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Outlook: The singer with her back to the audience

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25/04/2024 GMT

The singer with her back to the audience

BBC World Service - Outlook, The singer with her back to the audience

How Indian jazz vocalist Asha Puthli challenged musical stereotypes

From jazz fusion to disco and Hip hop, Asha Puthli's genre-defying musical career

Asha Puthli’s vocals can be heard on influential jazz, fusion and disco tracks from the 1970s, and samples and remixes from some of the world biggest Hip hop artists.  

Growing up in newly-independent India there was little in Asha Puthli’s traditional and conventional background to suggest she might become a singer. In Mumbai clubs she sang with her back to the audience to avoid being recognised and alerting her parents. She was featured in a book on contemporary Indian culture which brought her to the attention of a US music mogul.  However the rest wasn’t quite history – while receiving critical acclaim, her career was also hindered by the cultural expectations of the time. With her flamboyant looks, and extraordinary voice Asha has always been a genre-defying musician – something that didn’t sit well with the recording industry’s stereotyped expectations of what an Indian singer might be.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

Producer : June Christie and Julian Siddle

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

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