Are we still allowed to say Bombay?

Timbaland loves us! He also had this song called Indian FLute featuting Raje Shwari. The video is full of Indian things including the Taj Mahal, snake charmers and belly dancers! He also has this song Come Around on M.I.A's new album Kala. I actually like this song even though I can't completely understand the hindi lyrics in the background.

Are we still allowed to say Bombay?

Speaking of brown music Monday, Amil, one of SM's most long-time/loyal readers, sent us an update re: Nivla and P. Oberoi, the kids who almost crashed the Superbowl with their Malayalam-laced rhymes and Punjabi lyrics (which I covered here).

Hi guys - Thank you for posting Nivla and P.Oberoi's video for "Be Easy" and mentioning the Crash The Super Bowl contest!

It made a difference, and we appreciate the support.

While we did not get enough votes to get the video aired during the Super Bowl, Nivla and P.Oberoi were offered a record deal with Interscope Records! It's a one album deal with an option for 6 more.

Interscope has until July to either commit to releasing the first album, or releasing Niv and P.

They are not sold on whether there is enough support for south asian artists making diverse music in the American mainstream. However, they do feel like it will happen soon, because they think it reflects the changing face of the nation. But historically, record companies have been very slow to catch up and adapt to new markets.

They're distributing the single "Be Easy" via Interscope and we're getting the full HD quality video to various outlets starting in 2-3 weeks. The single is out now on iTunes.

If it sells well, Interscope will do a new original single on a nationwide marketing budget. If no one buys this, they'll drop Niv and P.

You can get info here: http://www.soultaprecords.com where there's a link to the iTunes page that Interscope put up.

I'll drop a dollar on that. Hell, I got five on it. Whatever it takes to make my plan to teach everyone in the world one Malayalam word come to fruition...after all, "kundi" sounds WAY better than popozao.

Ooooh I love "Bombay!" My sister and I drove around Tennessee all summer blasting it...might explain all the funny looks we got.

And Anna, I've been OBSESSED with learning Malayalam ever since hearing bits of it in Jiya Jale. The name of the language itself is so much fun to say! Now if only I could find a place in DC that teaches it...anyone have any suggestions?

2 · Tamanna said

Timbaland loves us! He also had this song called Indian FLute featuting Raje Shwari. The video is full of Indian things including the Taj Mahal, snake charmers and belly dancers! He also has this song Come Around on M.I.A's new album Kala. I actually like this song even though I can't completely understand the hindi lyrics in the background.

Timbland lyrics from Come Around: "Baby girl, you and me need to go to your teepee"
He may love us but he sure is confused sometimes...but then again, who's going to tell Timbaland he's wrong?

Much love to Chee Malabar. We at Boston Progress Radio love Chee Malabar. Not sure that getting a major record deal should be the goal of all of music makers. Oblique Brown and Himalayan Project seem to have done fine without one.

If you "ate Desi rappers for lunch" you wouldn't need to leave your own spam. Deleted. Please respect the commenting policy.

Timbaland doesn't love 'us'. He's a smart businessman and producer. When he first got interested in using desi hooks and dropping in nonsensical Hindi lyrics, he was escorted around Southall by celebrated idiot Rishi Rich, who dutifully showed him all the obscure 60s and 70s films which brown producers had been sampling for a while. Timbaland apparently bought hundreds of records that day. He then used what he wanted and didn't involve any actual desis in the production (since he rarely sampled directly, I think this is fair play). The video for Indian flute was kind of offensive.

Amar Dhanjan is the latest in a line of desi singers who pop up in a glut of R&B tracks - Nelly Furtado, Timbaland etc. She's from London and is bhangra-star Mangal Singh's daughter. She has a background in the British Asian scene, which may be why she sings better than the god awful Raje Shwari. She appeared on the opening track to the legendary Anokha album in '97 (Talvin Singh), was the Indian voice in Khaled's famous El Harba Wine and as far as I know, her only album was produced by another famous chap, Nitin Sawhney.

Jim Beanz (cut his teeth producing Dru Hill) has done several 'Asian' remixes of Timba's tracks and those of his stable. Beanz is more known for producing an Oriental sound than a desi one. He also produced MIA's track from Shock Value.

Timbland lyrics from Come Around: "Baby girl, you and me need to go to your teepee" He may love us but he sure is confused sometimes...but then again, who's going to tell Timbaland he's wrong?

Jay-Z's confused, too. Lyrics from Girls, Girls, Girls:

I got this indian squaw the day that I met her
Asked her what tribe she with, red dot or feather
She said all you need to know is I'm not a ho
And to get with me you better be Chief Lots-a-Dough
Now that's Spanish chick, French chick, indian and black
That's fried chicken, curry chicken, damn I'm gettin fat

The video for Indian flute was kind of offensive.

Indian flute was very silly/ funny, the song was catchy at least. This Bombay sounds like a very generic Bolly pop song. Timbaland must be losing his magic touch.

