If you recall, a man named Yo Yo Honey Singh took the charts by storm some years ago with his provocative and misogynistic songs, and then disappeared, reportedly due to a mental disorder. He recently made a comeback with a few Bollywood songs, which didn’t work as much as he thought. However, his songs made headlines for a whole other reason.
His recent song Makhna invited the wrath of Punjab’s Women’s State Commission for alleged derogatory remarks against women. Following this, a non-bailable warrant has been issued against the musician for an old song named Hum Hain Balaaktari (I am A Rapist), which Singh claims he hadn’t written or sung. In fact, the singer-rapper-composer disowns all the crude vulgar pornographic songs that are credited to him on the Internet.
At the peak of the controversies, Singh had said, “All these are attempts to discredit me by jealous elements, who can’t bear to see me so successful in such a short time. They are maligning me by putting up these type of songs. How can I sing such songs? I respect women too much to even think like that.” The comment is in reference to Badshah, who took over the position of Bollywood’s top rapper-singer while Singh recovered from his illness.
A music composer who would like to remain unnamed says, “Badshah is everything that Honey Singh could have been. Badshah has a clean family image, kids love him, and his songs are catchy and even naughty, but they don’t cross the line. Yo Yo Honey Singh repeatedly sang crude unacceptable lyrics, objectifying women. He can’t disown them just like that. Not in this day and age of the Internet, where everything is documented.”
