West's doin balle balle!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The global music crossover movement is making waves with the West tapping the Asian markets</span><br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="35.6%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" white=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/887624.cms" alt="/photo/887624.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">Bhangra''s doing <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">balle balle from Amritsar to LA</span>.Literally. The Eastern vibe is pulsating stronger than ever in the West. Indian music artistes are doing their item numbers on the global beat after collaborations with international acts like Blue and Prodigy, the latest being Vanessa Mae''s project with AR Rahman.<br /><br />British Boy band Blue teamed up with Shaan for their song <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">One Love</span> in the film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Rakth</span>. It was not just for a bit of flava'' and razzmattaz that they added the Indian touch — tapping the Asian markets is another goal. Simon Webbe from Blue says the Asian influence was all around in England in his growing years and it has found its expression in mainstream Western music today. <br /><br />"I grew up with a lot of kids from different backgrounds, so was introduced to Indian music from an early age." Pointing to the commercial add-on, he says, "Our record label wanted to do something special for some of the Asian markets. We thought it was a great idea and hence the collaboration came about." <br /><br />Electronica dancemeisters Prodigy''s latest album <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Always Outnumbered</span>, Never Outgunned has vocals by Shahin Badar, the voice behind the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">alaap</span> in their earlier controversial anthem, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Smack My Bitch Up</span>. <br /><br />This time round, Badar provides back-up vocals on the track <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Get up Get off</span> with fellow vocalists Twista and Hollywood actress Juliette Lewis. Violinist Vanessa-Mae''s latest album <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Choreography</span> has an A R Rahman composition amongst Argentinian and Moroccan rhythm influences. <br /><br />The album''s consultant Rob Dickins says, "The mix reflects the cutting edge to her view of classical music and yet keeps the appeal to the crossover audiences."<br /><br />The UK-based artiste Bobby Friction, who''s worked on mixed <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">bhangra</span> with Beyonce for his album, says that the Asian underground is now percolating into the mainstream in the UK and Europe. He points out to the fact that a Punjabi MC track makes it to the charts not just in UK, but also Germany and Italy.<br /><br />"Hip-hop and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">bhangra</span> mix effortlessly into one another because they''re both music from the streets. Dance music is dead in the West. They''re looking for new sounds and the first place they look to is Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi second generation immigrants at their their door steps."<br /></div> </div>