works as an attorney in New York City.
Jaswinder Singh Bains, better known by his stage name Jazzy B, is an Indo-Canadian singer and songwriter of Punjabi music, he has also worked in Indian films mainly Punjabi and Hindi.
Paramjit Singh Sidhu, professionally known as Pami Bai, is an Indian singer, songwriter and Bhangra dancer from Patiala.
The Punjabi diaspora consists of the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region in the northern part of the South Asia to the rest of the world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and Indian diasporas. The Punjabi diaspora numbers around the world has been given between 3 and 5 million, mainly concentrated in Britain, Canada, the United States, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
Danny Greenspoon is a Canadian music producer, music engineer, guitar player and film composer mainly in the Canadian music industry. Greenspoon is also the president of "The Audio Truck Inc.", a mobile recording studio recording materials for television, radio, and record. From 1989 to 1996, he was a recording producer for CBC Radio in Toronto producing recordings of jazz, popular music, folk music, country music and world music, for broadcast and commercial release, and from 2004 to 2016 he did most of the live recording for JazzFM91.
Heera Group UK is a bhangra music band that originated in the early 1980s. Also known as the pioneers of British Bhangra, and one of the most successful British Bhangra bands in history. The lead singers are Palvinder Dhami and Jasvinder Kumar.
Breakaway is a 2011 Canadian English-language sports-comedy film directed by Robert Lieberman, and produced by Akshay Kumar and Paul Gross. The film stars Vinay Virmani in his debut performance opposite Camilla Belle, with Rob Lowe, Russell Peters and Anupam Kher in pivotal roles. It also features Akshay Kumar, Drake and Ludacris in cameo roles. In addition, this was the last film directed by Lieberman before his death in July 2023. The film also contains songs in Hindi and Punjabi.
Punjabi folk music is the traditional music on the traditional musical instruments of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. There is a great repertoire of music from the time of birth through the different stages of joy and sorrow till death. The folk music invokes the traditions as well as the hardworking nature, bravery and many more things that the people of Punjab get from its gateway-to-India geographical location. Due to the large area with many sub-regions, the folk music has minor lingual differences but invokes the same feelings. The sub-regions, Malwa, Doaba, Majha, Pothohar, and hills areas, have numerous folk songs. Punjabi dance OP Bhangra music which is a genre of Punjabi modern music invented in Britain by the Punjabi diaspora..But Nowadays, many people are singing songs written by a single person as traditional folk songs because of the emotional meaning of the song like "Babul meriaan gudiaan tere ghar reh gayiaan" while this song was written by Harjinder Bal. And sung by Harbhajan Mann.Because a folk song should not be written by an individual but by the entire social group. Therefore, this song is not a traditional folk song but an emotional song.
South Asian Canadians in Metro Vancouver are the third-largest pan-ethnic group in the region, comprising 369,295 persons or 14.2 percent of the total population as of 2021. Sizable communities exist within the city of Vancouver along with the adjoining city of Surrey, which houses one of the world's largest South Asian enclaves.
PBN or Punjabi By Nature is a UK-based Indian music producer, singer and songwriter, specialising in bhangra and Asian fusion productions, working with a great number of Desi music artists mainly based in the UK, beginning with the early 2000s. He is signed to Limitless Records and Playback Records. He has also formed TeamPBN as a collaborative project with Bambi, Raj Bains and Serena. Throughout his career, he has become well-known not only in his native UK, but in India, Europe, the Middle East, United States and Canada, Australia and, in general, the Asian music market. His productions are used extensively in night venues, DJ events and on BBC Asian Network and its weekly chart.
Luv Randhawa is a Canadian-British singer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Luv is known for his debut mainstream album entitled Believe In Me which Hit #2 on iTunes R&B/ soul charts. He also known for his solo album This Side of Luv, which was released in 2011. According to CKYE-FM, Luv is the pioneer of the Bhangra Fusion Movement in the western hemisphere.