Mundian To Bach Ke


"Mundian To Bach Ke", also titled "Beware of the Boys " 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 recorded 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" 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 music video of this song was shot in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chart performance

"Mundian To Bach Ke" was 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. 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
  1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 3:49
  2. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 6:41
  3. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 4:39
  4. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 4:43
French CD single
  1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 3:24
  2. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 3:25
UK CD single
  1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 3:20
  2. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 6:19
  3. "Mundian Breaks" – 3:56
UK 12-inch single
UK cassette single
  1. "Mundian To Bach Ke" – 4:02
  2. "Mundian Breaks" – 3:56
US CD single and 12-inch single 1
  1. "Beware of the Boys "
  2. "Beware of the Boys "
  3. "Beware Breaks "
US 12-inch single 2
US 12-inch single 3
Australian CD single
  1. "Mundian To Bach Ke " – 3:00
  2. "Mundian To Bach Ke " – 3:21
  3. "Mundian To Bach Ke " – 7:53
  4. "Mundian To Bach Ke " – 5:40
  5. "Beware Breaks " – 3:56

Charts

Weekly charts

"Mundian To Bach Ke"
Chart Peak
position
Europe 3
Greece 1
Ireland Dance 2
Romania 12

"Beware of the Boys"
Chart Peak
position
Canada 10
US Billboard Hot 10033
US Dance Singles Sales 3
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 21
US Rhythmic Top 40 17

Year-end charts

"Mundian To Bach Ke"
Chart Position
Austria 20
Belgium 23
Belgium 23
France 80
Germany 35
Italy 10
Netherlands 88
Romania 43
Sweden 64
Switzerland 33
UK Singles 73

"Beware of the Boys"
Chart Position
Australia 99
US Dance Singles Sales 11
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 98
US Rhythmic Top 40 94

In popular culture

As stereotype

Outside these examples above, its massive popularity lent to frequent stereotypical use in western media as an auditory shorthand for introducing South Asians and/or aspects of their culture on screen.
It was for example was a part of some internet memes with the audio volume heightened up and titled "loud indian music". The video became popular and featured characters either singing the song or yelling the song. The song was also used in a music video of a cat wearing a keffiyeh, earning 18,000,000 views to date.