Om Shanti Om and Gent & Jawns

Today I have some music for you from the world of Bollywood. This song is one of the more popular ones from the past few years. Now I like this song because it has a lot of Middle Eastern and Arab influence. There is a difference between Indian and Arab music, but the two blend so well together. We get to hear how the music writers for Om Shanti Om integrated the sounds together. We get a song that sounds very Middle Eastern, but features Hindi lyrics and melodic styles. This is a combination that I am a huge fan of because of how fun and almost sexy it sounds. There is a mysterious element to the song, and that makes it even more catchy. Bollywood is really changing the way they make music. That evolution is really awesome to hear because we get to see so many different sides of music within a single culture. This, being an older song, is kind of a throwback. This is a sneak peek as to what music used to sound like in Bollywood. There is so much energy and excitement and intensity. That is something that carried over for a while. The great thing is that this still remains a great song to dance to and, yes, it does make a great belly dancing song as well. A disclaimer, though, the music video is a completely different story. I will say, I the music video sometimes makes me laugh with how interesting it is. To say the least. But hey! It is supposed to be from a film! But at least to top it off, the movie that hosts this song is also a pretty good one! Om Shanti Om really delivered as a film and with it's soundtrack. Today's instrumental is also a bit of a highlight song. This song is by the awesome trap duo known as Gent & Jawns. With their music, I never feel disappointed. Each song that is put out by these two is fresh and different. I like the fact that Gent & Jawns changes up their sound a lot while still keeping in tune with their own trap style. The melodic elements change, but that desire to give us a wicked beat and sharp drop keeps the trap style in place. This song is a really cool one because we get to hear a lot of Arab and Middle Eastern influence. Now the title of the song suggests that there is definitely some Eastern influences with the melody and supporting lines, but the fact that it sounds so incredibly Eastern is something I really enjoy. It isn't every day that we get to hear those Arab melodies and scale get put to use in the Western music scene, so when I do get to hear that, my attention is automatically on the song. This is a more intense sounding song, with different kinds of beat drops happening throughout. The drops never sound the same, but they still carry that Middle Eastern line throughout. Gent & Jawns did an awesome job of giving this song a mysterious kind of sound. They don't take the exotic nature of music to the state of cultural appropriation but make it more of an integration of multiple sounds. This is the kind of song that sets the scene for some kind of action movie with a stunt in Morrocco. There is a nice untamed darkness and intensity to the song which makes it engaging and can put you in a trance-like state. I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!