Recently i came across a site whose name seemed interesting to me. So i decided to check the site out. Little did i know, it was the official website for an album.
Hindustani Gangster is an Indian adaptation of the american flick American Gangster's soundtrack by Jay Z. The original tracks have been mixed by a group of Non-Residential Indians putting up the the US who work under the name 'Music Without Borders'.
The album consists of fifteen full length tracks. I listened to the tracks one by one, and they seemed quite nice.
"Intro" is an introductory track, which consists of Hindi punchlines. My favirote "kisi ki zindagi ko samajhne se pehle, zaruri hai unki zindagi jeena". Typical hindi mafia don dialogue.
"Pray" is a good track. It has really great beats mixed with Jay's lyrics. The music mix is good,so is the sound engineering. Can be played at any lounge. Typical RnB track which has a sound of gangster rap. You simply cannoty miss this track on this album.
"American Dreamin' " seems like a Chinatown mix. Another RnB mix. This one's good too. Those who like T.I's sound will surely like this track. The sound at occasions reminds of 99 Problems.
"Hello Brooklyn" features Lil Wayne along with jay Z. Its a laid back rap. Just DJ mixing, no Indian element's added to it.
"No Hook" starts with lines from soem hindi movie. The beats for the track are good, kinda 70's movies. Another good RnB track, can be played at any coffee shop. At occasions,the track seems funny because of some clumsy lines.
"Roc Boys" starts with the typical noise one can expect at the Indian highways, but edited musically. Then the real track starts. The track has beats like those of Black Eyed Peas's Don't Phunk with My Heart(which was adapted from a hindi track), with tunes similar to Kanye West's Stronger. A nice listen.
"Sweet" has some good guitar work mixed. Its also a nice track.
"I know" samples a clippet from some hindi track, and then mixes beat to evolve something new. The track is something Timbaland can take inspiration from.
"Party Life" samples a clip from "laila o laila" from the 1978 hindi classic "Don". The song coyld have been better, the tempo seems a bit unusual for the track. It is one of those International fusion types.
"Ignorant Shit" starts with the sitar recital, which later turns to a typical jay-Z'ish track. Another Blue rap, nice experiment.
"Say Hello" seemed like a typical RnB track. It sounds like Lil Wayne's "On Fire". A track you'll have no issues keeping in your ipod playlist.
"Success" uses tabla beats to sample along with the sitar. Tre track is just functional.
"Falling" is where the track starts sounding like Tupacish Gangsta Rap. Its a typical oldskool rap track. Nothing very big about it. The mix could have been better.
"Blue Magic" seems to be inspired from 'Raghav'. The sound seems to be inspired from "Angel Eyes" and "Naino Waali". The lyrics are good. This one's a smoothie jazz.
The last track is "American Gangster". Its good. One of fav's on the album. You simply cannot miss this track when you're going through the album. The song ends with the line which started the album - "kisi ki zindagi ko samajhne se pehle, zaruri hai unki zindagi jeena". Good work
Jay Z is usual good as he is. "Music Without Borders" has done a good job. As they say in their release, Inspired by Indian cinema of the 70's and Jay-Z's critically acclaimed concept album, "American Gangster," "Hindustani Gangster" tells the passionate tale of a Mumbai hustler's sordid lifestyle.
Through the culmination of Jay's great story. The tracks are nice, good RnB for the food joints and sports lounge cum bars out there.
A good cross-cultural album. This is where Hollywood meets Bollywood. Indians and Americans of Indian origin would be able to easily connect to it. A good concept album.
My rating for Hindustaani Gangster - 3.5/5 for innovation, maintaining the originality and using the Indian tunes well
To download Hindustani gangster, click here, or log on to http://www.hindustanigangster.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment