January 22, 2025

As Vennu Mallesh croons in a song “ I am the good bad boy,” all cringe pop singers in India can claim to be so, not to forget the good bad girls too – of whom Dhinchak Pooja is being talked about on the back of millions of views her videos are generating on YouTube.

It is not easy to make you listen to something you would rather not. Cringe pop has nonsensical (or even nonsense to some) lyrics with a lot of repetition. So while Baba Sehgal goes “kalaa, kalaa, kalaa, kalaa” or Dhinchak Pooja goes “selfie maine leli aaj” or “daaru, daaru, daaru” endless times in their songs, people want to tear out their hair but keep listening. These singers are essentially rappers who give the middle finger to poetry. You would rather not listen to their songs but you end up doing so and that is where they win.

I tried to sample at least a couple of songs of some of the more famous cringe pop singers in India. I am sad to report that I could not listen to any song in full. Maybe the genre (if one can call it that) is not up my alley. For, given the views they are generating, the songs are definitely popular. People are spending their valuable time watching the videos. It is not known whether it is due to the fact that people want to keep themselves updated in social circles or kitty parties or they are actually getting entertained by the stuff.

Is it a passing phase? Are these videos and these singers going to vanish after a few hours in the limelight? It is difficult to say that. For, as things stand today, there will be newer singers who will jump on the bandwagon, expanding the market. As long as the beats are danceable, dj’s will play them on the floors and people will swing. It might even open up a huge market with a kalaa Sehgal doll or a Dhinchak daaru brand. Who knows how far nonsense can go!