It took far more searching in this region to find a song that I connected with. However, I began with the pattern I began with the first assignment by choosing a minority language group and looking at their pop music. After sampling songs from various South Asian languages, I circled back to the language I had started with, Punjabi.
The Punjab region spans both India and Pakistan, and while over a third of Pakistani citizens speak Punjabi, it is the twelfth most common language in India, and only retains official status in the Punjab region of India.
I remain interested in how these minority language are used to relate to the popular music sphere. Yet I found as I traversed through the most popular music in South Asia, much of it had the highly-produced sort of sound that prevents me from emotionally engaging with a lot of U.S. pop music. I eventually found my niche while searching through well-known Punjabi female singers. I came across Jasleen Royal, a “indie” singer from Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
Royal’s music, especially this song from 2020, has soft richness to it that I seek out in my own personal music listening. A rough translation of the chorus of “Nit Nit” and the music video leads me to believe that this is about evaluating a relationship that is already dead, but the singer might be the one to finally pull them out of the terrible cycle and ends things. This topic, both incredibly complex emotionally but also intensely relatable, is why I finally decided to choose this song.
Not only does this song represent minority language group in India, but it also represent a more alternative side to Indian popular music that has a lot of heart and fewer bells and whistles. “Nit Nit” runs counter to the Western conception of the bombastic and colorful nature of the Bollywood film and presents a raw and familiar story in an straightforward and intimate way.
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