Feb 5/08
Mauritius Week: Bhojpuri Boys
I said yesterday that today we’d “Indian.. ocean”. Music from the African side of the Indian Ocean usually doesn’t sound too (typically) Indian, but today we’ll hear the Mauritian exception.
So far we’ve only heard music from Mauritius’ creole population. However, the majority of Mauritius’ population are descendants of people from the Indian subcontinent. It then comes as no surprise that music with heavy Indian influences is quite popular on the island.
The Bhojpuri Boys are one of the more popular Hindi-singing, Indian-fusion groups from Mauritius. They blend tabla’d sega beats with a distinctly Indian à-la-Bollywood sound. The result is, well, interesting.. and amazing.. especially for people like myself on the look-out for surprising sounds from Africa.
If you want to hear and see more they’re all over YouTube. Today’s track is off their 1996 release, Conquest Bhojpuri Chutkaar.
Tags: india, mauritius
February 6th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Nice — Not sure that I hear the sega influence in this, more like a straight Indian vibe to my ears. Will have to check out some youtubism of them. Thanks for the new frontier in African sounds!
February 6th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Glad you’re enjoying it.
If you listen right to the end there’s a break and the beat shifts. Suddenly there’s a definite Indian ocean vibe, from the two-step rhythm (on tablas) to the (synth) accordian melody.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
this tune makes me wonder if anyone has recorded and released music of the siddis (afro-indians).
July 15th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Hi,
I have a song thats in Bhojpuri language. Could you please forward this to anybody you know who may be able to translate it or just let me know what it means.
I thank you in advance for your kindness.
Dave Prasad
Vancouver
email me at daveprasad@shaw.ca