In part one of our little exploration of desi pop, we mentioned the difficulty of sifting through complex history of the music, and the mountain of material that’s out there. Even after a lot of digging, that remained an obstacle to finding material we thought worth sharing. A great example of just how convoluted the history is would be the 1997 international hit Brimful of Asha, by Cornerstore. You almost certainly know the tune, but likewise, you almost certainly don’t know that it’s considered desi. There’s a great explanation of how it’s a Bollywood tribute here. This kind of music also really needs some better distribution channels and terminology. A good example of the lack of terminology is Juggy D’s Sohniye, which has a little reggae-ish tinge, but not enough bhangra feel to use one of the few common terms like bhangramuffin. Juggy D, by the way, is one of three fairly established UK artists that gained most of their recognition via the Rishi Rich Project, the others being Rishi Rich himself, and Jay Sean. For my tastes, the Rishi Rich crew is a bit too white bread R&B. A little more up my alley is stuff like Notorious Jatt. Never mind his affected smooth gangsta fashions, this dude can ululate, and throws down some fat-bottomed rhythms. I especially like the urban-to-turban Marrey Dil Vaaliyan De’. In the same way that you’d have to have a serious nerve disorder to not move to mambo, you’ve got a serious problem if that tune doesn’t cause something in you to wiggle a little. Also inclined to make something in you move is Panjabi By Nature’s Jaan Punjabi. I have no idea who the featured rapper in that clip is; help me out if you do. A rapper I do recognize is Jay-Z, who manages to not get in the way too much in Panjabi MC’s Beware, which is a bit funkier than these other tunes while still maintaining the Panjabi vibe. As we get a better grasp on the larger view of this incredibly diverse market, we’ll be back in part three with a list of the best sources we’ve found, and clips from about ten more artists we’d like to share. For now, enjoy the clips below, and feel free to correct any artist names or song titles. Or turn us on to artists we should know about.

Brimful of Asha is desi? Who knew?

Panjabi MC slips a little tongue with “Snake Charmer”:

Notorious Jatt goes Urban-to-Turban with ” Marrey Dil Vaaliyan De’ “:

Punjabi By Nature’s “Jaan Punjabi”, with mystery rapper:

Panjabi MC’s “Beware”, with not so mysterious rapper Jay-Z:

Punjabi MC’s “Hogaya Sharabi” features a riff that’s been sampled and used in dozens other desi tunes.