I think it's significant that these are Finns, who are kind of a historical outlier among Europeans. (In another part of globe, they might be referred to as a "tribe.") If Finnland were more implicated in Western cultural imperialism, I suspect that the reaction would be rather different. As it is, bhangra is largely unknown outside the global Desi community, so I think as long as something like this is isolated, it might be seen more as validation than appropriation.

Now, if Sony/BMG were promoting some billion-dollar American act using bhangra rhythms and dance steps, and driving Desi groups out of the marketplace, I think the reaction would be different.

Bhangra itself is hardly a pure ethnic expression, since it owes as much to hip-hop (US) and house (UK) as it does to Bengali wedding music and Bollywood. (And Finnland has historically adopted non-mainstream musical styles as its own. Helsinki, not Buenos Aires, is the tango capital of the world.)

Oops. For "Bengali," above, read "Punjabi." That's what I get for trying to sound smart.

saw this and thought... "Cool. Can't see what's got Lisa all wound up." Of course, though, you can't view everything through an American racial politics lens.

If you are taking righteous indignation on behalf of a group that is embracing what you think they should be against, then perhaps you need to reconsider your starting premises.

the video is not working for me... Can anyone tell me the name of the song so I can try to find it on youtube?

There's only one question I have - what brownface? I don't see that the Finnjabi Bad Boy has made any effort to make himself any less pale than he naturally is, in fact I can barely see his skin beyond the sunglasses and hat and beard... is there something that I'm missing?

This from an interview with them:
As far as he’s concerned the music coming from the two worlds share the same basic ingredients: the emotionality and melancholy of Bollywood hit music is similar to home-grown pop songs. While Sammallathi studied folk music at the Sibelius Academy, he has close ties to India.

“I’ve spent over one year in India altogether, like many members of the band. You can’t learn some things from books, you have to absorb them directly on the spot,” he explained.

I think it's awesome.
Stian

Minstrel shows were mocking in nature. There is nothing in this video that says "HAHAHA look at those Indians dancing/singing bhangra they are so FUNNY."

As a side note, Bhangra is traditionally a Punjabi folkdance and style of music. Sure myriad dance styles have evolved from bhangra, some of which incorporate hip-hop and Bollywood..and of course hip-hop artists do sample bhangra beats, but Bhangra remains Punjabi like Caribbean zouk is Caribbean even though we dance it here.

Discussions on cultural appropriation are endlessly fascinating!

To me, this seems more like a celebration of a kind of music that the artist finds meaningful and is the flip side of something like a Pakistani metal band.

Compare this video with that Natalie Portman/Devandra what's his face video where she plays the "Bollywood Princess" in some of the worst Indian stereotyping I've seen this side of Tracy Ullman's "Bollywood Pharmacist."

What is weird for me as a Finn who knows a thing or two about Indian music, are the lyrics. "Päälliköt on voittamattomii" means "Leaders are invicible", referring to the band members themselves. Now, I don't honestly know that much about bhangra itself but it feels like a pretty ethnic music form in that it's a celebration of Punjabi people, whether in Punjab or the UK, Canada or wherever. (Based on everything I know about it.)

When they're infusing self-important lyrics in style of hiphop with a form of music that's a celebration of another group, I personally get a bit uncomfortable. Especially when it's white people claiming ownership of a colonialized country's culture form.

Of course, you could also interpret the lyrics as being against say, self-important Finnish hiphop groups, and not all bhangra that isn't Suomibhangra. In that case, I wouldn't get such a white privilege vibe off the whole thing.

I'm all for bhangra/Bollywood music club nights in Finland but I'm not huge on this group. Would rather listen to bhangra from Punjab or the UK where the scene is huge.

Er, make that "formerly colonialized country's", of course.

My mother's family is Finnish and as a small strange country that fought 40-something wars with Russia and threw off Swedish royal rule, the Finns are both proudly independent (Scandinavian but not Nordic) and very admiring/accepting of other cultures and their traditions. As someone mentioned previously, Argentinian tango was adopted by the Finns and became wildly popular though somewhat infused with the solemn, almost semi-gloomy style of a place that sees very little sunlight for a large portion of the year. :) I think the absence of imperialism/spoof makes a big difference here. Art and music are considered to have a very high place in Finnish culture and education; schools would no sooner consider cutting these subjects than math or reading in times of budget crunches and a knowledge and appreciation of all kinds of music is rather expected of your average citizen. I was not aware of such a thing as Suomibhangra, but I think it sounds like fun! Bhangra classes are cropping up even in the US at dance studios and gyms, sort of along the lines of hip-hop and zumba classes...energetic music, fun movements, and with the right instructor/attitude, exposure to another culture :)

I think you have to be careful to judge something like this in the absence of the knowledge of the original which is why I think if the bhangra community isn't offended we should probably take their lead. As someone who is not an expert on asian culture but has watched a chunk of modern bollywood films I have to say this doesn't come off as a comedy track but as a sort of tribute, as sort of suggested by filmi girl, m and the guest blogger's interpretation of the bhangra scene's take on it.

