As I continue with my posts, I must say and mention Panjabi MC (PMC) as a major breakthrough artist to make groundbreaking leaps for Indian Music go mainstream. Panjabi MC, hails from the United Kingdom and is a force to be reckoned with in regards to Punjabi Music. In around 1999, Panjabi MC released the now infamous album titled 'Legalised'. Legalised featured Gurdas Mann, Surinder Shinda, Yamla Jatt & Labh Janjua. This album was an underground album, and this album set record sales worldwide through the roof. I personally did not hear this album until spring of 2000, as I hail from Vancouver, B.C., Canada and the Indian/Punjabi/Bhangra Music industry is very big in U.K. North Americans were the last to hear these albums. And when I heard it, Panjabi MC retouched the infamous classis 'Challa' and boy did it sound sweet. This has been my all time favourite Indian Music track. Then the track 'Mundian Ton Bach Ke' by Labh Janjua -- WOW!!! This track made it into the dance floor scenes worldwide in the year 2000. This was the track that gave Indian/Punjabi/Bhangra a name in the mainstream market. In the year 2003, this track was released as a single in Europe, and it catapulted to No. 5 on the charts in Europe. The North American version was being worked BIG TIME! Then the announcement came that Jay-Z would be featured on this single in North America, and the title of the track was going to be translated into English as -- Beware of the Boyz. This was released as a single in North America and hit the dance floors instantly. Now, the main aim of every artist in the Indian Music industry is to get a track released in the mainstream. I beleive there are a variety of artists that will conquer this next. I beleive in the following artists to hit it mainstream -- Jazzy B., Sukshinder Shinda, and/or RDB.
As you can see, Panjabi MC has devoured the audience to thrive for more. Mundian Ton Bach Ke/Beware Of The Boyz has accomplished what no one ever had thought of in the Indian Music industry.
