Sonu Nigam - The next Rafi ?
Harry Joe
DISCLAIMER :
This is NOT a comparison between Rafi & Sonu (there can never be
another Rafi).
Among the CURRENT singers Sonu Nigam seems to be the most versatile.
Recently I heard 2 songs:
1. Tera Jadoo Chal gaya (title song)
2. Fiza (Tu fiza hai)
In both of these the vocals have been rendered to near perfection.
Difficult songs with a lot of modulations have been presented with
great vocal skills. I am wondering if Sonu
is really going to be the next great singer of this time !
Harry
ani...@my-deja.com
I have to agree with you on the first one. A complex melody, nicely
composed (by whom????) and rendered. The second one is quite average.
--
Cheers,
Anil P. Hingorani
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
sanj...@my-deja.com
ani...@my-deja.com wrote:
> In article <3A018770...@nospam.com>,
> Harry Joe <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
> > Hi all;
> >
> > DISCLAIMER :
> > This is NOT a comparison between Rafi & Sonu (there can never be
> > another Rafi).
> >
> > Among the CURRENT singers Sonu Nigam seems to be the most versatile.
Well, Shankar Mahadevan is also a well-trained, flexible singer.
However, Sonu has got a LOT going for him. I have not heard the songs
you mention, but I have liked him in Dil Se and other songs.
I have to say, however, his voice is NOWHERE near as BEAUTIFUL as
Rafi's. He also has a tendency to OVEREMOTE (though people in the
industry seem to eat this up, as they treat "emotion" like something
that can be added in small amounts or in gobs and gobs, like salt,
vinegar, or any other condiment.) I do like listening to Sonu Nigam,
but only when he doesn't decide to "bleed all over a song"
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
Vishal Ailawadhi
> I have to say, however, his voice is NOWHERE near as BEAUTIFUL as
> Rafi's. He also has a tendency to OVEREMOTE (though people in the
He gets that from his affinity to Kumar Sanu. He believes that Kumar Sanu is
one of the best singers, in terms of emotions, in the industry (Please, I
don't want this to become a debate regarding Kumar Sanu's singing ability).
And, in terms of his lasting ability, not many singers have been able to
make it as film stars as well. It was good of him to leave SaReGaMa
(although much delayed according to me), but I don't know why he's started
acting...Should've contained himself to singing.
Also, to answer a previous question, Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya was Composed by
Ismail Darbar.
Vishal
ani...@my-deja.com
Sanjeev,
Comparing Sonu with Rafi is certainly not right, but given what you
say about his "overemoting" would a comparision with Asha be just?
:-)
--
Cheers,
Anil P. Hingorani
Ashok
>
>I have to say, however, his voice is NOWHERE near as BEAUTIFUL as
>Rafi's.
I'd say specifically the Rafi voice of the second half of the
1950s.
He also has a tendency to OVEREMOTE (though people in the
>industry seem to eat this up, as they treat "emotion" like something
>that can be added in small amounts or in gobs and gobs, like salt,
>vinegar, or any other condiment.) I do like listening to Sonu Nigam,
>but only when he doesn't decide to "bleed all over a song"
>
>Sanjeev Ramabhadran
As if Rafi didn't over-emote! The infamous
"baabul ki duaae.n leti jaao" takes the cake,
but there are others.
Ashok
Arun Sampath
> Rafi's. He also has a tendency to OVEREMOTE
I beg to disagree. Sonu just doesn't compare to someone like Asha who can't
sing a simple song .....well just simply. She always adds her own
"inflections"/variations to an extent that sometimes both the song and the
mood are spoiled.
Also, Rafi does "Overemote" quite a few times. I cannot bear to hear some of
his sad songs.
I hate to bring this up after my notorious "Anuradha has sung a few songs
better than Lata" posts (which I still hold onto) but I have to say that
Sonu has done a creditable job in quite a few songs of Rafi.