The dancing doesn't come off as stereotyped but as wannabe. As a non asian audience of bollywood films and music this form of asian music appropriates from western culture anything it fancies, but on its own terms so I think this video is in that tradition.

The two areas where one could find fault with this track and video are:
(1)The lead guy with dreads - is he blacked up or has someone given him bad make up for his complexion? If the former that could be offensive but I think innocently meant in this particular video.
(2)The lyrics which naturally I have no way of translating, however if the sample given by S is representative, I'm not sure they are all that terrible, it sounds like a similar vibe to the *I'm the greatest* type lyrics one gets in hiphop rather than white imperialism.

Forgot to say I also actually really like this track and would buy/own/play it if someone would reassure me there aren't any really generically dodgy things in the lyrics

wow! Shava music is making some noise... So, I am from Vancouver, Canada and have personally met all the Shava band mates. I would like to shed some light on this post by giving some background info on this video and then putting in my two cents in response to some of the above posts.

Let me start off by saying the Shava guys are all very intelligent, lovely people and furthermore, really great musicians. By no means is anything they do intended to be disrespectful as they have a true respect for the Indian Culture and Bhangra music (questioning this, however, is valid as there is no way to know this without having met and talked to the guys).

The band played here earlier this year, as part of the Vancouver International Bhangra celebration, to great reception by the Desi and non-Desi audiences alike. This leads to some explanation of "the king" in the above video, who is Gurcharan Mall from the UK or also known as G.Mall (the one with the corn rolled hair, chains and rings). G Mall is a very well respected Bhangra musician mostly known for playing Dhol (the big Barrel Drum) but also as a producer. He has been in the UK Bhangra band Apna Sangeet as a percussionist since its start in the early 80's, started and leads his own group called the Dhol Blasters, been in the Guinness world book of records, raised significant amounts of money for various charities and much much more, so he really is a true UK Bhangra pioneer. see video, he is the one who is playing the dhol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT1Z2Q-rJ_4

Gurcharan met the Shava crew here in Vancouver during the festival, believed in what they are all about, and as a result has gotten behind them to support them and help spread Bhangra and Punjabi culture throughout the world, yes, even if that Punjabi culture is fused with elements of hip hop, and satirical humour. Note, he is not a member of the band.

My take: I think what is missing from some of the points mentioned in other posts thus far is that, although Bhangra may have started in Punjab it has evolved from the folk music and dance form that it once was into its own genre of music, and has done so with the help of groups of like Shava. What I mean is that if you break down the musical arrangement, structure and instrumentation used, this Finnish band definitely has a big bhangra influence in its music. Just like Reggae, Dub, or Rock, can be sung in any language, it is almost like we sometimes have to separate the music and the lyrics if one wants to determine where a song fits. And in this case Shava is doing a great job considering that even "'true" modern Bhangra music has deviated from what one would call traditional lyrics. So is this Bhangra? who knows... who cares? Is that even the question? who knows.... I have probably digressed. Does real reggae have to be sung about Babylon and the "Man" keeping us down? I dunno, But all good questions. Maybe the Punjabi songs that are now sung about cars, girls, guns etc in the hip hop fashion is not Bhangra either, maybe it is just pop sung in Punjabi, thus making this some sort of Finnish music with Bhangra elements. In North America it would just be thrown in the big category of "World Music".

As for the satirical content of the video, well yes, there is a spoof element to this, but I only know this because I know the band. As for why Punjabi's don't seem to be offended by this, I would say it is because Punjabi people are usually proud when someone is into their/our culture. Shava has successfully flattered us. I guess I could conclude my point by being on the side of not over analyzing what Shava or any band is doing... The ideal: all music falls under "world music" and one determines what is good or bad through personal tastes. You either like it or you don't. Shava: I like it. keep on keepin' on!

This: "So who’s right? Us radical critics or the people we think we’re defending?"

Predicated on the assumption that "us radical critics" and "the people we think we're defending" are mutually exclusive groups, and that your readers don't simultaneously belong to both.