Last week, the Daily News (thanks Dave) had a fascinating article about Deevani, the Hindi singer on the Daddy Yankee hit “Mirame”. Details about this singer were always shrouded in mystery, at least until she granted her first interview and cleared up the fact that Deevani (née Adalgisa Inés Rooney) was actually not Indian or even South Asian at all, but a Puerto Rico raised Dominican who fell in love with her first husband’s Bengali language and culture.
Normally I’d want to snark all over something like this. But I can’t. The woman is just too impressive. I think she’s single now, so let me pass on her biodata:
- She is a 31-year-old mother of 3 kids
- She has an MBA in finance
- She is the CEO of her brother’s (Luny, of superproducing duo Luny Tunes) company Mas Flow
- She taught herself eight languages – Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi and Arabic. So with her native Spanish, and English, that makes ten.
- In an industry crammed with female “divas” and all the cliches that the term engenders, she is refreshingly comfortable presenting a low-key, domestic image:
“I’ve just written this song for [new artist] Nicolle,” she says, passing her iPod across the table. “The melody came to me when I was dusting my house.”
Ughhhrrr…on most mornings, I’m lucky if I can find a pair of black tights without holes, and leave the house with my glasses still on my face. And she records hit songs while she’s dusting. F*ck! Maybe I need to step it up a little…
Rooney also appears to be a driving force behind the electrifying (should be if “Mirame” was just a teaser) Bhangra-Reggaeton fusion known as Bhangraton:
It was not long before the CEO of Mas Flow Inc. put out a call to Rishi for a potential collaboration. “Since Luny Tunes has a strong-hold on the Latino audience and we have the Asian audience on lock, it just made sense for use to come together,†stated Jay Sean in a recent interview with Reggaetonline.net at Mas Flow Studios. link
So far, the album’s not out yet, but Tigerstyle’s done a few reggaeton remixes (see here) so the idea’s catching.
While I can understand why mashing musical forms would be objectionable to purists, I don’t think this is a form of musical tourism akin to the ABC Carpet & Home shenanigans that grated so badly on (most of) our nerves. Despite her unforgivable fondness for Celine Dion, Deevani/Rooney explains herself quite well:
How’d you pick up all those languages? I basically created my own system to learn a language. All I have to do is, first of all, go to the [record] store. I ask somebody, ”What do you think would be the best singer right now? Pop, something that’s not going to bore me.” And I get their music in that language. In French, for example, I bought the entire French album by Celine Dion. She’s one of my favorites. And I learned all the songs. That’s how I start. I don’t learn ”How are you?” and ”How do you do?” and the colors and the days of the week. That’s not my way.
The parts you sing on ”Mirame” and ”Flow Natural” are both taken from Bollywood movies. How’d you first get into that genre? I am a Bollywood maniac! When I married my ex-husband, he introduced me to Bollywood. I needed that, to learn his language. So I got the Bengali tapes, the soap operas, which are very big in Bangladesh. And then I went to Jackson Heights [in Queens, N.Y.] one day, and I see all these movies. I think I bought 300 the first time.
Has everyone embraced the direction you’ve taken with your singing? A lot of people comment. Some people are like, ”Wow, that’s great that you know all those languages, and that’s great that you sing in Hindi, but does that mean you’re forgetting your Dominican roots?” It’s not. I actually think I’m taking my being Latino to a whole new level. I’m showing people that we can really do whatever we want, not only as a Latino person but as a woman.
Have you seen the influence going the other way, from reggaeton to the rest of the world? All my Indian friends tell me, ”Now I find myself hearing reggaeton, and now I listen to bachata, and oh my God, what a beautiful music it is! And now I go online and I look up the Dominican Republic.” People from Asia are starting to be interested in my little island out here in the Caribbean. I think that’s awesome. I don’t want to be a star, but if I can do something and if I can make these people look to other places on the map, I think that’s something worthwhile.link
When I first saw the picture, I thought it was Janet. 🙂
What a woman, and what a mash up of styles!
We need Avril to call her.
This is actually really exciting, and it kind of makes me wonder about the history of desi/Caribbean music mashups given all the cultural mashups happening in the W. Indies.
Impressive: Deevani is both a rock-star and a hyperpolyglot. I’m barely conversant in Hindi, but her pronunciation seems pretty spot-on. I haven’t heard Mirame but I’ve been listening to Flow Natural (one of the few reggaeton songs I like) obsessively since I first heard it and had no idea the singer wasn’t a Hindi native speaker until now. Anyone know what Bollywood song the lyrics are taken from?
cool but sounds like so far all she has done is taken bollywood movie songs and added it into raps….mirame is from movie yaadein – word for word desi dj’s have been doing this for years in desi parties….what gives:-) its cool in a way since its spanish fusion…
I just know english, but i speak it really goodly.
this flow natural song is good – never heard it before the movie is old hindi movie – i think chor machaye shor – pehan ka shola is the song
I’m glad you asked.
