Why Sidhu Moose Wala’s violent death has sent shock waves from Punjab to Brampton

The loss of life of a famend musician who rose to fame in Brampton, Ont., has despatched shock waves throughout Punjabi communities round the world.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, identified by his stage identify Sidhu Moose Wala, was shot lifeless in Punjab on Sunday, police within the Indian state confirmed. He was 28.

Moose Wala’s impression on Punjabi music, tradition and the neighborhood at massive — in Brampton and past — is an underdog success story, many say.

“Brampton is the place he discovered his success,” stated journalist Jaskaran Sandhu.

Sandhu, who co-founded and runs Baaz Information, an outlet targeted on the Sikh and Punjabi diaspora, says Moose Wala’s story is a global one. However in Brampton, it is a story to which many can relate.

‘A really distinctive voice’

Moose Wala got here to the town, simply northwest of Toronto, in 2016 to review — as many different Punjabis have.

“That is very Brampton. You’ve got come right here as a global pupil, you discovered your voice, your crew, and he fulfils an extended dream of changing into a preferred and well-known Punjabi singer,” Sandhu stated.

Brampton’s Punjabi music scene is very large and rising, he says, with songs streamed by thousands and thousands throughout the planet. Moose Wala’s uniqueness, Sandhu says, stemmed from his means to mix traditional Punjabi musical traditions with trendy rap and hip hop.

However what additionally set Moose Wala aside from the remaining had been his lyrics.

“That solely occurred due to the sort of ecosystem that exists domestically,” Sandhu stated.

He would deal with a number of social points going through the Punjabi neighborhood, together with a tune concerning the widespread farmers’ protests in India.

“He was a really distinctive voice, and the sort of outpouring, love, and condolences you are seeing is a results of that,” Sandhu stated. “I feel he represented plenty of inner dialogues and struggles inside the neighborhood.”

Moose Wala’s background in Brampton helped him join with not simply these born and raised within the metropolis, but in addition with those that got here as immigrants or college students.

Sandhu says he is heard tales of individuals taking a time without work from work or college to mourn Moose Wala’s loss of life, one thing he says is paying homage to when Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996.

Roots in Punjab

However Canadians who’ve by no means heard of him may not acknowledge the importance of his loss of life. Sandhu says the Punjabi neighborhood in Canada is extra more likely to be Sikh, and it is a transnational neighborhood connecting Canada, the U.S., U.Okay. and India, and lots of extra international locations the place Punjabi Sikhs have settled.

“You may’t disconnect us with what’s taking place in Punjab and South Asia,” Sandhu stated.

That is a part of why Moose Wala’s music resonated with so many.

“We take heed to [Punjabi] music greater than we take heed to English music,” he stated. “Even when you’re born and raised right here, even when Punjabi has change into your second language, you continue to take heed to it extra.”

Moose Wala has “left a big impact on the neighborhood, widespread the world over.”  says Rupen Bhardwaj, a music video director based mostly in Brampton.

Bhardwaj directed a lot of Moose Wala’s hit movies, together with Legend and B-City, a tune devoted to Brampton. In all, he and his brother shot six music movies for the acclaimed rapper, a few of them in Brampton.

When Bhardwaj discovered of Moose Wala’s loss of life, he might solely consider considered one of his lyrics “te parallel chalda aan loss of life de” (I stroll parallel to loss of life).

“Sidhu’s impression on Brampton is unfold throughout the town,” Bhardwaj stated.

“So many individuals by no means considered an artist, however they see successful story from one other faculty pupil from India who got here right here to have a life in Canada and acquired to this point with such acclaim,” he stated.

“It is the straightforward case of an underdog story,” he added.

Deepinder Singh, a global pupil who now calls Brampton residence, stated he could not recover from the shock of listening to the information.

“He is like us,” Singh stated. “He got here right here as a global pupil, struggled, composed his music, however now he is not with us.”

“Might God bless his soul.”