2011 – An exciting year for music

An American hip-hop singer made it big in Bollywood. It sounds unusual. But it happened in 2011. Akon, a moderately successful hip-hop singer sang a Hindi number and was recognised instantly by the masses. The song ‘Chhamak Chhalo’ made it to the list of top 10 songs of 2011. ‘Why this Kolaveri di’, a song which became popular through Youtube bridged the regional barrier. Despite being a Tamil song, it has become popular in the north and other parts of the country.

The music industry also saw the re-emergence of Bappi Lahiri as a singer. His song ‘Ooh La La’ topped the charts for many weeks. The year was full of surprises with the emergence of unconventional melodies in the music industry. Hindi film music, which has recently been ridiculed for becoming monotonous and boring, was revived by established and new singers and music directors. Listeners loved it when Mohit Chauhan sang ‘Sadda Haq’, an unconventional song which provided a break from the typical love songs. ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ connected with college students and youngsters instantly. It was frank and refreshing. The traditional barriers of composing and producing a song were broken.

The Indian music world lost some stalwarts like Jagjit Singh, Bhupen Hazarika and the legendary classical vocalist Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. The void left by their deaths can never be fulfilled. However, their music, lives and inspiration will remain with us forever.

The English music industry was dominated by the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and others. Relatively new singers like Adele and others made it big. Bruno Mars collaborated with Eminem and Royce Da and produced a memorable song called ‘Lighters’. Red Hot Chilli Peppers regaled the listeners with ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’, a fast and peppy number with heavy usage of electronic musical instruments. Several singers like Justin Beiber, Drake and others won the coveted Grammy awards in the category of ‘best new artist’. 

2011 was indeed a great year for the music industry. It saw unusual pairs like Eminem and Rihanna, who won a Grammy for ‘Love the way you lie’ and several others who made their presence felt. We wish that the year 2012 is as good as the year gone by, musically.