"Mundian To Bach Ke", also titled "Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke)" 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 first by Panjabi MC in Birmingham, England, for his 1998 album Legalised/The Album. 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 10 million 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" (1997) 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 French CD single UK CD single UK 12-inch single UK cassette single US CD single and 12-inch single 1 US 12-inch single 2 US 12-inch single 3 Australian CD single

Charts

Weekly charts

"Mundian To Bach Ke" "Beware of the Boys" (featuring Jay-Z)

Year-end charts

"Mundian To Bach Ke" "Beware of the Boys" (featuring Jay-Z)

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

As stereotype

Outside these examples above, its massive popularity lent to frequent stereotypical use in western media as a auditory shorthand for introducing South Asians and/or aspects of their culture on screen.