Well, for a while at least. The world’s premier Hindi a capella group, also known as Penn Masala topped the iTunes “World Music” chart. In other words, their new album Kaavish is basically going platinum.
If you haven’t gotten the chance yet, now that it’s summer and the “kaavish” (Urdu translation: struggle) of finals is over you can totally check it out on their website, SoundCloud, or of course iTunes.
And if you’re still looking for a belated Mother’s Day gift, send her this Mother’s Day music video. A YouTube video in Hindi is the perfect present for the mom who’s got everything.
How appropriate! Hi, peeps. How’ve ya been? We interrupt your busy, rowdy (Neflixy, gluttonous) winter break with glorious news. As they have in years past, Penn Masala is journeying to India for the first half of January for five-stop a cappella extravaganza! We’d expect nothing else of Penn’s beloved Masala, and we’re sure Obama is kvelling just as much.
This tour is sponsored by the Hard Rock Cafe, with concerts in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi. Needless to say, the Hindi a capella superstars have already created a media circus – there’s already an adoring promotional article in Rolling Stone India. Quakers in Dia (too far?) shouldn’t miss Masala making majestic music – the rest of us can ogle the glitzy video trailer (above).
Your parents have been away from you for just over a month, and already they’re worried that something dire has happened: you’ve used up all six bottles of shampoo, the labels on your underwear came off in the wash, you haven’t found a nice Jewish boy yet…
So they’ve decided to come to campus this weekend, staying in the room at the Inn at Penn that they’ve had reserved since December 15th, to “see your life on campus” and “get to know your friends a little better.” [Subtitle: "We can't wait to meet Smoke! Ya know, that kid whose dorm you go to every Thursday and Saturday night?"]. Midterms or OCR can’t stop them now. They’re here for 3 days, and they want to see it all. Here’s your guide to skip-able events as well as those to not miss! Click here for a day-by-day guide…
According to this article in IndiaWest, College student and Penn Masala singer Ram Narayan is suing JetBlue Airlines after he was erroneously embarrassed and escorted off a plane from New York to Portland last summer—a mistake, which he claims, was based solely on his skin color.
Narayan is being represented in this suit by well-known lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, who became somewhat of a household name when he himself was mistakenly linked by the FBI to the 2004 train bombings in Madrid. The United States has since issued a formal apology and $2 million settlement to Mayfield, and has deemed parts of the PATRIOT Act unconstitutional.
Tsk tsk, JetBlue. We love extra legroom as much as the next guy, but why you gotta be so heartless?
If you’re a self-important freshman who’s been done with finals since Wednesday, and won’t shut up about it, this feature is back just for you. On that note, we also feel it’s important to mention that being done with finals doesn’t magically transform you into a sophomore any more than eating a Gusher actually transforms your head into a watermelon. You’re a sophomore when you come back in September, so cool it with the unsolicited nostalgia.
Anyway. Here are a bunch of cherry-picked celeb stories to make you feel relevant.
They get rejection letters: Between school applications and job interviews, we’ve gotten our fair share of rejection letters (well, maybe not all of us), but perhaps never one like this. After he once joked that he’d love to co-star with Hillary Clinton, Jason Segel got this hilarious message from the Secretary of State this week, declining his offer, because she is ”a little occupied at the moment.” Read the rest of this entry »
The article discusses the presence, prevalence and popularity (as well as preeminence, potency, penetration and predominance, if you will) of Bollywood/Billboard-Top-40 mashups among today’s generation of Indian American performance groups. Penn Masala, formed in 1996, “is credited for pioneering the fusion music trend that largely reflects Indian American tastes in the pairing of Hindi and Western songs.”
Long story short, the main takeaway from the article is that you can hit up Penn Masala on Pandora, Spotify and Grooveshark. So this finals season, you can finally say, “No, I am not still listening” to your Vitamin String Quartet station.
Last Thursday, we started along on our second journey towards determining the ultimate champion of the University of Pennsylvania, a competition so grueling and dizzyingly severe that we had no choice but to call it Penn Madness. 16 competitors battled over the course of five days in 13 battles until we were left with Penn Masala and Kelly Clarkson.
The people have spoken and the polls do not lie. So who did you crown as the victor? The answer may surprise you. And now, the moment of truth:
Penn has spoken, and after a long, grueling journey, only two remain who can capture the hearts of campus: Masala and Kelly Clarkson. Masala, you’ll remember, is Penn’s superstar South Asian a cappella group; Kelly Clarkson was on TV or something and then ended up in From Justin to Kellyand hasn’t been seen since. But she’s totally coming for Fling this year. (Have you heard?) We haven’t read The Hunger Games, but Penn Madness is probably a lot like that, except with fewer bows and arrows and more death and destruction. So who’s got your vote?
March Madness, that college basketball brouhaha, is all the rage out there in the real world. Inside the Penn Bubble, however, the gods and goddesses have spoken, and Penn Madness is upon us. Yes, it’s back. Round Two.
Here’s how it works: we’ve made a bracket featuring Penn’s latest and (arguably) greatest people, places and things, and you get to vote on their fights to the death– the winner being crowned as Champion of This Little Part of the Internet. Over the course of the next few days, your votes will determine the winners who will go on to compete against new competitors before the champion is determined. See, it’s like March Madness, but without having to pretend you care about basketball. Sound easy? Neat. Take a look at the competitors below and check back later today to vote in Round 1!
Categories and Team Descriptions:
Bar No One Ever Goes To Ever Crave: The Crave is the Rave’s new bar. Stop trying to make Crave happen. It’s not going to happen. Atlantis: You can doggy bag your Blooming Onion from the nearby Chili’s. (Note: Fried onion fritters are not legal tender for Atlantis performers.)
Prediction: Atlantis is below Chili’s. ATLANTIS IS BELOW CHILI’S!
Well, for a while at least. The world’s premier Hindi a capella group, also known as Penn Masala topped the iTunes “World Music” chart. In other words, their new album Kaavish is basically going platinum.
Your parents have been away from you for just over a month, and already they’re worried that something dire has happened: you’ve used up all six bottles of shampoo, the labels on your underwear came off in the wash, you haven’t found a nice Jewish boy yet…
If you’re a self-important freshman who’s been done with finals since Wednesday, and won’t shut up about it, this feature is back just for you. On that note, we also feel it’s important to mention that being done with finals doesn’t magically transform you into a sophomore any more than eating a Gusher actually 
They get rejection letters: Between school applications and job interviews, we’ve gotten our fair share of rejection letters (well, 
Last Thursday, we started along on our second journey towards determining the ultimate champion of the University of Pennsylvania, a competition so grueling and dizzyingly severe that we had no choice but to call it 
March Madness, that college basketball brouhaha, is all the rage out there in the real world. Inside the Penn Bubble, however, the gods and goddesses have spoken, and Penn Madness is upon us. Yes, it’s back.