CRITICAL INVESTIGATION FINAL :)

Despite the global success of Jay Sean, why is there still a lack of successful British Asian artists? Is this due to post-colonial attitudes or Asian cultural traditions?

Jay Sean, a British Asian singer, rapper and record producer was signed to Cash Money Records in America and is now a successful RnB artist worldwide. However, it can be questioned whether this kind of breakthrough is likely to occur again. Many British Asians feel they still struggle for equality just as many did in the 20^th century and therefore still have to face the underlying racism and colonial attitudes in the British media which deter many. Alongside this the stereotypes and representations given to Asians perhaps hinder them from breaking the norms and being judged, therefore rather than getting the best of both worlds, Asians face an identity crisis of whether to join the traditionalised Asian culture or fit into the British westernised trend.

The 1980s was arguably one of the most controversial eras musically as there were many artists who subverted the way people saw their identities. Struggles of equality in the 20^th century can be distinguished through groups such as the Asian Dub Foundation who reflected a zeitgeist of inequality and unity. With their lyrics, the Asian Dub Foundation tried create political harmony and to break the stereotypical 'black' ethnicity being the only minority to be bound with the genre of hip-hop, this is evident through their lyrics in the song; Strong Culture “Yes you thought I couldn't do it/ I'm not a black man/ This time it's an Asian [1]”.  This shows the criticisms given to the Asian minority as they were undermined for not being able to break into the hip hop genre of rap. The Asian Dub Foundation successfully did this, however “bands including Asian Dub Foundation were critically acclaimed but never really gained mainstream traction”[2]. The reason for not being able to get into the mainstream may be due to their strong ethical lyrics or even due to their genre of music which may be seen as breaking the stereotypical norms of society as they didn’t stick to their genre norms of Bhangra or Bollywood.

In today’s pluralistic and diverse zeitgeist, Jay Sean is admired for achieving something that the Asian Dub Foundation failed to do by getting his music into the mainstream and for joining an American hip hop record label; Billboard editor says it cannot be “underestimated ‘on the difficulty to’ break America in any genre if you’re a British Artist”[3], which perhaps may make it seem even more difficult for British Artists of different ethnicities. Jay Sean did succeed, nevertheless “at the age of 12 he moved into RnB reportedly due to the difficulties getting into the British rap scene with his Punjabi heritage”[4]. The fact that he had moved to the RnB genre may show the barriers that still exist in today’s zeitgeist of having to be a certain “heritage” to become successful in the Rap/ Hip hop genre such as being of a black ethnicity and having an Americanised  identity. Thus this may deter many other Asian artists who aspire to become hip-hop artists or rappers due to the difficulties, therefore they would assume that joining a genre that accepts an Asian heritage such as Bhangra or Bollywood would be much easier for them. Moreover the cultural British Asian artist’s such as The Asian Dub Foundation that have been around since the 90’s; however they still do not get the chance of developing mainstream, this can question the fact of having to become more ‘westernised’ and trying to fit into the British musical norms just as Jay Sean has. Therefore perhaps in today’s 21^st century the key to success in the media and music industry universally is not breaking norms or being radical but to fit in with the more westernised and Americanised society.

The reason for the struggles British Asians are faced with may be due to underlying racism and the post-colonial attitudes which still linger in today’s 21^st century.  Many see Asians as outcasts in Britain who illegally immigrate to the UK for success and an ‘American dream’. An argument common in the 1980s was that “the real racists are not the indigenous whites but the blacks and Asian immigrants who insist on keeping… their own ways of life while still wanting to claim full rights as British citizens”[5]. An example is of a Punjabi singer ‘Garry Sandhu’ who was in the UK on illegitimate terms and was deported in early 2012. He was one of many who “managed by various means to come abroad and make a splash”[6]. However he was soon caught due to his rising success as an Asian artist. It may be questioned whether his deportation was due to envy of his rising success or similar post-colonial mentality of the 80s, who depicted immigrants as outcasts and “the real racists” who should not have the right to British citizenship. This 80s colonial mentality can still be traced in “reviews and comments which send up the artist’s stock back home; and so by a circuitous and dubious route the artist ‘arrives’ not only in the West but also in India”[7]. This may be referenced back to Jay Sean who continuously gets linked to his culture and heritage. One example is through the racial comments passed over Twitter by UK grime artist Wiley to Jay Sean and his fans, comments such as “I will slap off your dad's turban”[8] were passed which Wiley calls ‘ethnic banter’ however is also said to be simple racism. Nevertheless these stereotypical racist comments relate back to the artists’ culture and religion showing that the colonial mentality of excluding the Asian society as an “other”[9]due to their lack of westernized cultural values therefore deterring Asian artists.

