Guns, Gangs, Fast Cars, the ‘Jat Life’… young Punjabi-Canadian singer Shubh’s songs have been all about this ever since he broke onto the Punjabi music stage exactly two years ago. It is, however, the latest controversy over his purported support of the Khalistan cause ahead of a world tour that has brought Shubh, 26, into unsavoury spotlight.
Shubh’s Punjabi music is much in sync with the style of the two other young Punjabi singers based in Canada — the late Sidhu Moosewala and AP Dhillon — all of whom burst onto the Punjabi music scene over the last three years.
Shubh dropped his first song ‘We Rollin’ on September 17, 2021. It remains his most popular song to date with over 206 million views on YouTube. He subsequently released around seven more songs till announcing a world tour recently, starting from India to the UK, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, and USA. Shubh writes, composes, and sings his songs, and shoots in Canada.
“I have a .32 bore (gun) and a black car… the police does not interfere in my matters, Jats run gangs and have weapons… I don’t think before hitting anyone…” go the lyrics of Shubh’s most popular song ‘We Rollin’.
Six months after his first song, Shubh dropped a heart-break song last year in February — ‘No Love’ — lamenting how a woman is taking men for a ride and breaking his heart. This song got nearly 175 million views. Shubh was soon back to singing upbeat songs showcasing fast cars and how Jat boys live a grand life, giving out advice to women. All his songs also invariably showcase fast cars and sights from Toronto.
“Don’t be too frank with me, you’ve just landed in Canada, you won’t be able to handle Punjabi boys from Majha (a region in Punjab),” was his advice to women in his song ‘Elevated’ that hit YouTube in April last year and got him 87 million views. His subsequent song ‘Baller’ had similar sentiments with the lyrics extolling how his name is trending and how he treats adversaries in his own way by bringing them down. The lyrics went on like “The circumstances are now in my favour but I don’t know if they will remain so…but even if they change, I don’t care as I believe in God and don’t depend on anyone”. It got 77 million views.
In May this year, Shubh brought out a sequel ‘Still Rollin’ to his first song ‘We Rollin’ and the song has hit over 42 million views as on date. Featuring again a fast car and speaking about the ‘Jat Life’, the lyrics said how he has got 22 inch rims in his new car and loves to take a ride at the speed of 210.
“I have automatic weapons and automatic cars… I don’t bow before anyone, people touch my feet,” the lyrics went. Shubh released three more songs lately, including a trending song ‘Cheques’ ahead of announcing a world tour.
However, controversy has struck his upcoming tour, with Indian sponsors like boAt pulling out.
Shubh’s real name is Shubhneet Singh and his singles have featured on the UK Asian and UK Punjabi Charts, as well as Billboard Canadian Hot 100. He shared a distorted map of India on Instagram, triggering protests from groups in India for his purported support to Khalistan.
On Wednesday, the Punjabi singer’s posters were blackened and torn down on the Western Expressway in Mumbai by the BJP Youth Wing. A letter has already been given to the Mumbai Police seeking cancellation of his performance.
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