DJ Bobby Friction refuses to play songs with any mention of caste.

[dalsingh101]

Strange how Friction did this back in August (according to the linked site) and we've only picked up on it now?

[Jonny101]

I don't know what people find so good about modern Punjabi music. It is pure gandh. It promotes all the vikaars relating to kaam, krodh, lobh, moh and hankaar. No serious spiritual seeker will listen to Punjabi gaanay.

The modern Punjabi man or should I say Punjabi society in general is becoming really perverted. It wasn't this bad before as late as the 90s. But now our society is getting from bad to worse. While our boys are becoming increasingly perverted where eve teasing and other forms of sexual harassment is now considered normal even amongst our girls there is a real moral degradation. now in Punjab it is becoming common for sikh girls to have a boy friend and even pre marital sex. Wearing tight revealing cloths is no longer considered bad. Sharam is no longer a concept in our thinking. This is largely due to the influence of bollywood and Punjabi music. Now only Guru jee can save us from this moral degradation.

[dalsingh101]

Thing is, in my opinion, Panjabi folk music DOES have potential as a more positive force amongst our society, but that is only if we veer away from the show off, self congratulatory, ego fueling buckwas it has gone along in the last few decades. We need moves like this to make people stop and think.

Corruption happens slowly and subtly and most people are non-thinkers, who go with the flow - so moves that cause one to question 'flows' taking us downwards are a requisite for a healthy society. We need more and more people, orgs to make moves like the one Bobby made here in this respect.

We also need more honesty too. I watched Kuldeep Manak's last interview when he appeared to be quite displeased with the direction Panjabi music had taken in modern times - but truth be told, he too had an influence in the slide with songs like Jatt Hogaya Sharabee which was like an anthem for Jat guys to get drunk too when I was growing up (by the way I'm a big Manak fan, but I still find the critique valid).

Sometimes we celebrate really base stuff in our musical culture that can only turn people who listen to that stuff into morons.

[DailyMail]

I only came across it after I watched an interview on Britasia when 'Notorious Jatt' was asked about it on UK bhangra culture by Sukhi Bart.

[dalsingh101]

I don't know.

Is it a sign that Panjabi people are getting a bit more clued up on the follies of sticking to caste identities? Or is that wishful thinking?

[dalsingh101]

I only came across it after I watched an interview on Britasia when 'Notorious Jatt' was asked about it on UK bhangra culture by Sukhi Bart.

What did he have to say about it?

[DailyMail]

It was rather bizarre. He said that he is constantly having to defend himself whenever he goes onto a radio talkshow about why he uses the name "jatt". He said people look too much into it - it ("jatt") is simply a word that is usually used to describe all punjabi's (first I've heard about that one) and that the word "jatt" rhymes with alot of other words and therefore is favoured by many songwriters when writing a song.

I agree with the second part of what he has to say to a degree. The word "jatt" does indeed rhyme with many words. But regarding the first part of what he said, I found it bizarre. Whereas once upon a time these people wrote essays and thesis's on their "unique identity", now we're just all the same generic punjabis?!

I don't know if all this is wishful thinking. Too early to say. But it's a step in the right direction. Bobby Friction has thrown the ball - the ball is now in the court of other DJ's...and inevitabley, us.

[Sherdil]

I listen to a wide variety of music, but Punjabi music is my first love.

There are parallels to other genres, like hip-hop.

The latter also started out innocently enough, before veering off into gangster rap and promoting drugs, money and loose women.

I wonder if this is a trend across the spectrum? Things that start out positively, end up in the gutter.

It seems as soon as something becomes popular, it gets ruined.

[West London Singh]

The Punjabi kissa you talk of are Punjbai Muslim Jatts, he problaey means the current lurch-err Geet.

90% of the songs about 'jatts' are songs taken from the epic jatt stories of heer ranjha, mirza sahiban etc. Only 10% are the rubbish modern dirty songs that should, of course, be banned. Think about it, many of the greatest Punjabi songs by the greatest Punjabi artists such as Kuldip Manak, Jagmohan Kaur, Alam Lohar etc will be banned. The 'chamar', 'tarkhan' etc songs of today have no historical cultural heritage in Punjab and so of course should be banned, but Bobby Friction is displaying ignorance of the history of Punjab by banning the epic folk songs as a by-product.

[dalsingh101]

^^^

How relevant are 'love songs' about Panjabi Muslims or excessive alcohol consumption to us Sikhs today anyway?

Even that overly macho posturing that typifies the genre feels well out of place in the 21st century.