The A to Z of music in 2016

A for Arijit Singh

Mr Singh decided to tell his Facebook followers about how he was left out of Salman Khan’s Sultan after recording for Jag Ghoomeya and replaced by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and he spoke about why it must have happened (he sorta ‘insulted’ Salman at some award show three years ago and it is being opined that the superstar took offence at the slight).  The move backfired with Salman not even acknowledging his existence and all and sundry criticising his statement. Khan went on to add, “One voice was mine but that was also rejected, so why get so upset and so hurt. This is life.” At another point, the superstar didn’t name the singer but pointedly said in reply to a query about the controversy, “Smart ones don’t turn out bright. Then smart comments ... Post... They don’t... You come to know the intentions.” Nevertheless, Arijit had a swell year, a number of big hits and several stage concerts to boot.

Honourable mentions: Amaal and Armaan Malik (the younger brother embarked on his maiden world tour this year), Amitabh Bhattacharya, Arko, they all had a fab year.

B for Break-up songs

Dear Zindagi had two, while Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had one. ADHM’s Break-up Song was a fun Pritam composition picturised on lead pair Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma with Arijit Singh, Nakash Aziz and Jonita Gandhi voicing the song that plays out in a club where there’s a silent party happening. Alia Bhatt made a special appearance as the DJ for the night and as a friend of Anushka’s character Alizeh, who plays the song at the latter’s request. It went on to top the charts. Dear Zindagi’s OST had music scored by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics by Kausar Munir. Let’s Break Up is in the same upbeat vein which finds Vishal Dadlani singing in the background to a montage of scenes where Alia vents.  Sunidhi Chauhan sang Just Go To Hell Dil, which charts the aftermath of a break-up and deals with the outpouring of emotions that inevitably follows.

C for Coldplay/ Chainsmokers

The Brit alt-rock band came to India and performed at Summer House Cafe in Hauz Khas in Delhi on the sly in late-2015. But it was their shooting for Hymn For The Weekend that caught everyone’s eye. By the time, the album A Head Full Of Dreams released, it became apparent how deeply they loved India. The track released in January along with the accompanying music video that had a fleeting appearance by Bollywood’s resident stylista Sonam Kapoor. But their love affair with the country didn’t end there. They would return by November as part of the Global Citizen India initiative with Jay Z and Demi Lovato in tow and a flurry of Bollywood performers and stars on stage.

Close second for this spot were the EDM duo The Chainsmokers whose three monster tracks Closer, Don’t Let Me Down and All We Know made all the right noises, even charting in a big way.

D for Disbanding

Well, Mötley Crüe, Motörhead and REM are no more, A Tribe Called Quest is headed there, and Guns N Roses, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and fun. went on a hiatus. Closer home,  Pentagram continues to be on a hiatus, supposedly ‘reinventing their sound’.

E for EDM

The genre continues its rise and rise, despite many predicting its death years ago. In fact, it continues to do well and in fact is alive and thriving, with festivals being instituted solely for fans of the genre. Closer home, Bollywood, too seems smitten by the electronic dance music bug.

F for Fan armies

Think only actors have fan armies? Well, singers do too. And not just the American and Brit ones. K-Pop fan armies have names they go by, too. Seriously, could India be far behind?  And not everybody has fancy names.  You’ve probably heard about the Amaalians and Armaanians and the Rahmaniacs, right?

G for Goodbyes

This year, we lost some of the best talents in the business. January claimed David Bowie and Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, April claimed country music legend Merle Haggard and pop legend Prince, November Leonard Cohen and December George Michael. A young talent named Christina Grimmie was lost forever while performing, a victim of a shootout. Closer home, Kolkata-based jazz great Carlton Kitto died in November at age 74.

H for Heathens

Twenty one pilots hit track Heathens featured in the Suicide Squad soundtrack and quickly became a raging hit. The film was a commercial success and the film’s lead single peaked at No 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. As of earlier this month, the song has been nominated for the Grammys in three categories: Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Song written for Visual Media.

I for Item songs

Here an item song, there an item song, everywhere an item song. This year, it was a free-for-all with every A-List, B-List, Z-List actress, featuring in one this year. Anybody who was anybody featured in one. In fact, the genre has grown to adapt potential sangeet favourites into its domain.

J for James Corden

Carpool Karaoke has taken over our collective consciousness since crossing the pond and making a mark on the Late Late Show With James Corden. And without the affable, portly and good-humoured host, the show would not be what it is. Everybody from the outgoing FLOTUS Michelle Obama to the Material Girl Madonna have indulged Corden. James singlehandedly made this roadtrip tradition an official thing this year.

K for Kesha and Kanye West

We’ve got a tie here. While Kanye West never really let up, staying on our radar right from the start of the year to the very ending, it was his Famous that got everybody talking. And who can forget that infamous 15-minute tirade against Beyoncé, Jay Z and Mark Zuckerberg while onstage at his concert. Did we also mention, he announced his intent of running for the office of President of the United States in 2020? Well, we’d like to see that happen.

The other person who deserves a spot here is Kesha. Getting past her tiff with music producer Dr Luke she performed everywhere — from Coachella to Las Vegas and even announced a collaboration. That’s how you bounce back with a bang.

L for Lemonade

I cannot stress this enough. Beyoncé can do no wrong. All those naysayers and haters, who ran her down, especially for this video they said was influenced by something nondescript, she proved them all wrong track after winning track. No wonder, she’s made the nominations of everything from the VMAs to the Grammys with this album.

