Where positive collaboration and cultural appropriation begin and end exists in a sandstorm of situational bias and questions of artistic authenticity. (Erick Sermon’s “React,” Method Man and Redman’s “What’s Happenin’” and Jay Z and Kanye West’s “The Bounce” had incorporated Bollywood samples, and were released within a year of each other.) Perhaps this was in order to ride a wave of growing interest in desi instrumentalism. His ’03 hit “Indian Flute” initially sampled Colombian artist Totó La Momposina’s ’92 track “Curura,” but in adding a Hindi vocal from Mumbai-born singer Rajeshwari Sachdev, he would effectively erase the South American connection. Intrigued by South Asian-sounding beats, US producer Timbaland looked to Punjabi music to create signature templates for Aaliyah and Missy Elliott, among others. By the early ’00s, this cross-cultural inspiration had evolved in the pop world with complex consequences. The deceptive simplicity of its polyrhythmic patterns remained popular well into the late ’90s, prompting artists such as Punjabi MC to elaborate upon and draw people’s attention to the style (notable examples include his collaboration with Jay-Z, “Beware”) by concentrating heavily on the Dhol and Tumbi elements of their tracks. By taking instruments like the Dhol and the Tumbi and experimenting with UK-centric electronic music genres such as garage, the UK desi diaspora created bhangra. Like other cultural groups before them, a generation of Punjabi migrants were searching for a sound that spoke to their experience.
To find out how the traditional instrumentation of the Punjabi region of pre-partition India and Pakistan came to be the blueprint for some of dancehall’s biggest crossover hits, we need to rewind to the ’80s. Short of the 180 listed entries of the track on the Riddimbase archive, there are hundreds that use its infectious framework still waiting to be categorized.
Though it’s formed the foundation of hits such as Sean Paul’s “Get Busy,” Wayne Wonder’s “No Letting Go,” Lumidee’s “Uh Oh” and Brick & Lace’s “Love is Wicked,” the true and lasting influence is both far reaching and difficult to ascertain. Fast-forward hundreds of years and “Diwali Riddim” has looped back on itself, with collaborations with ’00s UK desi diasporic musicians as well as US and Caribbean hip hop, dancehall and R&B artists.
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