Which 4 genres HR talked of..?? - Page 3

First, the lack of HR supporters here is rather obvious, surprising and interesting. Kahan gaye sab?

Second, I'm dying of laughter! Sinhaji, Anu, SARAH, Appada and Punjiniji 🤣 Too good! 😉 The rest have also contributed some awesome posts. 😃

Can't say that I've noticed four distinct "genres" of music from HR. In both style and content. (As someone had pointed out in a thread, genre speaks to the content of the song, not the composition style 😆)
HR seems to have taken his own advice rather seriously over the years. In the early part of his career there was still some variety - copied or original, kaam alag tha. Now he only plagiarizes himself. Ek formula kuch time ke liye hit hua toh now he's sticking to just that and within another 2 years people will be completely sick of it (can't wait till they join us! 😉).

His compositions are more tolerable when sung by others... however, 2 things can not be ignored. 1) They still sound uncomfortably the same as any of his other compositions, though the voice is more tolerable. 2) If they are sung in his presence, he will seize the opportunity to re-sing the song himself 😕

It was pointed out that others like Vinit and Debojit from C'05 usually stuck to one singer (Sonu or Kishoreda) for the most part of their journey through the show. It was given as an example of sticking to one genre.. I beg to differ. Singing songs of one singer doesn't imply singing within the same genre. Both Sonu and Kishoreda have sung a variety of songs in various genres and styles. However, limiting yourself to the likes of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan limits you to a genre as that is his speciality and his work. He wasn't trained to be a playback singer. He was trained to carry on the tradition of sufi/qawwali music.
Therein lies the difference between choosing a particular playback singer (barring HR) and an ustad or some one like RFAK saab.

But how do we explain the enormous work he is getting..?(PR with producers/ability to give chalta firta forgettable hits whether by copying old Indian or firangi songs..??), I don't know and I've no answer. Is it possible that his audience is diff? Or is it that we are in acute dearth of good Musicians/ Is it possible that people with poor taste of music have ability to buy his records which was not happening before..? what keeps his music going, I find it very hard to understand..
Does answer lie in the fact that even in Pancham's era, Bappi da & Anu Malik succeded in making erosion into his audience...?
Or does success of HR signify rapidly falling standard of Hindi music....? I don't know the answer..

Originally posted by: N Sinha

But how do we explain the enormous work he is getting..?(PR with producers/ability to give chalta firta forgettable hits whether by copying old Indian or firangi songs..??), I don't know and I've no answer. Is it possible that his audience is diff? Or is it that we are in acute dearth of good Musicians/ Is it possible that people with poor taste of music have ability to buy his records which was not happening before..? what keeps his music going, I find it very hard to understand..
Does answer lie in the fact that even in Pancham's era, Bappi da & Anu Malik succeded in making erosion into his audience...?
Or does success of HR signify rapidly falling standard of Hindi music....? I don't know the answer..

It's rather ironic isn't it... in an age or progression, music is experiencing a drastic regression. In the hype of the likes of HR, Preetham (to an extent) and other mediocre composers, the likes of ARR, IRji, etc. are forgotten faces or relegated to the backdrop.

The point was raised earlier - are we elitists to remember ARR, IRji and others and to prefer their works over HR's? After all, the masses seem to appreciate his work.

HR's popularity can be contributed to changing cultures, changes in economic factors and other variables. In regards to the changing culture, India has developed a great affinity for all things western, especially in Metro areas (where HR's work is more popular). A combination of demographics (size, age group, etc), the club-enthused life-style, the trends to be more modern and western, and other underlying factors have lent to popularizing his work. Add to that, people are earning more and spending more. Mass production of music has cheapened the value of each cassette and CD. Anyone and everyone, quite literally, can afford to go out and buy music now. And of course, the most "popular" works are more prominantly displayed, sold at discounts and wanted by most for the sake of fitting in.

Perhaps that, to an extent, answers how and why HR has developed and maintained popularity. India, with a population of millions who can afford to buy music, will experience a wave-phenomenon. The epicenters lie in Metro areas. Slowly the popularity surges out into the bordering townships. So HR will be here for another few years definitely.

Some will label this trend of westernizing, synthesizing and remixing music as progress. Typically, these "some" are untrained in classical music, have little exposure to the raag-based works, and are of today's generation of culture. Others will label the same trends as a regression and an insult to music. These "others" are either trained in classical and traditional music, or have had extensive exposure to the same and are thus are more appreciative of the latter and disgusted by the former.