Thanks for the info, I’ll check it out.
cicatrix,
one of the best post (in my opinion) ever that i’ve seen. here on sm i am kid from banaras who grew up in PR for 6.5 years and listen to that reggaeton stuff a lot. and i always wondered if daddy yankee’s single was samlped from some bollywood film or not.
and on top of that she is the sister to one of the luny tunes kids? wow! you realize that is the neptunes/kanye of the reggaeton scene right? fui: she also has another hook on another single besides ‘mirame’ that is huge right now (i forget the name of right now because it’s saturday night)
but now that you’ve shown some info on the lady that i never knew existed, i will keep an eye out for her upcoming works. thanks.
Thanks, DJ. I used to listen to chutney with a friend of mine (parents were from Guyana and Grenada – I think they would identify as Afro-Caribbean), and she would constantly blow my mind re: my assumptions about the SAsian diaspora. I think this is probably one of the best things about the east coast, or at least, it’s something I would never have gotten a chance to encounter had I not been in NYC.
Thats all fine, but can she make samosa?
yeah, i thought it wuz janet too!
I am not from Puerto Rico, but I think the name is spelled boricua and not boriqua. Props to Deevani for sparking a desi-latino fusion revolution, at least in the music industry. Along the lines of desi-latino matters, if you ever want to practice your Spanish and read Bollywood news I just found this blog: Bollywood – Desde la India, actualidad de cine.
This is not so unusual in Trinidad. Carlene Wells, who is Afro-Caribbean, has won the Female Chutney Soca Monarch of the Year a few times, and this year Tricia Hamilton also participated. In Trinidad it’s part of the culture. Some Chutney artists occasionally create Soca tunes, and some Soca artists occasionally create Chutney tunes. No big whup. But it is impressive that she taught herself eight languages. She should take a flight to Trini for Carnival 2008. She would be a hit.
Sorry…that last link should be this. But this is actually my favorite pic. Oh I’m so homesick!
“Despite her unforgivable fondness for Celine Dion”
LOL Yes so much promise until that one line…
what a neat post! now i’ll be cleaning the apt while listening to don omar and calle 13.
seyd – thanks for the spanish bollywood blog link. i’m always looking for a way to improve. i travelled through peru in december, and was surprised to see that bollywood movies had hit the pirated movie scene in a big way. as soon as the peruvians found out that i was from india, they’d ask me to dance….i let them down gently, of course.
She hits those traditional Bollywood playback singer high notes on my page, yet sounds slightly offtune. Still good though, in a campy sort of way.
I’m so jealous. She’s amazing.
at Viet*namita (post #13):
Why are you spouting hate now? What does the article you linked have to do with the post?
It was not the poster who usually uses that name. The comment has been deleted. Please don’t feed the trolls — it’s what they are looking for.
Minor quibble but I resent Jay Sean thinking he has a “lock” on the Asian audience. psh.
I was in PR last year for vacation and for atleast 2-3 songs I heard on the radio I could swear that there was some desi influence in there. I tried to find them, but couldn’t. They were kinda catchy.
So we finally know who Deevani is! I’ve always wondered that. Her Hindi accent is pretty good for a non-native speaker.
new music!! awesome.
all this racism is killing me.
A downgrade? I know two Indian men married to black women.
MangoPickle must not be a fan of Halle Berry, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Kendra Moore, Vanessa Williams, Gabrielle Union, Jada Pinkett Smith, Salli Richardson, Kerry Washington…
Yeti, Huey – don’t sweat it. No time for that kind of ignorance here. I considered leaving the comment up just so people could see it and realize these sentiments are out there, but it’s just too toxic.
Back on topic, peoples.
I agree completely. I can’t stand it when Black or Hispanic women become fluent in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, and Punjabi and end up getting married to an Indian guy they’ve fallen in love with; if all that isn’t superficial involvement, I don’t know what is. I hope this is all temporary, when this trend passes who knows what other cultures’ languages she may master? If she doesn’t want to come off as not knowing shit about meaning/history behind why things are done, she should take a cue from all those Indian thugs who have successfully and seamlessly integrated themselves into the modern African-American experience by wearing FUBU, acting hardcore by getting into drunken fights outside of a desi cultural function, and by referring to each other as “n*gga.” Like myself, for instance. When you see me in my tricked-out Accord bumping da phatty beatz, you betta recognize…sucka.
Like, OHMIGAW! Gag me with a spoon! Half Indian/Black hair is like totally out this season. Hell-o?? Guh-ross! Everyone knows that half Indian/White is like totally hawt!! Black people are sooooo 2003. Dating a black woman is wearing a Hefty Bag like when you could be wearing Prada. Total. Downgrade. Yuck. Someone get me a Zima, I think I’m going to vomit…
That’s what globalization is all about – people being exposed to things from around the globe and buying what they like of it.
