‘India is listening to’ is a look at what music is wildly popular in the country at the moment, and whether it’s worth your time.
Maninder Buttar is not your average Punjabi singer. His musical style has embraced forms of pop music from around the world, and Buttar has become proficient at melding those styles with Punjabi singing.
His latest song “Ik Tera” takes cues from massively popular numbers like the 2017 Luis Fonsi track “Despacito” to make a song that is at once very danceable and fun.
Nothing on the song lifts from “Despacito” directly. It is simply that the song’s influence has been so far-reaching that an uncountable number of songs in the past two years have used elements of it. From a typical stringed instrument intro to a dancehall beat, the building blocks for “Despacito” can be found everywhere now, including on “Ik Tera”.
Regardless of where its inspiration comes from, the song does a good job of standing on its own feet as a dance number. At times there are painfully obvious musical cues to match the lyrics, like a shehnai preceding talk of wanting to marry Buttar’s lover. This can be unintentionally comical to some but can also be glossed over entirely.
Who will love it: Fans of Buttar, fans of dance songs and Punjabi pop.
The Good: Buttar’s voice.
The Bad: This beat has been done to death at this point.
The Verdict: If all you came for was a fun, dance number about wanting to marry someone, you will probably enjoy this.
