Shakira’s famous song Hips Don’t Lie has sparked a rave once again, but this time with a Rajasthani twist. The song has been remixed with the traditional Rajasthani folk song Moruda by a group of Langa artistes from Barmer and Jodhpur, and the fusion is quickly gaining popularity. Within just four days of its release, the song became a big hit on social media. The artistes have beautifully blended the rugged power of the popular song with the traditional sounds of khartaal and morchang, along with hip-hop beats.
Ismail Langa Group has given Shakira’s famous song ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ a desi twist
‘We hope the song reaches Shakira’Carrying on their rich family legacy across the globe, these Langa artistes, led by Ismail Langa, have once again proved that music has no barriers. Shares Ismail, a 54-year-old Langa artiste, “We are simply musicians who do not know anything other than music. We just serve our god with the only offering we have, which is our music. We are happy that people everywhere have loved the song and blessed us with their immense love. I hope it reaches Shakira too.”‘We had created the Rajasthani version of Waka Waka earlier’Talking about how this unique idea occurred to them, Jagirdar RV, the lyricist from the group, says, “While travelling from one city to another once, we started our music session to kill boredom. Gradually, we started remixing popular songs with famous English songs, and that’s how we shot our Rajasthani version of Waka Waka. We uploaded a small reel on social media and within minutes, it went viral. Such admiration gave us a big boost, and we decided to come up with another song, but in a more organised way.” Ismail Langa and his group have performed in various music festivals in Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Japan. They came into limelight with their first performance in the reality show India’s Got Talent in 2018. Since then, they have performed multiple times on the same show and even reached the semi-finals.
Ismail Khan Langa hopes the song reached Shakira (Image – Instagram)
‘Making them pronounce English words correctly was tough’Since these artistes did not know a single word of English, singing a few lines in a foreign language proved almost herculean. Jagirdar RV had to work hard to make them pronounce the words correctly, and it took almost two-and-a-half months to come up with the song and shoot it. RV says, “Singing comes naturally to these artistes, as they are born, raised and have lived all their lives in a rich musical environment. But making them pronounce English words correctly was tough. There were times when they tried hard to speak the words correctly, and then suddenly burst into laughter. It was fun to create this unique song for our music lovers, who are going gaga over it.” Ismail adds, “We never went to school; we learnt music simply by listening to our father, grandfather, and uncles. We listen and grasp the nuances of music and lyrics. If we know the rhythm, language is no barrier at all. While it was quite challenging, it wasn’t impossible.”‘Will start working on new songs soon’The team also worked hard on the video to make this blend look beautiful. Shot at a heritage property (Luni Palace) and iconic blue havelis of Jodhpur, the song perfectly captures the beauty of Rajasthan. Wearing dhoti-kurtas and Bandhej pagdis, teamed with stoles featuring Barmeri embroidery, they added more swag to their performance with white sunglasses. Asked about new songs, RV says, “We are thrilled with the response and are ready with a few other songs too. We will start working on them soon.”
