Modernity in Nepali Music: Retracing Evolution of Pop/Rock Music

Abstract

The dissertation studies the rhetoric of Nepali music during the 1960s to 1990s with an aim of exploring the traces of western musical culture on Nepali pop-music culture of the time. The paper sheds light on how the pop/rock culture in 1990s boomed with the western sound and technology and how the end of Panchayat political system and the beginning of the new political system in Nepal contributed in it. The end of the Panchayat system marks a key point of departure in the history of pop and rock music in Nepal. This political change opened the flood gates of western music (which was previously considered to have an adverse influence in the society and culture because of the pitfall of hippie era) into Nepali music scene. That point onwards, many youngsters formed pop/rock bands appeared in the mainstream music scene, especially performing at concerts at different places in the Kathmandu valley, displaying western instruments and unusual forms of clothing in line with global fashion. With the nation‘s exposure to the outer world and the growth of media and technology, the youth started getting better opportunity to compose and release their songs of western genres. This research paper shows a range of possible themes and styles that manifest modernity in Nepali popular (pop/rock) music. In the process, the study has gone through a brief discussion of the development of modern music before the 1990s followed by the interpretation of 5 selected songs by closely examining them in the theoretical frame of modernity and globalization. It has presented that manifestation of the influence of the Western music culture was boomed in Nepali popular music of 1990s. Thus, this research excavates the role of the modern musicians‘ and singers‘ contribution to promote the modern music and provide a ground to develop the practice of the music of western trend which was a global trend of the time.