The Expats: Bhang That Drum

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The dhol drum and the sitar fire on all cylinders, and the song explodes. Everyone dances unabashedly, their costumes as colorful as their spirit, smiles big across their faces. That is bhangra today, a spirited take on Punjabi folk music and dance. You’d swear you were in Lahore, but bhangra was born in Birmingham.

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Lyrics underlying the playful beats actually speak of the the fight for freedom from the English colonists. In 1947 when India shook British rule off its back, independence was bittersweet — the Punjab was split between India and Pakistan and massive emigration ensued, due to water shortages and relentless violence. Eight million fled and many ended up in the U.K. looking for work.

Setting up in Birmingham and other industrial cities, Punjabs got their cultural groove back. First- and second-generation immigrants in the 1970s began to combine folk songs from their home with more Western beats. The dhol drum holds down the rhythm, creating a high-bass beat while the singers and dancers tell stories of their homeland’s past through energetic stunts and synchronized spirit.

There is talk that bhangra existed as early as 300 B.C., but no doubt it took the limelight around the 1500s as a tradition and outlet for the local farmers to memorialize life’s highs and lows and, simply, to pass the time. Its euphoric rhythm and heartfelt lyrics came to be a cultural staple, and bhangra was integrated into harvest celebrations, weddings and holidays.

Today, bhangra music plays the same role in society, though its sound has evolved. There are stringed instruments and other drums, which give it history, but tradition is also now mixed with hip-hop and house music. It is a fusion of then and now, there and here. The “golden age” of this new genre in England dulled in the 1990s, with traditional Punjabi folksingers regaining popularity. But at the same time, the renewed bhangra fever spread back to the Punjab itself. The music went full circle, drumming up the past with the energy of the future.

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