Edward Said argues “that the Europeans divided the world into two parts; the east and the west or the civilized and the uncivilized”[10]. This may define the reasons for post-colonial attitudes which perceive non-colonial territory such as India and many parts of Asia as ‘uncivilised’ and a place of turmoil. The Delhi gang rape case in late December 2012 was a clear example of the British imposing their colonial view on the ‘uncivilised’ Asian savages through their news coverage within the UK.  Journalist for the Guardian, Emer O’Toole simply outlines that   “While India’s civil and political spheres are alight with protest and demands for changes to the country ... the UK are using the event to simultaneously demonise Indian society, lionise our own.”[11] There is specific reference to a piece written for The Times by British journalist Libby Purves who was seen to be ‘demonising’ the Indian society through her neo-colonial attitude as she quoted that the rape should "shatter our Bollywood fantasies"[12]. Libby Perves makes India seem divided and reinforces the ‘uncivilized’ manner of the East in comparison to the West. Not only journalists but also the BBC followed a similar path through “lionising” the western rape culture.  This is evident in an article where it states “a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours”[13] . “That equates to 625 a year. Yet in England and Wales… a population about 3.5 times that of Delhi, …the recorded rapes of women is proportionately four times larger of 9,509”[14]. Thus the statistic quoted is seen to be overly exaggerated to undermine Delhi, alongside showing the lack of awareness on behalf of journalists, as they haven’t considered the Western rape culture as they are too caught up in wanting to demonise others. Therefore comments on Indian culture seem to be reinforcing hegemonic post-colonial attitudes, making the West seem superior and making Asians in the UK feel they should follow the westernised cultures rather than following “Bollywood fantasies” of the demonised Indian society .Therefore increasing the likelihood of Asian artists such as Jay Sean adopting more Western personas .

Asians get stereotyped and represented in certain ways which to many Asians start to seem like the norms that they should or need to follow. Stereotypes of Asians have continued throughout the media since East is East and Goodness Gracious Me in the 1900’s till today’s Citizen Khan and Eastenders , many Asian audiences start to ,as Blumer and Katz say [15] ‘identify’ with characters and their cultures which helps reinforces their stereotypical behaviour. Many of these stereotypes are seen to have a significant element of truth to them just as Perkins[16] states: stereotypes are based usually on real life actions and traditions. However around 40-50 years ago it can be questioned whether such stereotypes would be so common as “artists such as Apache Indian ....were promoted largely through word of mouth“[17].Therefore other ethnicities had to find other forms of advertising whilst the hegemonic white British artist were able to get promote on terrestrial channels and promote hegemonic British stereotypes to audiences. However now with the ‘Digital Revolution’ the opportunities of being exposed to stereotypes of different cultures are much greater as they are more overt for example shows such as Citizen Khan show the “hyper reality”-Badrillad[18] of Asian families which turns similar shows into watercooler TV making it more controversial and shocking for non-Asians as it conveys “messages that could be mistakenly taken away …as what ‘all  Asians do’”[19]. Therefore if Asians who do not follow the cultural stereotypes as seen on TV they will be seen as not following the norm, an example of this is BBC’s stereotypes of the Masoods owning a curry stall in Eastenders. Alongside TV, music artist Jay Seans in his 2003 video ‘Dance with You’ similarly follows Asian stereotypes: his spiky hairstyle, Asian friends and bhangra dancing can be seen as typical conventions and connotations of Asian youths, perhaps connoting his fear of breaking his cultural stereotypes and traditions during his younger years.

