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Cannes, Bridgerton and Viral Rap Freestyles

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PopShift Newsletter
May 22, 2024

This week on the newsletter, we’re rounding up all the news in South Asian culture you might’ve missed this week. From the underground Indian hip-hop ciphers to a familiar face in the new season of Bridgerton, all the new music coming from our favorite artists. 

— Jeevan

Can Indian Cypher Culture Give Us Our Next Global Superstar? 

With Indian hip-hop making waves internationally, a new community has been gaining increasing attention by gathering together to freestyle rap.

What is ‘Lehar The Movement?’

It’s a community of Indian hip-hop rappers who meet periodically in a central location and freestyle their latest work, snippets of which are filmed and shared on social media. The movement started in Punjab, India, and since then has grown globally, encouraging meet-ups in Canada and the UK.

And it’s working. Most recently Punjabi rapper The Ranjha’s original freestyle Muqabla at a Chandigarh cypher did numbers on social media (especially on tik tok), leading to him releasing an official version in collab with Mass Appeal India. 

Why this matters: 

  • Mass Appeal India has recently marketed and distributed big Indian hip-hop projects, including True Stories by AP Dhillon and Shinda Kahlon and STREET DREAMS by Karan Aujla and DIVINE.

  • It provides an alternate way for artist discovery. — Underground freestyle culture taps into hip-hop roots and is an accessible way for artists to build their skills and experiment with their sound over time.

  • With the attention he’s getting from a one-off cypher, The Ranjha could be our next artist to watch 👀

NEWS: First Indian Track Athlete to compete in NCAA final race

19-year-old Parvej Khan, a runner from Haryana, secured a spot in two NCAA final races, making him the first Indian track athlete to do so.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Banita Sandhu in Season 3 of Bridgerton

The third season of Bridgerton just dropped its first four episodes on Netflix and features a surprisingly familiar face. Joining the cast as Miss Malhotra is Banita Sandhu, the Welsh actress best known for her Bollywood roles in October and Udham Singh. You might also recognize her from AP Dhillon’s With You music video, where the two traveled around Europe, sparking dating rumors. The rest of the season releases on June 19th.

King debuts on the Cannes Red Carpet

Indian Rapper King

This year marks the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, with more Indian celebrities walking the carpet than ever. Singer-songwriter King, who’s behind hits like Maan Meri Jaan, became the first ever Indian pop artist to walk the red carpet. King wore a black and pink silk blazer by Indian designer Anamika Khanna.

🔥 New Music Discovery

  • Karan Aujla released a new hip-hop track that’s heavy in our rotation called ‘Winning Speech’. He’s got his signature lyrical style and talks about how the increase in fame and attention isn’t changing his loyalty to his wife. A win for the girls.

  • Farooq Got Audio and Sliime teamed up with Def Jam India on Welcome to the Party (Dola Re). A cool collab that falls into the wave of popular international Bollywood mashups.

  • After a bit of a hiatus, ZAYN’s new album ‘Room Under the Stairs’ is out now. He’s also been on a pretty active press tour to promote it and has been reflecting on his One Direction days more openly than we’ve heard him be before.

  • Paravi released a cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’ on Spotify.

  • Rhea Raj’s new single ‘Digital Babe’ is out today. It’s part of her debut album ‘Hunter’ out on May 24th.

📰 Other News

WATCH - Bohemia: The Forgotten Pioneer — a little tough to get past the sound effects, but this doc is an interesting look at Bohemia’s career—who is known as one of the early pioneers of Punjabi rap.

Written By Jeevan Sangha

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