Los Angeles, Calif. — Singer Sonu Niigaam, who is scheduled to give his “Explosion 2009” concert Aug. 2 with co-stars Hard Kaur and Sunidhi Chauhan at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, and Aug. 9 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, won’t even give the merest hint as to what he has in store for his fans that evening.
“We work on shock value, we work on surprise value,” was the most he would tell India-West during a July 14 interview at the India Oven restaurant here.
“I will do my popular bits,” was the most the singer would say, “but at the same time, I’ll be doing songs I’ve never done before, which will give the audience an extra edge, an extra reason, an extra memory to take home.”
The concert will be the first time Niigaam has appeared on stage with Chauhan, whom he credits as “one of the most dynamic performers and the most phenomenal singers of India who brought a lot of change into the female style of singing of so-called Bollywood.”
Niigaam indicated that with Chauhan sharing the venue, “the combination by itself gives you the incentive, gives you the urge to do something different. So it’s not only going to be unique for the audience but for me also.”
The concert will be his ninth that he has performed in the United States in the past 15 years, and although he admitted he has recently met with some American song producers, he confided that he is not “desperate” to make an American album.
Niigaam burst on the scene in 1991, when he came out with a collection of songs by the legendary Mohammad Rafi. He chose to emulate Rafi because “he was undoubtedly the most versatile singer at that time, and he was the reason why I wanted to become versatile, why I wanted to cross different genres,” he told India-West.
In 2008, years after he had established himself as a singer in his own right, Niigaam cemented his reputation when he recorded a concert of Rafi’s songs with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Despite the international collaboration, Niigaam wasn’t sure at first if he wanted to tackle the project.
“I first reconsidered. I didn’t want to go through that rigmarole again, and I said I wasn’t going to do it,” he recounted.
What changed his mind was when he saw that making the recording was an opportunity to have Rafi’s music “heard by the generation of today, because a lot of people today hear me but they should also know who I was inspired by,” he said.
The process of recording was “a tougher task, because I was singing all his songs at a stretch, without a break, and I did not want to deviate from what he had done. I could not vary it, I did not want to vary it, because it was a tribute, not a comparison,” Niigaam explained.
“I didn’t want to outdo him. I just wanted to be him, paying homage to his soul and spirit. So it was a very emotional project for me, and I think it is one of the most beautiful things I’ve done in my life.”
Indian popular music is inextricably linked with Bollywood cinema, as Niigaam would be the first to admit. Yet the only non-Indian music that has become hugely popular among the younger set has been rap, which has launched the careers of many Indian performers, including his co-star Hard Kaur.
That raises the question: Why couldn’t Niigaam, given his influence and huge popularity, introduce Indian audiences to American country/western music, not the hardcore pickup truck-with-a-shotgun-rack variety but the more universally-themed music as being performed by such cross-over singers like, say, Lyle Lovett?
“Any kind of art form is a reflection of the society,” Niigaam responded to India-West after pondering the question. “The soul of country/western music is Texas. Whereas Indians have accepted Shania Twain, there has to be some element in country/western music that they can connect with.”
Rap, on the other hand, is popular, even in India, “because there is a huge marketing strategy for rap singers,” Niigaam pointed out.
“A lot of great singers are suffering because of rap. I’ve spoken to a lot of musicians over here, and they are not really happy with the music scene here in America, because the real ballads, the really great music does not get its due because of rap.”
Like hip-hop and R&B, rap has a relentless promotional machine behind it, “and whatever is being pushed, marketed and sold worldwide is going to reach India and is going to make more news,” Niigaam said. “If country/western music had that kind of promotion, it would have reached India by now.”
Niigaam’s “Explosion 2009” concert is being presented in Los Angeles by the Super Entertainment company in association with the Nawab of India restaurant in Santa Monica and Bawa Multani; and in Oakland in Northern California by Mehta Entertainment in association with Naeem Wahab of Cal Coast Financial Corp. (Readers may visit superentertainmentinc.com or MehtaEntertaiment.com for more details of the respective concerts in Los Angeles and Oakland
Source : India West.com
.jpg)
