Re-Mixing Identities

Bally Sagoo said that people do not really listen to the lyrics of the dance music. I found this statement of his very interesting because I could relate to it a lot. I listen to Farsi music and Hindi music but in neither do I understand the lyrics. With Farsi music, I understand a couple of the words here and there but I do not fully understand the lyrics. Same goes with Hindi music. Personally, when I listen to these kind of songs I listen for the beats and rhythms. Even when I listen to American music, I rarely listen to the lyrics. Every once in a while I actually look up the lyrics and read them. Going back to the article, towards the end Ranjit says that she listens to the lyrics of songs and she banned some songs because of the political message it was giving out. I found this point interesting because it contradicts what she previously had said about lyrics not having and importance. Ranjit clarified her statement and she said that as a DJ you must listen to the lyrics in order to know what you are playing. I agree with her statement. Being a DJ, you have to know your audience. If you are playing a song that has racial remarks to a specific group, and that group happens to also be your audience, you will be in trouble! I believe that Ranjit is being very wise when she says that "There's that kind of level of harassment." So I think to some up their argument, to Ranjit and Bally, lyrics and the message that a song delivers does have an importance to a limited extent. Regardless of whether its dance music, or any type of other music, the lyrics do have an important meaning.