How foreign music shaped the Kerala pop culture !!!!

With the K-pop band BTS having the time of their life,having reached #1 on the Billboard US hot 100 singles chart with their hit single Dynamite, folks all over the world are spreading messages of positivity that the song carry; especially during the ongoing pandemic. It is truly remarkable,especially for a band having neither US nor UK origin, to achieve such a glorious feat in the shark tank we call the entertainment industry. Recently, I heard my brother say that he got to see some malayalis sharing their opinion on the boy band in a private malayalam channel,talking about how their music add value to their lives-t'was a bit overwhelming at times to say the least but definitely inspiring.Well, this ain't something new ;we have always welcomed a global phenomenon that sets the gold standard-a force that modifies our taste and our culture.

Now, if you go to anyone in their 50s or 60s and ask them about foreign music, it is likely that you get to hear these two names: Boney M and Abba. The 70s disco era certainly did its share in the ears of the casual Malayli listener in the form of some all time hits like "Rasputin", "Daddy Cool",and "Dancing queen".

This is pretty much the artistry pulled off by the legendary malayalam actor Jayan-the malayali flagbearer of the disco revolution, setting the trend of disco infused swag,suits,shades and bell bottoms.The hippie movement ever so present in the Woodstock concerts of the late 60s headlined by acts like Jimi Hendrix became a thing of beauty,where people jammed to the relatively new world of psychedelic music. Much like the music,the intellectuals of our society embraced the hippie lifestyle-the same being hilariously portrayed by Maniyanpilla Raju in the movie Sarvakalashala. 

The withdrawal of the disco era saw the emergence of the powerful 80s pop headlined by the likes of  Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince Nelson Rogers. If you search "Indian thriller" (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81iip6psks)  in Youtube, you get to see Telugu Mega star Chiranjeevi dressed up as Michael Jackson doing the Indian version of the thriller dance .Such was his impact that you could find Mohanlal jamming to "Beat It" (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkHvgf-DxPE) after winning a confrontation with Nadia Moidu in the movie Nokketha Doorath Kannumnattu. Legendary musician A.R. Rahman adapted to the changing musical taste and developed hits such as Chikku Bukku Raile and Mukkala Mukkabula;both songs having their videos influenced by Jackson's music videos for "Bad" and "Smooth criminal". The songs became more faster,beats more emphatic,the funk got even louder and the entire groove and feel of our music evolved.

Tamil actor-director and choreographer Prabhu deva owes his entire career to the Michael Jackson phenomenon; as he became the quintessential Indian version of the King of Popular music. B-boying/break dancing became the next gen stuff. Fun fact:There is even a song Break Break dance (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAwfcCG_uhY) in the malayalam movie "Mookilla Rajyathu" where we can see the great actor Thilakan shaking his leg quite possibly for the very first and only time in front of a movie camera alongside actors Mukesh,Jagathy,Siddique and Suchitra. With the release of Jackson's album Dangerous in 1991, it became a common sight among teens and adolescents to include a dance performance of the Michael Jackson song of the same title in almost all cultural festivals and TV shows across Kerala.If you haven't forgotten Nivin Pauly's second intro in the movie "Premam", you might dig what I am saying. Jackson changed the entire fabric of the entertainment industry as people still do remember his persona in every way possible. Just ask Malayalam movie director Aashiq Abu who gave a moving tribute to Mr Jackson during the opening of his movie "Daddy Cool", which I myself had seen in Cinemas.; and then later would go onto refer the latter's musical beginnings in one particular scene of the movie Idukki Gold. Though, a bit alarming and controversial it is for portraying him in white face paint, ie. at least in today's perspective, who could ever forget Michael alias Jackson alias Vikram alias phu phu phu in the malayalam movie Chathikatha Chandu.  However in reality, keeping aside the music, the iconic pop figure is still indeed a topic of controversy, especially in the west.

 

With the late 90s , boy bands like Backstreet Boys and Westlife became a sensation much like One Direction and BTS today. If you had done your schooling in an English medium institution towards the dawn of the 2nd millenium, then you probably would have seen your colleagues singing songs like "Everybody" "I want it that away","My love" in the corridors. The same applied to the music scene in movies starring Kunjacko Boban, where the songs got a bit slower,but more romantic and catchy.Songs like Oru Rajamalli poley, Mizhi ariyathey vannu nee and Walking in the moonlight garnered heavy rotations.However, haters labelled his movies "chocolatish" at the time only cause it may have been well ahead in terms of the kind of presentation it brought.The electronic music layered with the cream of bubble gum pop took over with artists like Vengaboys and  Fat boy slim. "Darude" by Sandstorm passed the test of time;often played in any kind of a public gathering like office parties,celebrations, cinema halls,super markets,auto expo, and fashion events,,etc just to name a few, with exceptions to religious gatherings and funerals.

Just like the saying "the only thing that never change was change itself", once it was time for the boy bands to got out of the lime light,alternative rock music started to gain popularity in the form of a band called Linkin Park. Their debut album, Hybrid theory captured the pulse of the youth in Kerala.Almost everyone who ever listened to Western music at the time knew them. Alternate rock mainstreamed its way into the hearts of malayalis prompting bands like Avial and Thaikkudam Bridge to take the center stage. They became such a  household name that even  Malayalam film director Vinayan casually took their song "A place for my head" and used it in his movie "Krithyam"where actor Salim Kumar lip synched the Chester Bennington vocals,while Prithviraj did the air drumming or whatever you call it . Linkin Park's use of graffiti in their album titles prompted many of  the teengeers at the time to duplicate the same on their class note books,writing their names alongside their crush's in Graffiti during class hours.On a personal note; I had Linkin Park album "Meteora" gifted to me by one of my close friends on my birthday back in the mid 2000s. However, by late 2000s ,hip hop music became the next big thing with artists like Eminem,50 cent and Jay Z getting huge international attention.We could still see some local folks carpooling  to some of these rap hits,jerking their heads until they reach the signal stop.I am sure by this time most people have made dance tributes to the malayalam hip hop song Panipaali by actor Neeraj Madhav.  All credits to the Godfather of soul "James Brown" for developing rap-hip hop music as we know today.

The 2010-2020 era is the most unique one in every aspect, be it music,movies,fashion,technology and what not.The inception of social media resulted in the discovery of the new generation pop star Justin Bieber. He became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to his manager Scooter Braun who at the time came across Bieber and found interest in his home made cover performances while talent scouting on Youtube. This story was shared worldwide and his song Baby became a world anthem; and was played in almost every music player throughout the world until people finally got enough of it.Yes,we keralites thought no differently,following the same trend,pulling all the efforts to become viral sensations  using social media platforms such as Youtube, Facebook,Tik tok,etc.Some folks got huge recognition, turned out to be vlogers and reality stars.,while some others still struggle to find ways that could potentially make them a social media icon.  Just like Mr Jackson once sang ih his album "Off the wall", we all must" keep on the with the force don't stop, don't stop til you get enough".

Now, as we finally get to the end of 2020,we can honestly say that besides a few exceptions, we got to witness some good, quality content being shared in such platforms most of the times.The foreign music will keep on evolving and so do we. Its influence can never be taken out of the context. Fortunately, our pace in progressing to the changing demographic of the western music industry has reached a whooping high. However, the only thing that has gone out of the window is the astonishment or the awe factor that we once had while trying to adjust to the latest trends brought by globalization..

PS:Credits to all the people who own the images, gif and the youtube video links used in this post.

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