The murder of Sidhu Moosewala, the young singer-actor turned politician from Punjab, has shocked the entire state. As the music industry is trying to grapple with his death, politicians are engaged in a blame game as the battlelines are drawn between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Indian National Congress, the party that Sidhu had joined.
Born Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, Moosewala hailed from Moosa village near Mansa and in many ways brought the region into the limelight through his adoptive name.
Just 28 years old when he was shot dead, the singer often courted controversy for his glorification of gun culture. Several of his songs feature a gun-slinging Moosewala who tells his haters to go take a hike, in far more rude language than that.
In May 2020, Moosewala was booked under the Arms Act when photographs of him shooting an AK-47 rifle at a firing range were shared on social media. He was also booked for the song ‘Sanju’, which was seen as an extension of the same. The following year was a big one for Sidhu as he made his movie debut as a lead actor in Yes I Am Student (2021), followed by the film, Moosa Jatt (2021), which was released earlier.
His last music video 'Level', released on 25 May, is a collaboration with rapper Sunny Malton. Moosewala and Malton are credited for the lyrics, while the former is the composer of the track as well. The music is by The Kidd and the director of the video is Nav Dhiman.
The video begins with a montage of images, among them being a shot of Moosewala with ferocious dogs, dollar bundles spilling out of a car and the rapper making the sign of a gun at the camera, a giant sculpture of a middle finger in a distortion of the Really Good sculpture by David Shrigley. The song features segments in monochrome juxtaposed with stylized images in vivid colour.
The song is about how the people being compared with Moosewala are not of his level; hence the title. He sings about his beginnings in Canada and being featured on the Billboard charts and says he is much above the people who now wish to be compared with him.
The catchy music is complemented by Moosewala’s rap and one can clearly see the appeal the rapper held for his fans. It ends with the line, ‘Down to earth but still above you’, capturing the machismo and attitude that he exemplified through his image.
In a heartfelt, emotional message, Malton expressed shock and anguish at Moosewala’s death, writing, "I’m broken bruh. I’ll never be the same ever again. I’ve sat here for the last 24 hours watching our memories, especially this video. Why god why. Why’d you take my brother from me. I never was and never will be anything in music without you bruh. You made me who I am today. Nobody ever had my back like you did. I wake up everyday to a missed call from you or a message & the last two days, I waited for you to come online even though I know you never will now. I’m sorry my bruh, I’m so sorry. Nobody will ever understand how great of a person you were. I wish I could sit here and tell the world about the conversations me and you had & everything we had planned for the tour & your trip back to your homeland Brampton. This was your home bruh, we were all waiting for you to come. Everyday we were on the phone figuring out our next move. Everything is incomplete without you now. You told me to get a deck of cards ready so we can play bhabi, even though you were horrible at it. I always told the world how great you were. The hardest part of all this is, I not only lost my brother but I also lost my favourite artist. People used to tell me 'why do you post about sidhu all the time'... It’s because I was your biggest fan. My dad told me this morning i should thank god because there’s people who travel from across the world to come meet you but I had the luxury of sharing my entire career with you. The one thing that never bothered me is when people said me and you have no 'stand' because we chose to put all the nonsense to the side and realize we family. What would I have done today, if I had kept a 'stand' & never said sorry to my brother? I’m at peace today because when you came in October, we sat in the car and talked for several hours about EVERYTHING. I’ll always remember that conversation my bruh. I have so much to say but there will be a time and place for that. I’m sorry that your mother and father are going through this bruh. Nobody deserves this, nobody. It’s a shame how many messages I got from people asking why I haven’t posted yet. My brother's gone man, let me be. I love you my bruh, sunny malton is nothing without sidhu moose wala. The goat, the legend.”