Finally I got my hands on the music album of “Singh is kinng”, one of the most hyped movies of the years because of being Katrina-Akshay’s another flick, the budget , Anees Bazmee (next after the blockbuster ‘Welcome’) and movie background.
The music of Singh is Kinng is given by “Pritam” and mainly dug into the english style of music, inclusive of rapping and bit of rock with typical Punjabi touch to it. And above all he roped in the rap superstar “Snoop Dogg” who is considered as the single most enduring rap/hip-hop success from the West Coast and he finally get Bollywood into the right groove. This album is a typical “Pritam” style album (after Kismat Konnection) with 12 tracks of which six are remix versions. Here is my take for the album
1. Singh Is Kinng’:Singh is Kinng is a excellent mix of punjabi feel and rapping frolics by famed rapper Snoop Dogg. RDB, the Punjabi band from UK, does a fair job in the progress of the song. The song starts with a few synth bars repeating over and over. Snoop represents that “Poonjaaabi”, RDB, Akshay and Snoop D O double g…with
*“Yo! Whaddup this is big Snoop Dogg, represent the Poonjabi, Ae Yo! Hit ‘em with this”
*And then after this rap starts the thump, yes its is nothing but sheer thump brilliantly amalgamates western and Indian style music and marks the opening of the album. In this song you are going to witness a vivacious variation in music from plain rapping beats to the bhangra effect and the groove is really racy. This RDB track composed by Calvin Broadus with Surjeet Singh, Manjeet Ral and Kuljeet Ral and is all of sure going to be a chartbuster number.
2.Jee Karda: After RDB, Pritam renders his punjabi bit with, “Jee Karda” which starts with Suzie Q’s latino influenced english vocals in and then Lab Janjua (who sung Soni de nakhre and Tauba main ) kicks in and carry the track with him. The track has an absolute fireball feel to it. The music arrangement follows the standard punjabi influenced dance fusion pattern with a lot of dhol and dhamak, but the melodic vocals really make a different. This is a song is surely going to be in the list of famous disc numbers.
Remix: Is ok with Extra beat, pace and rap
3.Bas Ek Kinng: After thumping “Jee Karda” Pritam now gives his version of the title track entitled ’Bas Ek Kinng’ and brings Mika Singh, Neeraj Shridhar, Ashish Pandit mike to mike with UK pop artist Hard Kaur. But let me tell you one thing, if you really wanna enjoy this track hear it on a high volume on a music system and chances are good that the number would leave you on a high. This song starts with a cool Rap rhythm by Hard kaur and then other singers join her. The best part of the song is the interesting gelling of Mika, Neeraj Shridhar and Ashish Pandit voices.
Remix: ’Bas Ek King (Tiger Style Remix)’ starts with Hard Kaur hyping up the remix (should have called as Tigress Remix) and has a stronger percussion beat. The higher beats doesn’t affect the song much but still it is not as good as the original one.
4. Bhootni ke: After 3 songs with HIP-HOP feel to it, Pritam brings "Bhootni Ke which is a typical punjabi wedding song and will soon be the flavor of the season. It is a rustic punjabi number that depicts the culture of punjab and the lyrics are lovely and remind you of folk punjabi songs. The song starts with a typical “Boliyan” in voice of King of Dhangra, Daler Mehndi who gives his power packed voice and provides for an entertaining number.*
Daler Mehendi’s vocals are simply amazing and the arrangements, tunes, beats are all off the mark here. Specially the chorus shouting of **“chak de” every now and then crooning "hoooo" and "hai" and the aggressive dhol percussion and drum beat with synth without a single dull moment(better to call him "Pritam Singh" now). This song may click with the masses because of its raw feel, but the others will choose to play the next track on the CD. A really good track, but one that is strictly for the bhangra lovers and the guys who love to go wild dancing madly. I can just imagine Akshay jumping around like a monkey.
Remix: The remix version by Dj Amyth works well. The twist comes as the track gets more rough and edgy with the “Tiger Mix” that fuses Mika singh behind the mike. But truly speaking Daler Paaji Rocks as Mika’s voice doesn’t carry the same tonal weight as his older brother.In this the dhol percussion, replaced with synths and a driving drum machine beat.
5. Teri Ore: after hilarious Bhootni ke, Pritam brings in "Teri ore" which is the only soft serenading love ballad on the album. This songs is crooned by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal. If you like slow romantic numbers then then chances are quite high that you would love ’Teri Ore’ which has proving yet again that they are an unmatchable couple when it comes to delivering a romantic duet. The song starts with some rajasthani music and chorus reciting rajasthani folk song and then Shreya sensitive singing holds the stage with Rahat.The song takes you with and brings you to a place which is free from the hustle-bustle of the city life and makes track a delightful hearing .Pritam gives us a beautiful musical arrangement with typical Indian touch to it which feels like oasis in desert.
Remix:Teri Ore (Lounge Mix) suffers from the woes of remix, and is resultantly Lounge-y only by name and in this song the romance has been taken away and replaced by “club-mance”. But still its audible
6. Talli hua: I think “TALLI” is the the flavor of the season. In this song Pritam’s lucky mascot Neeraj Sridhar now combines with Labh Jan Jua. This track is one killer dance track that is tailor made for the club and discs. To the perfect vocals by Neeraj Shridhar (particularly the way he repeats, “Dhoom Tana” as a sort of vocal percussive beat and “sorry sorry sorry sorry very sorry), this track’s baseline just drives into your brain. Efficient drum programming and perfect use of chores makes this song better than the average dance song.
Remix: Here we go, in this we have 90’s Indi-Pop icon Stylebhai to take part in this remix and make it even more powerful for the dance floor.
My Verdict: Guys, “Singh is Kinng” is a party album with to entice the punjabi audiences and moreover the NRI junta with especially the Snoop Dogg edition. This album is not meant for lovers of soft music but for the disco lovers and music channel crowds. Pritam again has created a very entertaining album that fits into a very precise niche: the Bhangra-hip-hop-techno-urban dance genre. If you are into that kind of music, you’ll love this album. I will give 4* out of 5 (for Punjabi music and Hiphop lovers) and will give 2 out of 5 for aam junta (who doesn’t understand Punjabi)