History of Bhangra

Although Bhangra has possibly existed since as long ago as 300 BC, over the past forty years it has experienced new highs in popularity and innovation. The term "Bhangra" has gradually evolved and now refers to many different sub-classes of dance and music for many occasions.

Origin 


While Bhangra historians speculate the dance may have originated in the time of the wars with Alexander, no one is sure it existed until about five hundred years ago. Around the 14th or 15th Century, Punjabi wheat farmers danced and sang songs about village life to help pass the time while working in the fields. With time, these became part of harvest celebrations at Vaisakhi (April 13) festivals, as the sight of their crops growing invigorated the farmers. From here the dance quickly moved through all divisions of class and education, eventually becoming a part of weddings, parties, and other important occasions

Today


Bhangra has come a long way in the 20th Century and has recently taken the entertainment industry by storm. In the 1970s and 1980s, many Punjabi singers from Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom emerged, setting the stage for Bhangra to become a hot new trend in dance music. Modern Bhangra artists, in addition to recording and performing traditional Bhangra, have also fused Bhangra with other music genres, such as hip-hop, reggae, house, and drum-and-bass.


1970's


In the late 1960s and 1970s, several singers from the Punjab set the stage for Bhangra to become a mass phenomenon. These singers, some of whom are still active today, include Kuldip Manak, Amar Singh Chamkila, and A. S. Kang.


Kuldip Manak, a Bhangra legend, has come to represent the ultimate Punjabi folk music icon. Malkit Singh, a current Bhangra star, says, "Kuldip Manak was one of my singing idols when I was growing up". He symbolizes the essence of Punjabi culture with regards to its history and people. Manak was raised into a musical family; his father was a singing priest in gurudwaras (Sikh temples) in Punjab.


Other artists that had a huge influence on the growth of Bhangra are Bhujangy, Asa Singh Mastana, Surinder Kaur and Parkash Kaur, Lalchand Yamla Jat, K. Deep and Jagmohan Kaur, and Alam Lohar.


1980's


It was not until the early eighties that Bhangra moved from "secluded halls and venues to the bright lights of the clubs and cities of England." First generation Asians were intrigued by their musical heritage, and helped bring Bhangra to the mainstream in their new country.


One of the biggest Bhangra stars of the last several decades is Malkit Singh - known as "the golden voice of the Punjab" - and his group, Golden Star. Malkit was born in June 1963, in the village Hussainpur, in Punjab. In 1983 he won a gold medal at the University of Guru Nanak, in Amritsar, Punjab, for performing his hit song Gurh Naloo Ishq Mitha, which later featured on his first album, Nach Gidhe Wich, released in 1984. The album was a strong hit among South Asians worldwide, and after its release Malkit and his band moved to the United Kingdom to continue their work. Malkit has now produced 16 albums and has toured 27 countries in his Bhangra career.


Gurdaas Mann also had a huge impact on Bhangra music. He started his career in 1982 with his first album, Dil Da Mamla. Since then he has become an idol for many, not only for his musical talent, but also his acting ability. He appeared in the Punjabi film Long Da Lishkara, which included the mega hit Challa. Since 1982 Gurdass Mann has released a number of hit albums, performed at sold-out concerts around the world and recently released the hugely popular single, Apna Punjab.


Several other influential groups appeared around the same time, including Apna, from Birmingham, and the Bhujungy Group. Apna, most famously known for their hit Mera Yaar Vajavey Dhol, are still performing and are known as one of the best live acts in Bhangra.


1990's


Bhangra took massive steps toward mainstream credibility in the 1990s, especially among youths. At the beginning of the nineties, many artists returned to the original, folk beats of Bhangra, often incorporating more dhol drum beats and tumbi. This time also saw the rise of several young Punjabi singers.


