The localization of Snoop D O double G
What has pigtails, is often on the wrong side of the law and sports a bejeweled turban? It’s Snoop Dogg in his latest avatar.
On 08.08.08 while some of us partied at the Culture Club Gallery in HK, and others watched the Beijing fireworks, a few million Indians were at the opening night of a movie that has since become Bollywood’s biggest ever blockbuster.
‘Singh is Kinng’ is a comedy starring the popular actor Akshay Kumar, but the real hero of the movie is its music, especially the title-track. It brings together Snoop Dogg with the bhangra remix group RDB for a chartbusting, toe-tapping fusion of hip-hop, bhangra and Bollywood that’s taken nightclubs in India by storm and is now one of India’s favourite ringtones. The over-the-top music video claims to unite the “powers of the East… (with)… the powers of the West” and features a turbaned Snoop and Akshay shaking it amid sword-wielding Sikhs and long-haired dancing ladies.
See Snoop D-Oh-Double-G struggle with the bhangra moves in this behind the scenes video.
Snoop is hardly the first hip-hop artist to take notice of the potential the Indian market offers. 50 Cent, Akon, Black Eyes Peas… they’ve all toured India recently, but Snoop’s certainly come in with a bang. And with a smarter strategy, it would appear. Snoop’s Bolly-hip-hop blend is not unlike McDonald’s Maharaja Mac – an adaptation of a Western product for the Eastern palate. And Snoop’s got big plans. “This is just the beginning, yo”, he promises.
Bring it on, big Dogg… the ladies of ‘Moom-bye’ can’t wait.
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