However it is important to note that many Asian artists speak out against these stereotypes and Asian cultural traditions, for example UK Asian rap artist ‘Raxstar’ in his song ‘Keep it Undercover’ at 2:58 he talks about his relationship of which his parents disagree with; “the folks don’t know, they want my marriage arranged, Cos every Asian kids life should be the same doctor, lawyer, pharmacist or business studies, If I did I.T then they wouldn’t have to worry”[20]. The typical stereotypes come from the traditions and culture of India which are imposed on today’s younger generation, for example having an “arranged marriage” or studying to become someone of a status such as a “doctor or lawyer”. These stereotypes can be seen as the norms of which are a part of the Asian culture, therefore breaking them would easily lead to rejection and criticism, this is perhaps the reason why Asian artists are afraid of from moving away from their stereotypical genres of Bhangra or Bollywood. Jay Sean similarly faced criticism of being an RnB artist as he said; “the stereotypes were, ‘you’re an Indian, why aren’t you singing in an Indian dialect?’ ....’ I always found that extremely ignorant. It’s not racist, it’s just… ignorant”[21]. Nevertheless he rose above these stereotypes and the ignorance of the Asian communities therefore it would similarly encourage other Asians to also break the norms and stereotypes to achieve their goals.

Many Asians born in the UK of an Indian heritage are usually faced with a mixed identity crisis during their lifetime, the confusion of where they fit in as a British Asian. They are “a generation suffering from ‘culture clash”( Thompson, 1974)[22]. The use of ‘Hinglish’ in the UK may connote the confusion of identify as the hybrid of English and Asian languages can show the culture clashes that emerge. A BBC article said that British Asian families use Hinglish to “enliven standards of English”[23] therefore perhaps keeping their traditional vocabulary whilst mixing it with westernised words lets British Asians have the best of both worlds and both identities. 

It is said that “In (Canada) there is a positive attitude towards multiculturalism whereas in England such initiatives have been reserved since the early 1980’s (Tomlinson 1991; Troyna 1990)”[24]. Therefore it is difficult to have different cultures in England peacefully coexisting with one another which can perhaps be a reason to why many feel they have to merge into the westernised ‘British’ culture of which they live in. This can be linked to the ‘Cricket Test’ also known as the ‘Tebbit Test’ in the 90’s by Conservative cabinet minister Norman Tebbit who wanted to test if immigrants support their native countries rather than England in cricket , therefore making them seem disintegrated in the UK. This may have added pressure to many during the 90’s on who to support and the criticisms they will face from both cultures regardless of their choice. These pressures can be similarly be seen to be placed upon 21st century British Asians who are still confused and unsure of their identities, therefore within the music industry they may feel excluded depending on what genre of music they are interested in, join, or even what dialect they sing in due to their culture clash and fear of not being as ‘Americanised’ as others.

Being caught up in a British Asian identity crisis may lead to the attempts and thoughts of having to become Westernised/Americanised to become accepted and successful in a British society. A current example is the viral sensation Muhammad Shahid Nazir - better known as the £1 Fish Man in early December of 2012 whose YouTube user generated content transformed into a trending music video with over 18 million views. His music video by Warner Music Group an American global music conglomerate has included many stereotyping and western elements throughout the video. Hall’s[25] preferred reading would be that it needs to appeal to a British audience and be entertaining however an oppositional reading may be that it is mocking and mimicking Asian music and culture through having backup Bollywood dancers of a white ethnicity, and mixing techno and Asian instrumentals to give it a stereotypical Asian essence. Perhaps this is what the media and society want from other ethnicities, as there is said to be an “expectation that settlers in Britain will cast off their original culture and adapt to British ways. The notion ‘hyphenated British’ has as yet not caught on (Watson 1977)”[26]. Therefore perhaps that is what was attempted with the ‘£1 fish man’ to hyphenate his music as British – Indian and try to cast of his culture by mocking and adapting it to a more westernised video promoting more hegemonic British values.

