In honor of A R Rahman - examples of Indian music in America

When A R Rahman won at the Oscars, it signalled the possibility for a big change in American music. While fusions between Indian and pop or rock music have been popular for years, it is not very often that Indian musicians, singers, and songwriters are recognized so publicly in America. Frequently, especially in modern times, their work is just sampled to create a song. However, according to the online WSJ, Rahman is now working with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat dolls and Interscope records to become a big hit here in the U.S., as he has been for years in India. 

In honor of A R Rahman, here are some prominent examples of how Indian music has long been a part of songs written by many of America's favorite groups -

George Harrison of the Beatles wrote "Within You Without You." The piece is based on work by Ravi Shankar, who taught Harrison to play the sitar. You can hear the song in this video:

Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) of Queen was of Indian heritage though unfortunately he rarely, if ever, mentioned it. However, according to wikipedia, one of his influences was Bollywood singer 'Lata Mangeshkar.'

More modern groups that have been influenced by Indian music include the Black Eyed Peas, who sampled from 'Yeh Mera Dil' (from an old Bollywood cult hit film 'Don'). You can hear the songs side by side here. The riff comes from the start of the song:

And for comparison, here's the Black Eyed Peas doing 'Don't Phunk with My Heart' which uses the opening part of Yeh Mera Dil:

Sometimes the borrowing is done unfairly - as in the case of the song 'Addictive' by the Truth Hurts, featuring Rakim, which (illegally, read about the lawsuit against Dr. Dre and Interscope records here) lifts from 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' (which is again sung by the famous Lata Mangeshkar).  The issue seems to be that the song 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' is just running the whole time under the newer material added over the top. Here is Thoda Resham Lagta Hai:

And here's the song 'Addictive:'

There are other examples, Timbaland often uses Indian singing/music in his songs as with this one:

Another huge example is the film 'Moulin Rouge.' The film is an American rendition of the Bollywood musical style. The film samples songs from Indian movies and music as well - for example 'Chamma Chamma' is used. Here is the scene from Moulin Rouge that uses the song:

And for a side by side comparison, here is the song and scene from Bollywood film China Gate which the Chamma Chamma sample came from:

Hopefully we will see more songs with Indian inspired sound now that A. R. Rahman, the Mozart of Madras, the 'Indian Timbaland' is writing songs under Interscope records.

-Erikka