When Panjabi MC's 'Mundian To Bach Ke' materialised in the Top Five last January, it initially seemed as if this Coventry producer had co-opted hip-hop's current fascination with Indian music. It was a brilliant idea: a bhangra musician capitalising on the sound of 'Oochie Wally', 'Get Your Freak On', 'Ugly' and 'Addicted', even throwing in the faithful 'Knight Rider' theme sample for extra hip-hop kudos.
In fact, the story behind 'Mundian To Bach Ke' is a lot longer and lot less exploitative. Rajinder Rai started fusing hip-hop with Desi (Punjabi folk music) way back in 1993, and actually recorded 'Mundian To Bach Ke' some five years ago, predating the likes of 'Get Your Freak On'. 'The Album' is effectively a Greatest Hits set, compiling the best tunes from the clutch of albums Panjabi MC has released over the past decade.
The good news is that 'Mundian To Bach Ke' was no one-off fluke. Rai uses the same trick on 'Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee', where he grafts thumping beats and bhangra melodies onto the theme tune from 'Magnum'. But the rest of 'The Album' is less formulaic, producing a startlingly effective musical hybrid. At times, his love of hip-hop dominates, as on the geographically-adjusted g-funk of 'Soundz Of The Des' and 'True MCs'. Elsewhere, Indian traditions are in the ascendant, as the dhol drums take over from the breakbeats on 'Jugni'.
And throughout, there's a sense of joy and urgency and urban bustle to the music which makes it constantly exciting: the brash, fearless cultural mash-up that Asian Dub Foundation have always promised, but rarely delivered. Note, too, the approval of Jay-Z, who remixes 'Mundian To Bach Ke' by essentially playing the tune then rapping with his usual indolence over the top. In a good way, of course.
It's a mark of Panjabi MC's excellence that he can attract the sort of credibility-enhancing collaborator that most of his UK hip-hop contemporaries can only dream of.
