BHANGRA BEATS IN THE BAY AREA AND BACK DOWN

My interest in Development stems from my Indian ethnicity. My older brother and I were born in Los Angeles - our parents in India. We, like many other first generation Americans, sometimes feel the need to concentrate on our ‘roots’. It is not always the case, but often times children of immigrant parents in the US grow up with exposure to their ‘root culture’ through the household – this may include what they eat, what music is listened to, and what language is spoken at home. As a result of growing up in one country and experiencing parts of a culture that may seem incongruous to what exists in their country of birth, many first generationers desire fusing their ethnic background into their national identity in such a way that they do not lose either. I strongly feel that I fall into this category and that many of my closest friends do as well.

The title of this entry uses the very famous lyrics of hip-hop artist, Tupac Shakur, from his song, California Love. Music has always been a love of mine. Although not a musician myself, I developed dancing feet at an early age, and I believe my ear for tunes began then. Bhangra is the ever popular folk music of Punjab. Many are familiar with its recognizable sound and dance as it is increasingly becoming a part of mainstream North American and European pop music. My family is Punjabi and we proudly accept this incredibly fun form of recreation as our own. Growing up in LA and spending my pre-teen and teenage years in the 90s, I grew up listening to Grundge and quickly moved on to Hip-Hop. The beginnings of Hip Hop on the West Coast of the US is a phenomenon that has fascinated so many that there are no bounds to the extensive mass of literature and video that one can find on the subject. As a first generationer living in a privileged, ethnically homogenous community of Los Angeles County, I saw something exciting about Hip-Hop – I obviously couldn’t fully identify with the struggles that were spoken about in songs, but I did find something in the beats and lyrics that formed a rhythm that I found more apt to my taste than other genres of music.

I believe that music joins all sides of the world. Bhangra beats in American Hip Hop is the connection between my two sides that reign from opposite ends of the globe.