A
Nita
> Comparing Sonu with Rafi is certainly not right, but given what you
> say about his "overemoting" would a comparision with Asha be just?
Only if it is just to compare Lata to shrieking banshees :-)
Nita
--
http://www.urdupoetry.com
sanj...@my-deja.com
I never said Rafi didn't ever over-emote...I just think SN does it way
more often.
--
sanj...@my-deja.com
"Arun Sampath" <as...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I hate to bring this up after my notorious "Anuradha has sung a few
songs
> better than Lata" posts (which I still hold onto) but I have to say
that
> Sonu has done a creditable job in quite a few songs of Rafi.
Sonu has talent and good power and control in his voice, and yes, there
are a few songs I think he has sung better than Rafi (e.g. Nav Kalpana
Nav Roop Se from Mrig Trishna), but in those cases, I think Rafi has
actually NOT sung the song that well. Sonu at his best ain't a PATCH on
Rafi at his best.
As I said in a previous post, I don't deny that Rafi has over-emoted in
some songs.
--
sanj...@my-deja.com
> >
> >I have to say, however, his voice is NOWHERE near as BEAUTIFUL as
> >Rafi's.
>
> I'd say specifically the Rafi voice of the second half of the
> 1950s.
Yes, this is a very good example to support my claim.
--
Samir Dhume
> Sonu himself. Finally, I think Sonu Nigam has also done invaluable
> service to newer generations of music-lovers in re-exposing Rafi's work
> through the cover albums.
That's a bit like (though not quite) Johnny Lever exposing us
to the work of Sanjeev Kumar. Imitation is fairly trivial.
samir
sanj...@my-deja.com
100...@oeonline.oeonline.com>,
Vallury Prabhakar <le...@mail.oeonline.com> wrote:
> (Sonu Nigam) has consistently shown an outstanding ability to add
> difficult inflections taken from starkly different genres such as
Arabic,
> rock-and-roll, etc. He has also demonstrated very good modulation in
> voice quality from soft to powerful to harsh/guttural to controlled
> 'besura'ness when required. I feel this is above and beyond the
efforts
> of most music directors to explicitly create (except perhaps for
ARR).
> Make no mistake though, his voice has all the required ingredients of
> clarity, timbre and depth.
I don't argue with any of this. I don't contend that Rafi would have
sung with any Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston-ish twists that Sonu throws
in. I never said that he would shoot up two octaves and sing a riff in
his falsetto. I never said that Rafi would have sung "Satrangi Re" or
"Deewana Dil" better than Sonu.
> I have the opportunity to see a lot of very mediocre music videos on
TV,
> and he can spice up very average compositions with his skills making
them
> just a little memorable and special. Of course, one cannot question
his
> control over sur and taal either, at least in the film and pop genre.
Agreed - however, I still don't like his pathological over-emoting (and
remember, I do not say Rafi never over-emoted).
He
> also shows a certain simplicity and honesty in all his interviews
that is
> refreshing in its child-like nature ala Garth Brooks.
I don't know Garth Brooks, but having met Sonu Nigam and knowing some
people who interact more closely with him, I don't believe Sonu Nigam
is as simple as he looks. I rather think that he is quite shrewd and
understands what being a public figure is. I think Rafi-sahab had more
of the child-like nature that you speak of (there unfortunately don't
seem to be too many interviews of him out there), but that's another
discussion.
> able to quickly absorb the essence of different styles of world music
and
> apply them effectively.
Some styles yes...but this Indi-Pop preoccupation - rather, OBSESSION
with singing in EVERY style on the planet is funny. Somewhat in the
same way that singers in India who ape MTV and try to throw on American
accents think that they do and know the accent better than anyone born
over here (e.g. ME).
>
> The large number of Rafi cover albums he has done give ample evidence
of
> his ability to almost completely clone Rafi's style, spirit and
technique
> A few examples: Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan, Ik shahenshah ne,
Tere
> bin sooney, Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aaya - the list is actually quite
> endless.
