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Mundian To Bach Ke
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Wikipedia article
"'Mundian To Bach Ke'" , also titled "'Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)'" or "'Beware'", is a bhangra music song produced by British musician Panjabi MC, with vocals and lyrics by Punjabi artist Labh Janjua. The song was produced by Panjabi MC in Birmingham, England, for his 1998 album 'Legalised'.
Following its release as a single in November 2002, "Mundian To Bach Ke" achieved worldwide success, topping the singles charts in Italy and Wallonia and charting highly in many other countries. A remix of the song, released in 2003 and featuring American rapper Jay-Z, also charted highly in North America and Australia. The song sold an estimated copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Lyrics and music
In addition to features of bhangra music, "Mundian To Bach Ke" also uses the bass line and part of the beat from "Fire It Up" (1997) by Busta Rhymes, which in turn is based around a sample from the television theme song for 'Knight Rider', written by Glen A. Larson and Stu Phillips, as an underlying element and lyrics originally written by Channi Singh. The lyrics of the song are in Punjabi. The video of this song was shot in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Chart performance
Partially fueled by Internet downloads, "Mundian To Bach Ke" was officially released as a single in Germany on 25 November 2002. It sold over 100,000 in the first two days alone and debuted at number two on the German Singles Chart.Amit Puri (2003). [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030908/login/music.htm Mundian toh bachke raheen Boom(s) with Punjabi MC]. 'The Tribune' On the Italian Singles Chart, the song reached number one for three weeks. In the UK, it was issued through Instant Karma and debuted at its peak of number five on the UK Singles Chart; it was the first bhangra song to reach the UK top 10. The remix, featuring American rapper Jay-Z, also reached number 33 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100, number 10 in Canada, and number 12 in Australia.
'The Washington Post' estimated that there may have been 10 million units sold worldwide. However, given that many of these copies may have been bootlegged, an exact number is not known, though sales are at least in the millions.
Track listings
'German CD single'
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (original mix) 3:49
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Moonbootica mix) 6:41
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Banks & Sullivan Oldskool mix) 4:39
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (instrumental mix) 4:43
'French CD single'
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (original radio edit) 3:24
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Motivo Hi-Lectro radio edit) 3:25
'UK CD single'
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (radio edit) 3:20
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Switch mix) 6:19
# "Mundian Breaks" 3:56
'UK 12-inch single'
:A1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" (main mix) 4:02
:B1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Switch mix) 6:19
:B2. "Mundian Breaks" 3:56
'UK cassette single'
# "Mundian To Bach Ke" (main mix) 4:02
# "Mundian Breaks" 3:56
'US CD single and 12-inch single 1'
# "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (Jay-Z remix)
# "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (original version)
# "Beware Breaks (Mundian Breaks)"
'US 12-inch single 2'
:A1. "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (radio edit)
:A2. "Beware Breaks (Mundian Breaks)"
:B1. "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (Switch mix)
'US 12-inch single 3'
:A1. "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (Twista remix)
:A2. "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" (original version)
:B1. "Beware Breaks (Mundian Breaks)"
'Australian CD single'
# "Mundian To Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" (Jay-Z remix radio edit) 3:00
# "Mundian To Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" (original radio edit) 3:21
# "Mundian To Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" (Triple X remix) 7:53
# "Mundian To Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" (Motiva Hi-Lectro mix) 5:40
# "Beware Breaks (Mundian Breaks)" 3:56
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"!Chart (2003)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)
|99
|-
!scope="row"|Austria (3 Austria Top 40)
|20
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)
|23
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)
|23
|-
!scope="row"|France (SNEP)
|80
|-
!scope="row"|Germany (Official German Charts)
|35
|-
!scope="row"|Italy (FIMI)
|10
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)
|88
|-
!scope="row"|Romania (Romanian Top 100)
|43
|-
!scope="row"|Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)
|64
|-
!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
|33
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)
|73
|-
!scope="row"|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ('Billboard')
|98
|}
Certifications
Release history
In popular culture
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" is used frequently in western media when Indian characters are introduced or are on screen. It was used on an episode of 'ER', when Gallant and Neela danced to a version of the song, which Gallant called a "Sikh rap".
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was also used in 'America's Best Dance Crew' Season 2 on week 9 of the Around The World challenge as part of the Indian dance section. It also appeared in an episode of the American television show 'Queer as Folk' during a scene at the club 'Babylon'. A version of this song was used as a background music in the Ginebra San Miguel "Bilog Ang Mundo" ad campaigns in 2003. The song was featured in an episode of 'Entourage'. It was used twice in the pilot of the NBC comedy 'Outsourced'.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was featured in the 2003 film 'Bulletproof Monk'.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was also the song used by Derek Hough and Shawn Johnson in their 'Knight Rider' bhangra-themed dance in the semi-finals of 'Dancing with the Stars' (All Stars Season).
* The remix of "Mundian To Bach Ke", which featured American rapper Jay-Z, also on Dharma Records, was featured in the trailer for the 2012 American film 'The Dictator', as the film's main theme song.
* Sports-comedy 'Stick It' featured the beginning of "Mundian To Bach Ke" in a scene where a group of teens escapes from the arriving police.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was used in the dance games 'Dance Central 3' and 'Just Dance 4'.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was used in the Bollywood film 'Boom' (2003).
* In 2009, German singer Peter Fox mashed this song with Seeed's song "Dickes B" during the tour for his solo album 'Stadtaffe'.
* In 2015, it was featured in series 2, episode 2 of the BBC sitcom 'Scot Squad' as two officers did the 'clocking off' dance.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was recreated in the Bollywood film 'Baaghi 2', with lyrics rewritten in Hindi.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was featured on Beyonc and Jay-Z's joint tour On the Run II Tour, mashed up with Beyonc's Baby Boy.
* "Mundian To Bach Ke" was used on the June 2019 Edexcel GCSE Music Paper. It featured on the Section B essay along with the track Release by Afro Celt Sound System.
*"Mundian To Bach Ke", featuring Jay-Z, appears on the soundtrack of the 2021 Netflix movie 'The White Tiger'.
*"Mundian To Bach Me" was used as part of a dance scene within the Closing Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
References
Category:1998 songs
Category:2002 singles
Category:2003 singles
Category:Number-one singles in Greece
Category:Number-one singles in Hungary
Category:Number-one singles in Italy
Category:Panjabi MC songs
Category:Punjabi-language songs
Category:UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles
Category:Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles
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