I’m not sure if this is Desihall III or Indocrunk Part Few, but any way you chop it its been a banner week for weird fusions of Bollywood dancehall and Bhangra-more club, aftershocks from the eruption of daku-consciousness into First World brainspace that was Slumdog Millionaire. First, the reigning queen of bhangra DJ Rekha (full disclosure: my partner from Basement Bhangra) hit me with a preview of her bhangrified dub of Major Lazer’s “Pon di Floor.” Then she texted to say she was backing Wyclef and Cyndi Lauper (??) on the Letterman show, as they performed a track called, yes, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
GP80 Desihall Blend
A.R. Rahman, “Urvasi Urvasi” (Eddie STATS Buyout refix)
Damian Marley, “Welcome to Jamrock” (RajStar Rahman Noodle refix)
Major Lazer f. Vybz Kartel “Pon di Floor” (DJ Rekha & RajStar dubplate)
HardKaur, “Move Your Body” (Johnny Gaddar OST)
Vybz Kartel, “Fashionable Girl” (Hindu Storm riddim)
Vegas, “Chop Out di Grass” (Hindu Storm riddim)
Pritam, “Aahun Aahun” (Love Aaj Kal OST)
Download: Ghetto Palms Desihall Blend
Rekha adds overpowering dhol and a soaring Punjabi vocal to the pitch-shift and patois of the original for the most chimerical club-killer of the year. The track—a Ghetto Palms exclusive but should be dropping nowish on the Mad Decent blog—is co-produced by frequent collaborator RajStar who I debuted here with his “Jai Hov” Slumdog refix in the previous Indocrunk blend. Based on the crazy response from that beat, he is dropping a whole mixtape of A.R. Rahman refixes soon entitled “Rahman Noodles,” of which the Jamrock mash-up is a free sample (also exclusive!). Raj didn’t have any plans for the Rahman-built “Urvasi,” which is my all-time Prabhu Devi guilty pleasure shit. Hence my own Buyout riddim refix, more proof of concept than mastermix, but I don’t think I effed it up too bad.
The rest comprises HardKaur’s “Move Your Body” with it’s speak-n-spell harmonium and UK decale snares, two pre-slumdog joints on the Hindu Storm riddim, and closing out with one of the big tunes from Love Aaj Kal, still the king of the Bollywood clash for now. And if that’s not enough Indocrunk for you, you can check Max Glazer at Dutty Chutney in Philly on Friday and/or come true SOBs and experience the assembled desi massive losing their minds at the Thanksgiving Eve-edition of Basement Bhangra. Holler at your bhai.