Sonu has sung these better than Shabbir, Munna, or any of the other
jokers out there for sure (and since that's not saying much, he
deserves more credit than that...he has sung quite a few songs well).
However, he has NOT cloned Rafi's technique, and he CANNOT completely,
because his voice type/build is not the same. Sonu often sounds pinched
at higher pitches where Rafi is absolutely sailing - not because Sonu
is not a good singer, but his basic voice does NOT have as much
similarity in its range and build to Mohd. Rafi's as people are ready
to acknowledge.
On his technique - his "ah" vowel is fundamentally different from
Rafi's and he has a particularly annoying habit of closing it off the
higher he goes. In addition, the way he pronounces his "n" sounds is
funny - in Malayalam, there are two different consonants which roughly
correspond to the letter N. One of them involves bringing your tongue
forward almost past the teeth so that it sounds like a combination of
"n" and "d". This is the way most of Sonu's "n"'s sound. Any Malayali
readers will know what I mean. Check out, among others, his otherwise
much-better-than-Rafi rendition of "Nav Kalpana Nav Roop Se" for
examples.
> I would submit Rafi at his peak would not have been as comfortable or
> versatile as Sonu is (or will be). That, clearly would require a huge
> leap in faith for the Rafi-bhakts, of which there may be none bigger
than
> Sonu himself. Finally, I think Sonu Nigam has also done invaluable
> service to newer generations of music-lovers in re-exposing Rafi's
work
> through the cover albums. I know of several people who went out and
> bought the originals after listening to Sonu's versions. That's
neither
> here nor there in the inevitable comparisons, but I think he's had
some
> influence in building this awareness, more so than anybody else.
You may be right about all this - all I say is that I find more sheer
BEAUTY in Rafi-sahab's music. This does not mean that Sonu Nigam is not
a talented, versatile, and intelligent singer.
> Did he, by chance, get his first "break" for Rafi covers from Anuradha
> Paudwal?
Maybe not AP, but it was a T-Series thing, so Gulshan Kumar was
probably involved.
--
Vallury Prabhakar
versatile singer. He has consistently shown an outstanding ability to add
difficult inflections taken from starkly different genres such as Arabic,
rock-and-roll, etc. He has also demonstrated very good modulation in
voice quality from soft to powerful to harsh/guttural to controlled
'besura'ness when required. I feel this is above and beyond the efforts
of most music directors to explicitly create (except perhaps for ARR).
Make no mistake though, his voice has all the required ingredients of
clarity, timbre and depth.
I have the opportunity to see a lot of very mediocre music videos on TV,
and he can spice up very average compositions with his skills making them
just a little memorable and special. Of course, one cannot question his
control over sur and taal either, at least in the film and pop genre. He
also shows a certain simplicity and honesty in all his interviews that is
refreshing in its child-like nature ala Garth Brooks. I believe he is
able to quickly absorb the essence of different styles of world music and
apply them effectively.
The large number of Rafi cover albums he has done give ample evidence of
his ability to almost completely clone Rafi's style, spirit and technique
A few examples: Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan, Ik shahenshah ne, Tere
bin sooney, Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aaya - the list is actually quite
endless.
I would submit Rafi at his peak would not have been as comfortable or
versatile as Sonu is (or will be). That, clearly would require a huge
leap in faith for the Rafi-bhakts, of which there may be none bigger than
Sonu himself. Finally, I think Sonu Nigam has also done invaluable
service to newer generations of music-lovers in re-exposing Rafi's work
through the cover albums. I know of several people who went out and
bought the originals after listening to Sonu's versions. That's neither
here nor there in the inevitable comparisons, but I think he's had some
influence in building this awareness, more so than anybody else.
Did he, by chance, get his first "break" for Rafi covers from Anuradha
Paudwal?
Cheers,
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