Avengi Ja Nahin, Rabbi Shergill
I’m a little late catching up to Rabbi’s latest work, unfortunately, though he has been on my list of favorite singers ever since Jugni, Tere Bin and Ishtihaar reached my ears and their words (translated lyrics, because Rabbi usually sings in pure Punjabi) reached my mind. I caught a video of the title MV from his new album, Avengi Ja Nahin, and honestly wasn’t drawn in and avoided it to prevent being disappointed, but recently I thought I’d atleast go back and check out the rest of the album. And I was very glad I did. Undoubtedly, Rabbi, the self-titled first album, will be my favorite, and in my opinion is the better one, for several reasons: Rabbi Shergill is fresh, passionate, strong, and in a very unique, independent spirit in Rabbi. Those were the songs that swept millions across the world, because you can sense his “I sing for myself” and “I am passionate about my music and nothing else” spirit in each of his songs. And, his sound of rock mixed with the sufi style was so new to the stale Indipop scene (which I’d all but given up, save for Kailash Kher), that Bulla Ki Jaana was literally a movement.
BUT…that doesn’t mean Avengi Ja Nahin isn’t a great album. Rabbi has stayed true to his soul and his passion and has created something quite wonderful. Italian maestro Mauro Pagani has produced the album, which was mostly recorded in Italy. Perhaps there is where my personal tastes are affected: I enjoyed Rabbi’s initial effort because it seemed to come purely within him; it was, after all, self-composed and self-written for the most part (or self-interpreted with wonderful results). While this one is too, there has to be some influence by the producer, and that has both its advantages and disadvantages. But it is always great when artists venture into different territories, especially when that means actually going across borders. Avengi Ja Nahin, as a result, is a very unique album. The lyrics are, as expected, quite great for the most part (still prefer the first, Rabbi, for the lyrical power, too, though). I’ll discuss those further later. The music, because of the international influence is rich in its diversity. A variety of instruments have been used, and creatively and expertly mixed. Ballo has a simple, constant beat in the background, placing emphasis on Rabbi’s strong vocals, and it matches the spirit of the song. Bilqis is strong, heavy on the guitars, and Rabbi seems to narrate the song, appropriately. Challa has a laidback, acoustic feel to it, like its playing on some boat with a lonely man rowing it. You can listen to the songs, get the translated lyrics and read more about the story on its official site: http://ajn.co.in/
Yash Raj Films, who are distributing the album, have a wonderful review: http://www.yashrajfilms.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=fc087a10-8206-4144-b14d-d06898d3bf8c
I think its great that Rabbi provided these lyrics, appreciating the fact that the majority of his fan following is not that well-versed in Punjabi. Also interesting and fun to read: the one-line comments added by him as a footnote to the lyrics. They provide a very personal insight into the creation of these songs. I’d also have liked to hear a bit more on what lies behind his composing, i.e., what drives him to choose the subjects of his songs and what are his inspirations as he writes?
Avengi Ja Nahin is another great offering by a singer, rocker, composer and lyricist whose passion for music is transparent, and who knows how to use his gifts to reach the people. I admire Rabbi for his bold lyrics, his honesty and depth, as much as I love his songs for their powerful beats, rhythms, and the energy in every tone.
PS: If you are a Rabbi fan also, then you will find hordes of information and discussion on the unofficial Rabbi blog, http://rabbism.blogspot.com.
(I forgot and was late publishing this first post. Thus, discussion on the lyrics follows soon in a separate post)
this is very niceee singer i like very much no worlds this is a nice singer……..jieo sada Rabbi
bolywood &india need to rabby type singer always fly
Rabbi’s new offering is largely poetry set to rock music, I think the generation that will appreciate that is not yet born. This is for the future. You may try to grasp him by his past, grasp him by the prevalent present, but he still slips through your fingers. He’s the sunset over the ocean, a squall after a heat spell. You can’t catch him. You are too clumsy.
Thank you for your thoughts, is khan and Boharh. You may be right Boharh, that Rabbi’s words slip through our fingers…we can never really catch what he really means…and his music, gorgeous, uplifting, honest, does the same sometimes too 🙂
Cool .. another Rabbi die-hard fan !
He is like the Rahman equivalent in independent music, in the sense that it does take repeated hearings to understand and appreciate the multi-layered tracks.
But every song of his just blows you away once you understand the lyrics ! And it helps that he is an equally gifted writer as he is a composer.
@Deepak
You are too? Nice! Yep, I agree with your words 100% 🙂 I already can’t wait for his next album, whenever that may be.
Yes of course !
I started to review the album as soon as it was out : http://iyerdeepak.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/avengi-ja-nahin/
but I couldn’t get beyond Bilqis !! It took me about 2 weeks to get to the other songs !
I don’t mind waiting for any amount of time for his albums, they are always worth it and the effort easily shows in his songs.
And what exactly is “docmitasha” ??
[…] by how amazing this album is, and how I discover new things in it each time. Read in depth reviews here and […]
Great work done rabbi, exceptional lyrics, great depth, beautiful melody resulted in such a perfect album. keep on doing great work rabbi