'Born Ready' is everything you expect from a Jazzy B album
The momentum has started for musicians releasing their Punjabi albums in 2023.
2022 was full of emerging and established artists putting out hit projects that received incredible recognition and accolades.
However, this won’t stop singers’ efforts to reach the top heights of music.
The popularity of Punjabi music has certainly increased in time and has been aided by crossovers between certain artists.
For example, ‘Chauffer’, the collaboration between Diljit Dosanjh and American rapper Tory Lanez was one of the chart-topping hits of 2022.
Therefore, fans are looking to get their fix of new music from both new and well-known musicians.
From Jazzy B to Karan Aujla, we count down the top five Punjabi albums to keep your eyes and ears on in 2023.
Twinbeatz – ‘Dark Hours’
Twinbeatz consists of twin brothers Harinder and Varinder who hail from Chicago, USA.
The singer-songwriters are also music producers who initially entered the industry as DJs and essentially became one of the most famous duos of Punjabi music.
Twinbeatz’s breakout tracks include ‘She Bad’, ‘Dolce Gabbana’ and ‘Diamond’, all of which have over 800,000 streams on Spotify.
Gathering up a lot of momentum with their creative harmonies and deep production, the pair put out Dark Hours in January 2023.
The project was initially supposed to come out on December 1, 2022. However, the twins’ father, unfortunately, passed away and they had to cancel the initial release.
Speaking on the project and their father’s death, Twinbeatz took to Instagram and said:
“When we look back, my Dad was the reason we started music. My Dad’s love for music was so big.
“We rarely played our music for my Dad prior to it releasing. He always used to hear it for the first time when it released.
“Wherever he is I hope he’s happy and I hope he hears this one.”
The EP is very hard-hitting and the twins’ brash nature really lights up each song.
It’s got fans excited to see what new music Twinbeatz put out and tracks like ‘Die In Your Arms’ has already got over 16,000 Spotify streams.
Listen to more of the project here.
Nirvair Pannu – ‘Flamboyant’
With over 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Nirvair Pannu is one of the most recognised voices in the world.
Hitting new heights each year, Pannu treated his evergrowing fanbase to CLICK, his 2022 EP that features hits like ‘Lahoriya’, ‘Message’ and ‘4×4’.
The latter is the most popular song of the project with over 5 million Spotify streams. So, it’s clear that Pannu is not an artist who’s going to disappear quickly.
He emphasised this even more by putting out Flamboyant in January.
The six-track EP is very diverse in song themes and shows off the singer’s voice and versatility.
Its warm nature is backed up with impressive vocals and head-nodding bass that hypnotises you from start to finish.
Tracks like ‘Teri Gal’ and ‘Coffee’ are making the rounds on social media and many fans are left speechless at how gifted Pannu is.
However, it’s clear that listeners are very fond of ‘Putt Ladla’ which has already surpassed 300,000 Spotify streams.
The beautiful composition, layers of instruments and catchy lyrics make this one of the most exciting Punjabi albums of 2023.
See more of the EP here.
Jazzy B – ‘Born Ready’
The household name that is Jazzy B is back again with his latest album titled Born Ready.
As one of the most decorated legends of Punjabi music, Jazzy B has perfected his craft and continues to bring in new fans every year.
When Jazzy B announced the project back in November 2022, fans were eager at the prospect of hearing the hall-of-fame artist again.
However, they were treated to much more upon the album’s release in January 2023 as artists like Happy Singh, Aman Hayer and Shipra Goyal also feature on Born Ready.
As well as having the usual electric singing performances, the project is also graced with hypnotic beats and a vibrant fusion of sounds.
This is down to the album’s producer being none other than fellow music icon, Dr Zeus.
Listeners were also faced with a massive surprise as they got the much-anticipated sequel to Jazzy B’s 2003 anthem ‘Soorma’.
‘Soorma 2’ is one of the focal points of the album and the music video got over 8.1 million YouTube views in three days.
Born Ready is everything you expect from a Jazzy B album – flair, a booming voice, colourful lyrics and dance-infested production.
The singer is following up Born Ready with a tour that kicks off in April and Australia has been named as one of the countries.
The legendary musician shows that he’s still got it after decades in the music business.
Listen to Born Ready here.
Karan Aujla – ‘Four You’
On January 18, 2023, Karan Aujla announced that he’ll be releasing an EP titled Four You in February of the same year.
The famous musician is known for chart-topping hits like ‘Dont Worry’, ‘Chitta Kurta’, ‘Hint’ and ‘Gangsta’.
However, the new four-track project will highlight the direction that the singer has taken with his music.
After coming off the back of an incredibly successful world tour in 2022, Aujla revealed the artwork for Four You on Instagram.
The dark and somber palette is similar to The Weeknd’s 2018 My Dear Melancholy.
That EP was filled with themes of heartbreak, loss, belonging and self-love. So, fans are thinking Aujla’s project will have a similar emotional tone.
This was backed up by the artwork itself which shows a childhood picture of Aujla – perhaps hinting that the tracks will reflect on the past and have a sentimental value.
Although, ‘Four You’ could also have a romantic meaning. Or, the title could just be a play on words as the EP will only have four songs.
The singer has kept things close to his chest as far as any tracklist or singles go and the anticipation is heart-wrenching for his fans.
But, if Aujla’s past Punjabi albums are anything to go by, then Four You will be a captivating listen for all of his fans.
Diljit Dosanjh – ’11:11′
One of the most anticipated Punjabi albums of 2023 is from none other than Diljit Dosanjh who first announced his new project in November 2022.
The artist took to social media to tweet out: “11:11 coming in 2023″.
Dosanjh was on a hot streak in 2022 and the release of his EP Drive Thru solidified why he’s one of the faces of Punjabi music.
Whilst his loyal South Asian fanbase is always rising, he’s been breaking out on mainstream charts, especially in more western countries.
Linking up with artists like Tory Lanez and Anne-Marie, as well as releasing anthems like ‘Peaches’ has given the musician an unbreakable platform.
Dosanjh’s success led him to be named as one of the acts for the UK Festival, Wireless 2023.
This is a historical moment as he is the first Punjabi musician to be a part of the lineup.
There are still a lot of details to be announced for 11:11 but one thing that Dosanjh did clear up on an Instagram Q&A with fans was that the project will release before November 2023.
So, his avid listeners still have a little wait to get through before getting hit with some new music.
But, that’s not to say there won’t be any gorgeous singles to come out in the build-up to 11:11.
With over 11 albums under his belt, there’s no denying that Dosanjh will add another milestone to his impressive catalogue.
With such attractive artists already putting out albums in 2023, it’s setting the bar high for the year.
The Punjabi albums that have already been released are climbing the charts and it will surely motivate more singers to pump out content to fans across the world.
Punjabi music is quickly becoming a staple in other countries, not just those in South Asia.
Clubs and bars are now playing the likes of Dosanjh, the late Sidhu Moosewala, and AP Dhillon.
Therefore, with such exciting albums to get released in the future, the popularity of Punjabi music will only get stronger.