Another singer is Jazzy Bains. Originally from Namasher in Punjab, "Jazzy B," as he is commonly referred to, has become one of the preeminent Bhangra artists in the world after his debut in 1992. Having sold over 55,000 copies of his second album, Folk and Funky, he is now one of the best-selling Bhangra artists in the world, with a vocal style likened to that of Kuldip Manak. Although his music has a traditional Punjabi beat, Jazzy Bains has taken up a particularly modern, thug-like image for himself, perhaps helping his popularity in the process.


Surjit Bindrakhia, some might say, had arguably the most powerful and versatile voice of any modern Bhangra singer. Featuring a throaty and wide-ranging voice, Bindrakhia is the most successful traditional artist in the world, producing most of his music in India. He has been famous in Punjab for many years, but he only reached worldwide notoriety with Dupatta Tera Sat Rang Da, one of the most popular Bhangra songs of all time. There are more sustained dhol beats in Bindrakhia`s work than in that of most UK-based Bhangra artists.


Other influential Bhangra artists include Surinda Shinda - famous for his Putt Jattan Da, Harbhajan Mann, Manmohan Waris, Sarbjit Cheema, Hans Raj Hans, Sardool Sikander, Geet the MegaBand, Anakhi, Sat Rang, XLNC, B21, Shaktee, Intermix, Sahara, Paaras, PDM, DCS, Amar Group, Sangeet Group, and Bombay Talkie.


Pop & Remixes


Many South Asian DJs, especially in America, have mixed Bhangra music with house, reggae, and hip-hop to add a different flavor to Bhangra. These remixes continued to gain popularity as the nineties came to an end.
Of particular note among remix artists is Bally Sagoo, a Punjabi-Sikh, Anglo-Indian raised in Birmingham, England. Sagoo described his music as "a bit of tablas, a bit of the Indian sound.


The continued success and growth of Bhangra music worldwide has provided the impetus for many different offshoots from traditional Bhangra. The most popular of these is Daler Mehndi, a Punjabi singer from India, and his music, known as "Bhangra Pop." Mehndi has become a major name not just in Punjab, but also all over India, with tracks such as Bolo Ta Ra Ra and Ho Jayegee Balle Balle. He has made the sound of Bhangra-pop a craze amongst many non-Punjabis in India, selling many millions of albums. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment is the selling of 250,000 albums in Kerela, a state in the South of India where Punjabi is not spoken.


Toward the end of the decade, Bhangra continued its assault on mainstream culture, with artists like Bally Sagoo and Apache Indian signing with international recording labels Sony and Island. Moreover, Multitone Records, one of the major recording labels associated with Bhangra in Britain in the eighties and nineties, was bought by BMG. Finally, a recent Pepsi commercial launched in Britain featured South Asian actors and Bhangra music. This, perhaps more than anything else, is a true sign of the emergence of Bhangra into popular culture.


Competitions


Bhangra competitions have been held in the Punjab for many decades. However, now universities and other organizations have begun to hold annual Bhangra dance competitions in many of the main cities of the United States, Canada, and England. At these competitions, young Punjabi's, other South Asians, and people with no South Asian background compete for money and trophies. This synergy of the Bhangra dance with other cultures' parallels the music`s fusion with different genres. University competitions have experienced an explosion in popularity over the last three years.   For example, Bhangra Blowout, hosted by George Washington University on 1 April 2000, sold out to a crowd of 4,000 people, with scalpers reportedly getting $80 per ticket at the door. Competitions, such as these, help to promote the dance and music in mainstream culture.


Onwards


Beginning as a form of lively folk music performed at harvests in the Punjab, Bhangra has evolved remarkably over the past five hundred years. The music now fully represents the culture of the Punjab region, and the struggles of its people in their long and storied history. Moreover, the music and dance still evolves today, incorporating elements of many different kinds of music and dance from around the world, while still existing in its traditional form. Thanks to this diversification, Bhangra now reaches a larger audience than ever, all over the world. Bhangra competitions at universities in England, Canada, and America, as well as Southeast Asia, help to further the dance`s popularity. A person can easily expect Bhangra to continue its movement into mainstream culture well into the 21st Century.