Do Drugs & Music go hand in hand?

[Miss_C]

Maybe its a little too early for me as a new member to start up a serious discussion topic, but as we all probably know and agree, within all genres of music, there's been numerous instances where you can see the influences of drugs on the work of the artists. The concept of Alice in Wonderland is based on drug use...even though its a children's cartoon lol...and even songs by many artists, off the top of my head the Beatles sang that song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which was based on LSD (like the words in the song)...even within the Bhangra world, there are several songs that make references to drugs, one of them sung by Babbu Mann.

Where I'm going with this is...we all hear of artists getting high, or drinking excessive amounts, or in some cases using the hardcore stuff like cocaine, heroin, whatever else is out there, but especially within the Bhangra world, when is it just too much?? Someone told me certain artists do copious amounts of cocaine, and while I'm not saying that could be true or not, when do you think enough is enough? I'm surprised that it just seems to be so readily accepted by most people that these singers do this and that no one cares to say anything or to draw the line?

Now in light of the recent passing of Kaka, some people wrote in the other thread that it was due to excessive drinking...as unfortunate as it is that we had such a talented singer with such a unique voice taken away from us, what makes it even more tragic is that it was completely preventable....

 

[oJaLa]

Good topic! I think it all reaches its limit when you begin to use it as an excuse for things, mixing it with emotions and giving it importance in life... ultimately developing it into an addiction. Unfortunately, once its an addiction its a problem that's hard to separate from...

People just have to think bout what they're doing. A lot of people try different drugs and drink a lot to push their limits and see how far they can go. AGAIN, that's a bad idea, because everyone has the potential to push themseves as far as death with this stuff.

So, unless you're doing it in moderation, you're pretty much screwed? lol

 

[faizan]

The Alcohol culture in Punjab is a major problem. In the same way rap songs that glorify violence, drugs and mistreatment of women, Punjabi songs do this with alcohol, being flashy and sometimes objectifying women (especially in some videos). Of course this is not inherent in the culture, as Punjabi culture is still fairly conservative/modest. The newer generation of singers and in some instances Punjabis in general need to go back to what made Punjabi culture so exemplary.

 

[djsandhu-apd]

your thread is so true, but hey addictions are hard to break i check my facebook all the time to get my mind relieved when studying haha, so in that case they have other alternatives. me being a singer as well i know it is hard...sometimes when you drink before singing you are more open to sing, your breath control is better, and you can influncuate more..some guru's teach there singers these things and honestly my guru ji the late soni pabla told me to drink a lemon n honey tea before singing infront of a crowd it was said to calm your voice and make your body less tense, and honestly it may just be a mental thing but i certainly do feel what he said i was supposed to feel. where im trying to get to is regaurdless of the performance i would say 80% of the time ill have a calm tea or simply lemon honey n water. i stayed on the safe but others have other ways...its tough breaking those habbits and i personaly dont blame them that much, they will do what they think is the right thing to do...family n friends should be the ones there to help them fix the problem and get them the right intervention.

 

[rampur209]

as far as i know 75% of the singers don't get on stage unless they have had a pegg or 2 even lembher said it in his song "gaun walie (singers) veh peendhe neh uche gaun layi" baki rab janda

 

[Varun]

Its hard to generalize too much but check out this specific example:

From what I have noticed, whenever Punjabi artists have concerts in different cities and are on tour constantly, they meet lots of promoters and chumchay who just want to hang with them. I remember when Jazzy B came to LA like 4-5 years ago, my neighbor, who was the promoter of his show, invited him and his whole entourage the night before his gig for a party at his house. There, all the uncles were doing like, zabardasti, forcefully getting his boy to drink. That sort of peer pressure must go on everyday for artists that have this life on the road. And its like a respect thing to accept whatever your hosts offer you. Its up to the artist to be strict about these things and know when to say no. A perfect example of this is Gurdas Mann. When he came to Long Beach last year, the promoter told me that he ended up going to sleep at like 10 a.m. after his performance. No after parties, get togethers, late night dinner or anything like that.

 

[rampur209]

i seen that with ravinder grewal when he came like 3 years ago to cali he told the promoter that he is fine with taking pics and talking with the fans but he is not going to any dinners or going to a party after the show but i have seen other singers that actually like going to parties n dinner with random people i been banny a and surinder laddi they came to modesto to do a show banny a was tipsy drunk by the end of a lil get together party

 

[Miss_C]

but I think as singers, yeah they do have stress and pressure, but they're out there setting an example for so many people, they should have stronger self control.

 

[justAguy]

Simple answer.

Drugs and ANYTHING artistic ALWAYS go hand in hand.

People are just dull and lack creativity without them LOL

 

[Karandeep]

I remember watching a music video of Jazzy B, and he had a kurtha on with Marijauna Leafs designed on it. I didnt like it at all.