So Snoop Dogg raps on the title track to the highly anticipated Bollywood movie, Singh is Kinng…wow. We’ve known about this for some time, but we didn’t appreciate the magnitude of buzz this would create. It’s all over the press and I just read a Snoop quote “I’m coming to take over Bollywood” in the business section of the New York Times.
Why did Snoop do it? Why did Bollywood want Snoop?
First, Hip hop innovation — Hip hop artists are always looking to innovate, and Bollywood represents a new frontier of sorts with tremendous talent and an established music industry. In the 90s, many successful Hip hop tracks were about sampling and re-presenting old hits from Diana Ross or Rick James. This release represents the first time two very large and very commercial segments of the global music industry initiated an integrated collaboration (vs. sampling of classical Bollywood songs from the likes of Jay-Z, Truth Hurtz, Erick Sermon, etc.).
Second, Entry point in India and other markets — this is a tremendous opportunity for hip-hop to gain a strong fan base in India. 50cent had a sold show out show in Mumbai. But, in order to gain true mass market acceptance in India, Hip hop has to be presented in an eastern context — symbols representing any aspect of Indian culture, use of Hindi in the song lyrics, etc. mixed in signature Hip hop sounds and lyrics. With Snoop in a turban and several talented Bollywood musicians on the album, Singh is Kinng is the perfect vehicle. In addition to its own markets, Hip hop will travel more deeply into the over 100 different countries that love Bollywood music.
Third, New Markets for Bollywood — The producer of this movie, Vipul Shah, made a brilliant move in green lighting an alliance with Snoop. The core Bollywood fan base will, without a doubt, come out to see this movie. But for years, people have talked about making “crossover” movies and I think such pursuits are bunk. You make a movie for your audience and let the interest come to your production. Furthermore, asking an individual unfamiliar with Bollywood to invest 3 hours of their time to watch a Bollywood movie is an unrealistic expectation. Music, however, requires a much lower investment in time and if a track has an association with a familiar artist such as Snoop, it will attract his or her existing fan base. The appeal of the music will attract many more people out to watch this movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Singh is Kinng require more screens in the U.S. and around the world that the studio-distributor originally anticipated.
Full disclosure: we’ve picked up the licensing rights to Singh is King for online and North American mobile. Check it out:
[...] Original post by sneha [...]