Please, please don’t feed the trolls.
The comment by “Mangopickle” was deleted by our ever-vigilent intern and it would be great if we could all ignore it.
To qualify – that was the new mango pickle, the one from the bollywood thread, not the old one, the one obsessed with hair removal.
That comment had to have been flame, thus properly deleted and hopefully soon forgotten. Still, haha @ 30.
I’ve just spent way too much of my day exploring this pan-latitudinal fusion (most of SAsia and the Caribbean fall within the band 10-30 degrees north of the Equator) (yes, I just looked that up). Thanks again for the post!
Deevani’s myspace page is very interesting. She clearly loves South Asian culture. And she’s raising her children to appreciate their Bangladeshi father’s heritage. Not even cultural nativists can hate on that.
The name Rooney is interesting…I’ve met people from Latin America with Irish last names…due to an Irish ancestor somwhere in their past. There was a sizable migration of Irish to the Caribbean and Central/South America, and that’s reflected in some of the names.
The two main contenders for the last mayoral election in San Juan, Puerto Rico, included a Puertorrican of Indian descent, Eduardo Bhatia Gautier (note: including the mother’s family name, Gautier, is a Spanish custom). The link below gives a bit more history. San Juan is the most important city on the island, and he ran for the Commonwealth Party (Partido Popular Democratico). I’m not sure if posters here would consider him a desi, or the son of a desi, but having been my home for many years, I can assure you all that just being nominated to run for mayor of San Juan as the PPD candidate is a major historical milestone in island politics. No North American has ever been a serious contender, though the miniscule (4% of the vote) Independence Party did field a “continental” candidate.
http://www.iacfpa.org/p_news/nit/2004/apr/02/elec6-top.shtml
Oh, and if she’s a Dominican, she is a “Quisqueyana” rather than a “Boricua” or Boriqua. Quisqueya was the indigenous name for the island of Hispaniola, as “Borinquen” was the indigenous name for Puerto Rico.
@=)
Word to the third. According to her blog, she’s maintaining her three children’s Muslim faith and wants to write songs in Bengali.
You SM’ers must like her style too: 52 of you have downloaded “Flow Natural” in the last day. Hey, I was even able to get Maisnon to shake her rupee-maker when I threw the track down at Dhamaal last year.
Very interesting, thanks for the link. I knew about the Punjabi-Mexican connection, but the Punjabi-Rico one is new to me. Best of luck to Eduardo-saab.
Mad love to the drrrty DJ baby…
lirelou is correct about the spelling/indigenous tip but if she was raised in PR then she likely considers herself Boriquen. Someone should ask her. After all, Trujillo made many a Quisqueyana head for the hills of PR, Haiti or the states.
I been saying all long that latinos have been mashing up culturally with desis (and everybody else)for a minute now, at least back home in NYC/NJ.
On a related side note, my atheism probably comes from my Gujarati atheist foster-dad. (Foster-mom was an observant Hindu but that didn’t really have as much of an impact on me except in my diet.) No idea if I said that right.
When you grow up in a mixed immigrant community of 1st Genners, like you might in parts of NYC or Jersey, this is inevitable.
Great post, cic! Also, previous post on Deevani and reggaeton-Tamil mashup.
How funny – I was literally talking to my friend the other night about Deevani and how nuts it was that she’s a latina with hard desi flavor.
She’s just an impressive lady overall.
Thanks for the links, Denise. I didn’t know that Trinidad had such a diverse culture. Are the afro-caribbean women part of most dance groups or are they occassional dancers? And where can I find Chutney music?
Right back atcha, coach.
You had Gujarai foster parents? You can’t stop there: I’m sure you could churn out a couple dozen blog posts detailing that experience. If you want to, that is.
And happy belated. I just had one too.
i second that. i’d be real interested in hearing about that experience.
HA! Not that THAT is hard 😉
(Happy belated bday, btw, DJDP!)
Manish, when I was in India last month I saw the write-up about you in Time Out Mumbai. Very nice. Looks like you’re having a great time out there.
I think the Afro-Caribbean women are ocassional dancers; I haven’t seen any during regular Chutney performances. Chutney music can be found here at Chutney Zone. It’s a pretty comprehensive site.
Coach has talked about it some before – you can find pieces by searching the comments. Here’s one piece.
thanks ennis. what an inspiring story that was of coach’s life.
hrmm…a family friend of mine married a puerto rican woman for his green card back in the day and later divorced her…no joke. or maybe it was my parents slandering him because we like to do that…
does that happen often?
anyhoo…she must have a super freaking brain to be fluent in all those languages and not fully immersed in any of the cultures. I guess bollywood did something good.