M for Music festivals

The number of festivals increased, with boutique festivals coming in a big way to the scene. The sheer variety boggles the mind. Everything from Sufi, reggae, EDM, house, underground to Bollywood found their place in the sun along with the regular annual ones.

N for Nobel

This year will forever be remembered as the year the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to one of our favourite artistes, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. One of the most prolific and important voices around, this award was a long time coming. But what startled people is that the Nobel isn’t usually known for considering lyricists in the popular music space as potential laureates. With Dylan first making light and later accepting the award, it was stuff of headlines.

O for OK Jaanu

You know what they say about remakes? That if you’re going to make one, do one better. That holds truer in the case of soundtracks, when you repeat the composer. In this case, it’s one of our favourites, AR Rahman. The remake is of one of our fav Tamil films, OK Kanmani. But going by the three songs out, and lyrics by Gulzar, we’re thinking it won’t do one better. Especially, not when you have to resort to ‘reimagining’ a cult classic track.

P for Purpose

It has undoubtedly been the year Justin Bieber reinvented himself musically and created a sound for himself that showed him in a new light. With help from music producers Skrillex and Diplo, he put out an album’s worth of songs, each topping charts upon release.

Q for Qyuki

The AR Rahman/ Shekhar Kapur fronted enterprise had a great year, with the latter part of the year’s Jammin’ initiative finding takers across the board and Bollywood and Indie musicians collaborating to make music.

Since the launch of Jammin in August this year, Qyuki’s efforts have amassed millions of views with the likes of YouTubers Sanam, Shraddha Sharma, Siddharth Slathia, Jonita Gandhi, Arjun Kanungo, Maati Baani, Sanah Moidutty and Raaga Trippin on board with music composers  Salim-Sulaiman, Clinton Cerejo and Mithoon, they created 10 original soundtracks and music videos. This ended with a concert at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.

R for Remixes

We’re not talking about remixes of new tracks here, but those classics reinvented/reimagined/remixed to make them relevant to a newer audience. It’s a trend that’s bound to continue into 2017. When done well (think Arijit/Amit’s version of Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le), it works, mostly it doesn’t.

Honourable mentions: Rihanna for making a touching presentation of an award by a guy who’s supposedly loved her forever (Drake) and his confession of love, the most awkward thing ever.

Also, Indian rappers have had a great year. Everybody from Divine and Naezy have taken Indian hip-hop and put it on the global map in a big way. Much respect!

S for Sia

Quite simply put, the peroxide blonde lob wig-wearing face-hiding Sia Furler has had an epic year. This Is Acting might have been released in the dying days of 2015, but 2016 is the year that the album actually shone. Cheap Thrills quickly became the year’s biggest dance anthem.

In related news, singles became the new now as did streaming.

T for Trump

While this letter had tough competition from Taylor Swift’s rather happening year and Tidal’s rather dismal one, we had to give this one to Trump. The US President Elect had a lot of A-List musicians dissing him for using their tracks for his election campaign without their permission, some even going as far as threatening to sue him. While a few, like Azalea Banks, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock openly supported him, he is still having trouble getting an A-Lister to perform at his Inaugural Ball.

U for Unplugged

Everybody’s doing it. Be it in the West or in India, on MTV or on YouTube, on Facebook Live or on Periscope, there’s one video born everyday that showcases newcomers and veterans try out Unplugged versions of covers or trending songs or in some cases, their own tracks. Depends who’s doing it.

V for The Voice

The show’s popularity in several countries just refuses to wane. And with good reason. The concept has grown on everyone and in India, too, it’s a big hit. The audition of one of the Voice India Kids contestants was also one of the most trending videos of 2016. The grown-up version opened to great numbers and has been well-recieved.

Also, vinyl is coming back in a big way this year with sales of LPs and players hitting new highs.

W for Weeknd

Abel Tesfaye, who’s better known as The Weeknd had a killer year in 2016. He began by being featured on Kanye’s The Life Of Pablo, then on Beyonce’s 6 Inch from the album Lemonade right at the start of the year. By the time September rolled around, he announced his third studio album’s name: Starboy. Soon after, the single by the same name followed (featuring Daft Punk). Within 24 hours of the album’s release, it became the number one album in over 80 countries. Now that’s a feat!

X for X-Factor

The British X-Factor might not have raked in the numbers it expected, but it found takers everywhere. With the original judges returning for duty and a number of crazy contestants (and some crazy good ones, too!) ensured that the season had its moments. Also, do look out for Honey G!

Y for Yo Yo Honey  Singh

Or the lack of the self-styed rapper and one-time hit machine in Bollywood. His absence from the scene has allowed the likes of Badshah, Raftaar, Ikka and others to flourish on their own steam. And with the variety in styles being accepted by B-Town music fans, it will take a while for him to get back into the limelight.

Z for Zayn

There were few Directioners in Zayn Malik’s corner as he quit the biggest boyband in the world (One Direction) to go solo. In the face of criticism, he put out Mind Of Mine. The lead single Pillowtalk featured girlfriend Gigi Hadid and saw the two get steamy. In February (its first week on the charts), Pillowtalk debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 100 as did Mind Of Mine, when the album released. Of course, after the album’s release, collaborators were queuing up to work with him.