Critical Review: "Drum 'N' Dhol" by Rajinder Dudrah

Dudrah’s article emphasizes the role of bhangra as a an important aspect of culture that encapsulates the meanings of British South Asian identity formation. Although Bhangra remains a marginalized song and dance genre, it began to be discussed as an aspect of British culture that should be studied in the late 1990s (though Dudrah believes the social and aesthetic aspects that constitute the music itself are largely ignored in studies of Bhangra). Dudrah surveyed existing approaches to the study of Bhangra and South Asian identity, did his own research and interviews, and also looked at Bhangra’s lyrics to see how they influenced South Asian identity formation.

British Bhangra took shape in the 1980s by mixing traditional bhangra with new technology. Though they continued to have varied tastes in music styles, many South Asian youth incorporated Bhangra into their musical spectrum. From then on, Bhangra became almost an “affirmative movement” of Asian identity. British Bhangra describes life in British cities and the struggles for minority cultural expressions that determine identity. Bhangra was also important, however, in starting a musical dialogue of sorts between British Blacks and British South Asians. Because Bhangra is a hybrid of different musical styles, lyrics, and cultural identities (such as the mixing of the dhol drum with basslines often found in Black music styles), possibilities were opened up for people to identify themselves in a number of different ways. Instead of being either Asian, Black, or British, you could suddenly be a collection of all three. Bhangra helped to set up opportunities for the connection of different social and cultural groups about their relationships to music and stood as a common ground between Black and Asian Brits.

Dudrah also explores the lyrical themes of Bhangra music. To Dudrah, Bhangra lyrics are an important part of urban cultural politics for South Asians that can be read as a “diasporic text.” The lyrics reveal facets of political meaning sand pleasures inherent in urban British South American lives, and also explores themes about life in general. For example, one song tells South Asians to rise up against poll taxes. Many fans of Bhangra believe that the lyrics of the song help connect them to India, even if they were not born there. Issues of caste and gender also come up because of Bhangra’s lyrics. Women are often spoken about as objects of pleasure in Bhangra songs, and caste preferences towards the jat, or landowning class, are often revealed. Dudrah’s research showed, however, that this does not negatively impact many youth’s views on Bhangra music. Instead, they think of it as a way to have a good time and interact with their families and friends. Some traditional bhangra songs are even brought back and remixed, bridging the gap between generations and increasing cultural identity. Today, British Bhangra is informing the reception of Bhangra all across the world and has become a benchmark for Bhangra in North America.

Discussion Question: Dudrah does little to address the contesters of Bhangra music. Why do you think this factor has been ignored? If Bhangra speaks about such political messages as rising up against governmentally instituted taxes, why has it not gotten as much negative press as, say, punk music? Is it just the nature of Britain versus America? The popular music scene in Britain? Or something else?