Panj Review

As promised on one of my earlier posts, here’s my review of “Panj”, the 5^th offering by Immortal Productions. I’ve had the CD for about a week now, and It is stunning. It contain tracks by the regular shaheedi crew (IP, Jagowale, Tigerstyle, XS-BASS,Shveta), and also some new blood to this genre (G.N.E, Crative Boy, Kanwar, Des-c, and Balwinder Matewaria). It’s a 12 track album, and it is different from the previous releases in that there is a lot of English content in this one.

Track 1 – Intro. As with all Shaheedi releases the intro is just advising that this album is to pay homage to the shaheeds, and please refrain from playing in clubs etc.

Track 2 – Singh Soormeh. XS-BASS and Kulwinder Singh Johal (of Tru Skool and the specialist fame) collaborate on the opening track. It’s a very hard hitting track about the brave Sikhs who gave their lives for the Guru, and the freedom fight there after, without the slightest fear of death. Excellent track to open with. You can hear the full track HERE.

Track 3 – Son of a Sardar. Tigerstyle introduce the vocals of Kanwar on this Hip Hop flavoured track. Most of the content is in English, so the youngsters will definitely relate to this. Again the track pays homage to the great Sikh martyrs like Shri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. I say kudos to Tigerstyle with their experimenting on this track. One of my favourites on the album. You can hear the full track HERE.

Track 4 – Raaj Khalse Da . Surinder Singh & Narinder Singh join forces with Jagowale to bring this acoustic track. It really is a great track, the acoustics complement the vocals of the ever impressive Jagowale. The track is about how victory will always be the Khalsa’s, whoever they take the battlefield against. Mindblowing track.

Track 5 – State of the Union. America’s G.N.E featuring AK sentaali (AK47) bring this rap type track. The track urges the Sikh nation to rise and unify, to create a new chapter in world history. How long are we gonna sit back idly and talk about the injustices we have been handed out, and actually do something about it…. The message is hard hitting, and stirs the soul. You can hear the full track HERE.

Track 6 – Satnaam Waheguru – Tigerstyle once again with Shveta (who appeared on the excellent “mukhon Satnaam Bolda” on the Shaheedi 400 album), bring a blockbuster. This is a really mellow track, which urges the listener to discover the light of God which dwells in us all. I was really impressed by the male vocals on this track too, but there is no mention of the male singer on the credits. Nevertheless a great track, and i cn see it being on repeat on my CD for some time.

Track 7 – interlude by Immortal Productions and Crative Boy. A Short rap track which recalls the bravery shown by Baba Deep Singh Ji, and how we should all be proud of our heritage.

Track 8 – Sardari. Immortal Productions featuring Bhai Balkar Singh Chola Sahib. This is yet another hard hitting track about all those Singhs that are cutting their hair (Kesh Qatil). How we are trying to be fashionable, by removing Guru Ji’s nishani or stamp. Sikhs were made to stand out from the crowd by their appearance, and yet the youth are neglecting their unique identity. The Guru Ji made us unique so we could not hide, instead we would rise and outshine the regular people of society. Excellent lyrics.

Track 9 – Forget What Divides us. Manpreet Singh and Raxstar. The track tackles the caste system, even though Guru Ji abolished the caste system. We are still stuck in stigma’s such as the Caste system, ignoring the basic tennents of our faith – “Recognise all mankind as one”. I think some of the older generation need to take note of this track, as I feel the younger generation are now understanding that caste has no place in Sikhi.

Another great track.

Track 10 – Baba Deep Singh Shaheed. Immortal Productions featuring Jagowale. This song retells the account of Baba Deep Singh Ji’s shaheedi in typical Jagowale’s style.Another wake up call for the Sikhs…

Track 11 – Nishaney Kaumaan De. Tigerstyle feat Des-C. Des-C makes his debut on the Shaheedi series with this track. This particular track is about the importance of the Nishaan Sahib, it is more than simply a flag which shows where the nearest Gurudwara is.

Track 12 – Wake up Call – Money Spinner feat Balwinder Matewaria. This track pays homage to those shaheed who defended Shri Harmandir Sahib from the attacks by the Indian Army against enormous odds. They fulfilled the 10^th Masters pledge that ‘One Sikh will battle 125,000 men’.

Overall thoughts: Wow, this is simply stunning. They’ve taken the Shaheedi series to a new level, with the added dimensions of rap and hip hop which were not really present before. Buy it now from HERE.