ABSTRACT
Michael Jackson remains highly popular in India and was one of A. R. Rahman’s musical inspirations. Rahman’s pop influences are prominently displayed in this homage while he also honors his more traditional folk and classical Indian influences. The tour production is also representative of global India. The vernacular is critical in both lyrics and music, and more importantly, the predominance of the local – both geographically and in terms of community, drives India’s musical engine as well as the reaction to it. One cultural concern affecting musical choice is a child’s gender. Folk songs such as Sohar or Badhai, genres found in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, are sung to celebrate the birth of a male child with lyrics that equate his birth to that of Lord Krishna. India is the world’s second largest English-speaking country. Most business is conducted in English, as is much of the news, social media, online communication, teaching, and instruction.