Nevertheless, the ‘hyphenated’ notion of having to cast of your culture is not always positively accepted by today’s society. The Asian Music Awards were criticised for “‘ghettoising’ Asian music” [27] which may be seen true to many as Gilroy has commented how “black styles, music, dress, dance fashion and language become a determining force shaping the styles, music, dress, dance fashion and language of urban Britain as a whole”[28] . This may show how traditional genres of music now feel the need to shape their music and style to fit into an ‘urban Britain’. This may be evident with Jay Sean’s British music video from 2003 -‘Dance With you’ with its hybrid of hip hop and bhangra music alongside key urban and Americanised elements such as expensive cars, attractive women for voyeurism , jewellery and suburban areas . However due to his transition to a mainstream we can see how “adoption of black sartorial style by Asian youth, ‘makes them’ define themselves as black and are ‘therefore’ redefining Asianness - (Ghelani -2001)” [29]. Jay Sean’s current video ‘Im All Yours’[30] gives a clear view of his ‘adoption’ as at the beginning of the video he says "where you at bruv " , ‘bruv’ emphasises his colloquial ‘black’ language that he uses perhaps connoting that he is trying to fit in . His clothing also emphasises this as he is wearing excessive jewellery, sunglasses and a cap; he no longer has his spikey hairstyle as in his 2003 video. Therefore it connotes the narcissism and vanity that he gained through his move to American and the move to a more urban and ‘black’ genre of music. However this may be contrasted with him wearing a black t-shit in the summer of Miami at 0:29, as he stand out of norm as everyone else is wearing lighter coloured clothing which would not absorb the heat therefore perhaps it can connote the underlying ‘Asianness’ that he is not able to redefine. Therefore it reinforces the Americanised cultural imperialism that has been imposed on other ethnic artists of the hegemonic American values, thus this is why artists such as Jay Sean feel the need to obey by these values and Americanise their identity.

Jay Sean’s success of moving to an American label is the reason for why he had to adapt to a ‘black sartorial style’ and ‘redefine his Asianness’ however, does this means that all other British Asian artists should similarly follow his pathway. For many artists they see this as the key for success; however does that mean that they have to adapt their entire lifestyles. British Asian rapper Menis speaks out about this in his song ‘Kool 2 B Asian’

“ quite a few peeps ain’t proud to be brown/To be honest yeh that's quite a shame/That some people can't even pronounce their own name/Mandeep changed his name to Malcolm (0:39)........ /Nah they just copy exactly what their friends do/Start spittin bars and start reppin the ends too
Everyday their culture, they lose it/ And they start taking the piss out their own music (1:30)”[31]

Jay Sean can be an example of an Asian who is ashamed of his culture, in his interview for ‘Rolling Stones’ he was asked “Do you feel you’ve outgrown the ‘Asian musician’ label?” he replied “Absolutely. I’ve always said the only thing Asian about my music is me. And I’m proud of that. But when you have that tag – ‘British-Asian singer’ – it’s very hard to shake”[32] . However, how “proud” can he be if he changed his name from Kamaljit Singh Jhooti to Jay Sean. This could connote that he like other Asians is ashamed or embarrassed of having a traditional Asian name, therefore to become more Western and for commercial decisions he felt the need to change his identities, personalities and appearances.

In conclusion the global success of Jay Sean can possibly occur again within the British Asian society, however there are many hindering factors for artists and people of ethnic backgrounds mainly due to post-colonial attitudes which have been engraved in the British society. As the media and music industry both still seem to still promote hegemonic British views regardless of the zeitgeist as they encourage and hope for cultures to adapt to a more modern and westernised culture. However if artists or cultures do transform they still have the fear of post-colonial and racists attitudes which linger in society of attempting to outcast them from the country. Thus it shows the difficulty of cultures and the reasoning behind the confusion and struggle of people from ethnicities who aspire to become artists or actors. 

3430 Words – With Quotations     and     2527 - Without Quotations