Wyclef and Kylie follow Snoop Dogg to Bollywood
Artists from the West have Found a New Audience in the East
Jun 25, 2009
The current economic climate combined with the impact of Illegal music downloads has made it necessary for artists to expose themselves to new audiences. In search of new fans artists from the west are heading to Bollywood.
Snoop Dogg does Bhangra
Last year US rapper Snoop Dogg made his debut in Bollywood. He performed on the title track for the film Singh is Kingh. Despite having a weak screenplay and receiving bad reviews the film went on to smash box office records. The reason for it's success can only be attributed to the Snoop Dogg song.
With a combination of Hindi,Punjabi and English lyrics the track successfully fused Hip Hop with Bhangra and became a instant hit at the Mumbai nightclubs. The song made it to the top of the Bollywood music charts even before the release of the film.
Kylie Minogue in Collaboration with A R Rahman
The news of Snoop Dogg's success was overshadowed with rumors that Kylie Minogue had been signed up to sing in a Bollywood film. Earlier this year it was confirmed in the Indian media that Kylie will be performing a song in the Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar starer Blue. The song will be composed by the double Oscar winning composer A R Rahman.
Kylie Minougue was seen with A R Rahman at the 62nd BAFTA awards ceremony. She presented the award for best music to A R Rahman for the soundtrack of the film Slumdog Millionaire.
Wyclef Jean Remixes with Abhishek Bachchan
A couple of years ago it was reported in the Hindustan Times that Wyclef Jean will be releasing an album featuring Abhishek Bachchan, as so much time had passed it seemed nothing had come of it. It has now been confirmed that Wyclef will be releasing a remix version of the song Hollywood meets Bollywood from his album Carnival Volume 2: Memoirs of an Immigrant.
The original album version of Hollywood meets Bollywood was composed by popular Bollywood music director Aadesh Srivastava. The remix version will have Mumbai superstar Abhishek Bachchan rapping Hindi lyrics that pay tribute to his father Amitabh Bachchan.
Judging by the success of Abhishek's last hip hop outing: Right Here Right Now from the film Blufmaster it is expected the song Hollywood meets Bollywood will create waves in the Bollywood music scene.
It is now being reported that Justin Timberlake wants to work with Aadesh Srivastava. Looks like Bollywood artists will have to up their game as now they will be sharing their platform with A-list musicians from the west.