Timbaland is over rated. hes a producer in the loosest sense of the word.if you really have done any research people like devonte,and danjahands had more to do with those songs that timbo got famous from. and style wise you can hear the difference in the stuff he "made" for ginuwine to the crap that he passes off to timberlake. even the big pimpin song wasnt his work but the work of a desi ghost producer who found the mohammed rafi sample and flipped it. real producers have a style you can hear it in dj premier and you can hear it in quincy jones.

Nibu - you know what you're talking about, but I disagree on a few points. mostly dealing around how the industry works. Timbaland is overrated compared too many, Primo, Hi-Tek and Dan the automator are my favorites, but they still only operate at more the underground level.

When you compare Timbaland to his peers within the Mainstream MTV mediums, Scott Storch, Neptunes, Lil Jon, DJ Khaled, he is talented. Obviously this is sad, but his reach is much farther, so while yes i agree he is far from the best, he has a larger audience and greater influence. Also Big Pimpin was from an Arabic track not mohammed rafi

deja vu?

didn't you guys already drop the track back in April '07

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004320.html

"The first of the two is “Bombay� featuring British-Asian songstress Amar, and the other “Come Around� with our girl M.I.A., which for some strange reason is only available in the U.S. as an import."

Also Big Pimpin was from an Arabic track not mohammed rafi

You're right, and the artist was Egyptian, to be most specific. Timbaland's not only being sued right now for aping the melody for Big Pimpin' but also by Saregama for the uncleared Bollywood sample in "Put You on the Game." You'd think that hip hop producers would have figured that the desi lawyer-uncles mean business after the 500 million dollar lawsuit slapped against DJ Quik and Dr Dre for Addictive.

You'd think that hip hop producers would have figured that the desi lawyer-uncles mean business after the 500 million dollar lawsuit slapped against DJ Quik and Dr Dre for Addictive.

Yo, on the real, Kid...this Timbo song was poppin' at the clubs many moons ago. I'm a bit sad that Sepis is just talking about this. You are always so damn hip on the Desi topics here.

Also, I haven't seen much about the cute girl that comes out on ImagineAsianTV...Holla!
http://www.iatv.tv/index3.php

In response to #6 noon ennui and #10 Zen:

Give the guys some credit. Timbaland and Jay-Z know the freakin difference between Native Americans = Indians in the US (if you don't like it, you have beef with Chris Columbus) and Indians from the subcontinent = Indians.

Clearly, they are giving context in their lyrics that they are referring to Indians who are Native Americans, when they speak of Teepees and Feathers. DUH!

I could see if they talked about curry and feathers or a red dot and a pow wow. But they didn't. So it appears that you are the two who are confused!

Also, for your cultural awareness... charismatic music artists like Timbo and Jay are known for their sense of humor. Their lyrics always try to shock you and make you laugh. There is something ironic and funny about saying Teepees on a track with a woman from Sri Lanka by way of India. There is something ironic and funny about referencing a Native American girl as hot, since they are never discussed in the mainstream as being hot or even existing for that matter!

I agree with the comments above that this song is weak! But it takes popular cross-over artists like DJ Quick and Timbo to make this desi fused hip hop popular, despite the fact that plenty of desi artists have been mixing Hindi music with R&B and Hip Hop tracks for the longest time.

Down killer--I didn't actually think Timbaland was confused, I was being facetious. I'm pretty sure he was just trying to rhyme two words together and "me" and "teepee" works. That's all I'm sayin.

cocopuffs...youll have to excuse the rafi statement because my mp3 was mislabeled. also...compared to his peers timbo is no scott storch...and actually far from that. the best aaliyah album to me was done with r.kelly overseeing and not timbo. and the best ginuwine album had Johnathan "Mookie" Morant producing. and how is everyone forgetting the timbaland and magoo project...he should have killed himself after that. either way i dont want to confuse someone and say i am comparing him to premier in the industry standard. im talking about style-wise. if you listen to big pimpin and you listen to promiscuous girl theres too big of a gap and difference...in the same way if you listen to dre's chronic and chronic 2001 theres a big difference-and that was obviously because daz dillenger did a majority of the production on chronic and melman and scott storch helped on 2001. dre was a producer in the same way a foreman on a worksite is a construction worker...both timbo and dre over saw the entire product and put the project together.anyways im just sayin.

speakin of over-rated...rehka's new album is horrible IMO. and i dont know how anyone can call someone a dj if they cant mix a whole 30 minute set. end of story.

In response to #6 noon ennui and #10 Zen:

blah blah blah

I could see if they talked about curry and feathers or a red dot and a pow wow. But they didn't. So it appears that you are the two who are confused!

Why thank you Naz! Can I get my abCd title back? ABD never grew on me... Nice to see Nas sticking up for Jay-Z, warms the heart. Oh wait, you're not that Nas? Sorry, I must be confused again...

Bit late to be talking about "Bombay" been out for ages. But since it such a good song I will forgive you.

Nibu- i hear ya on that, i just dislike scott storch, he's a dick in real life ;) he makes some bangin beats tho