It seems the "others" are in a minority in today's culture. It seems music has taken to succumbing to fads and trends. It's a give and take between the audience and musicians. In an attempt to appease the audience, the musicians popularize music in the name of experimenting. Yet few really "experiment" (ARR, IR, even SEL to an extent), while the rest stick to tried&tested formulas (eg: HR, Preetham, etc).

Originally posted by: simtara

His compositions are more tolerable when sung by others... however, 2 things can not be ignored.
1) They still sound uncomfortably the same as any of his other compositions, though the voice is more tolerable.
2) If they are sung in his presence, he will seize the opportunity to re-sing the song himself 😕

This is so true😆

Originally posted by: N Sinha

But how do we explain the enormous work he is getting..?(PR with producers/ability to give chalta firta forgettable hits whether by copying old Indian or firangi songs..??), I don't know and I've no answer. Is it possible that his audience is diff? Or is it that we are in acute dearth of good Musicians/ Is it possible that people with poor taste of music have ability to buy his records which was not happening before..? what keeps his music going, I find it very hard to understand..
Does answer lie in the fact that even in Pancham's era, Bappi da & Anu Malik succeded in making erosion into his audience...?
Or does success of HR signify rapidly falling standard of Hindi music....? I don't know the answer..

well, you can explain what sells and why on the new and changing lifestyles. when youngsters do have time, they are either getting drunk in pubs or swinging to funky rain-dance german-techno beats at 3am or after. the old melodies aint exactly what you want to hear on such outings. then there's peer pressure i suppose. the "bhaiya" tag or the "behenji" one is not very marketable these days. gotta show u are hip and in with the times if u want to catch the latest model, unless u are so smart and confident that u feel u can make your own statement, which not many are at the end of the day (or night?). else why rely on all the glitter?

what all this means is that it's not about melodies anymore. it's more about what the hip opinion-makers will go for. and as said, it's music u can dance to, music u can feast your eyes on.😛 gotta chase the life-style of the trendy. they are the ones opening up those pubs in the first place, playing that music to start with. once u've roped in the hip guys, and the night-club folks, get them to like your stuff, the rest will follow, as they usually do. cynical but true imo, whether we like it or not.

on another level, i love the old melodies. but i still seriously do not like ID or even ARR. i find them mostly over-hyped, pseudo stuff people bring up to thumb their noses at the commoners and pretend that they dont have any taste or refinement. there's so little of ID's work to begin with. doesnt his miniscule work get repetitive too if u listen to it all the time? cant take more than a couple of hours before u can start again with the replay button. point is that if that's the alternative, i can understand why folks like HR can beat them every day of the week, all the time. total no-brainer for me.

beyond that, who cares how much classical music someone has learned, what posture he can sit on while he is doing his recitations, how many raagas he can produce. just gotta sound good period, irrespective of specific orifii used.😆

Originally posted by: N Sinha

can you please let me know the name of contestents along with the gharana they belong to..who has got eliminated and who is surviving..?

Do you think 10 years down the line we will be singing these songs ( of themovies we discuss) in competitions....?

your first question's answer is here...

Amanat Ali Faislabad Yalgar Amrita Chatterjee Kolkata Rock Aneek Dhar Kolkata Ekalavya Anita Bhatt Lucknow Ekalavya Apurva Mumbai Hit Squad Binay Mohanty Rourkela Ekalavya Brijesh S Basti Ekalavya DeshGaurav Pratapgarh Yalgar Harpreet Deol Ludhiana Josh Imran Aslam South Africa Hit Squad Junaid Sheikh Karachi (PAK) Hit Squad Mauli Dave Houston (USA) Josh Meghana Verma Pune Hit Squad Mussarat Abbas Lahore (PAK) Rock Nirupama Dey Agartala Rock Poonam Yadav Lucknow Yalgar Reecha Tripathy Canada Josh Rimi Dhar Jabalpur Yalgar Saberi B Kolkata Hit Squad Sayan Chaudhuri Kolkata Ekalavya Sikander Ali Karachi (PAK) Josh Shreshtha B Kolkata Rock Sumana Ganguly Canada Ekalavya Sumedha Karmak Chattisgarh Ekalavya Sunil Kumar Sundernagar Josh Wasi Effendi Karachi(PAK) Yalgar Yogendra Pathak London Rock and the answer for the second question IMO yeah... since he is one of the youngest MDs and has got much potential to portray in coming years... he himself can remix his own songs in order to make them evergreen😆....