The man, the legend himself, Malkit Singh is back once again to drop another masterpiece to the Bhangra community. His new album, appropriately titled 21st Chapter – Nachna Aaj Nachna is the 21st album released by Malkit to date. Twenty-One albums is an amazing feat, but after listening to the quality of this CD, it seems that Malkit has another 21 albums in him.

Born in Punjab, but based in the UK, Malkit does a fantastic job of blending all types of styles for typical western and traditional folk music in his lyrics. Any person that has attended a party in the last decade surely knows a few of Malkit's major hits [Gurh Nalon Ishq Mitah & Mithe Ganne]. This time with the help of super-producer, Aman Hayer behind the beats, Malkit is set to drop us with a couple of more hits.

21st Chapter is a ten track album of straight traditional folk and Bhangra tracks. No need for excessive rapping or the mundane sound of hip-hop samples on every track. The title track “Nachna Aaj Nachna” leads off the album, and although it’s a lengthy 7 minutes long, it’s well worth the listen. He begins with a classic Boliyan that leads into a tremendous dance track. The best part is the sound of people chanting over the chorus. The next track is entitled “Sohniye” feat Cheshire Cat. Although I could’ve done without hearing the played out sound of Cheshire Cat, the track has a high energy feel to it, with a precise up-tempo beat to match the vocals. Track 4, entitled “Doriya” is my personal favorite on this album and I can already hear it on all the dance floors this summer, along with seeing all the Bhangra teams using it at the upcoming competitions. This is killer track with the ear-popping echo of Dhol throughout the song. As I had mentioned earlier about Malkit’s ability to mix different sounds and styles, the exact came to life in the track “Mittar Te Kir Beet Di.” This track is a complete 180 degree turn from “Doriya.” “Mittar Te Kir Beet Di” has a mellow, chilled out beat to it and it provides the listeners to truly understand his lyrics because of his slow delivery. But the track yet to follow is genuine Bhangra dance track entitled “Fer Kado Nachna.” I love it because whenever you’re at a party or family event, you always have that select group of people that make you get up on the dance floor and get your Bhangra on, while they sit back and watch and say they’ll get on later. Well the lyrics of this song perfectly explains what the people on the dance floor are wondering. “If you’re not going to dance now with us, then when the hell are you going to dance?” LOL.

Lastly I saved my thanks to Malkit on the track “Jago Aaya.” For those familiar with all the other Jago tracks in the history of Punjabi music, everyone knows finding a quality Jago track for our moms, aunties and nani’s to dance to is very difficult. Well Malkit redid the classic with his crisp vocals along to the memorable Boliyan. To top it off, the track is an amazing 9 minutes long, which gives ample time for everyone to get face time on the dance floor.

For an artist to release 5 or 6 albums in a career is a gigantic accomplishment, but for Malkit Singh to release an astounding 21 albums in his yet to be finished career, is absolutely ridiculous! I have to give him the ultimate respect for not only for his long tenure in the business but the talent to make every album a success as 21st Chapter – Nachna Aaj Nachna is. For that reason I will have to give him a PunjabiSongs.com score of 8.0 out of 10. Any and all Bhangra lovers who crave for the traditional sounds of Punjab and are sick of all the water-downed remix market, this is your remedy.

Punjabisongs.com would like to hear your reviews, opinions and comments for this album. Please click on the link below which will take you to this albums forum:

Malkit Singh - 21st Chapter [Nachna Aaj Nachna] [Forum Page]

- Reviewed: Neetu Samra ( Mon May 29 10:15:55 2006 )