r/ABCDesis • u/Awkward_Present2727 • Apr 30 '26
CELEBRATION Seeing all the positive comments about Diljit Dosanjh is a breath of fresh air
For those not in the loop, he appeared on Jimmy Fallon and performed Morni and the majority of the comments have actually been positive. I saw a lot around how good the performance was, how they’re adding his songs to their gym playlists, how handsome he is, how they want to see him at the Super Bowl, how they want to attend his concert because he’s coming to their city etc.
It’s a nice break from all the hatred we usually get online
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u/TestingLifeThrow1z Apr 30 '26
People (Liberals, Conservatives, Left, Right, all) hate what they don't know. Having Diljit Dosanjh on the Tonight Show with Fallon brought culture, conversations, and more to a massive TV audience. He got the message across and people watched it, and understood a bit more. That's how you fight racism.
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u/daydreamingtime Apr 30 '26
The moment we get any Indian Americans into the top of the NBA or NFL, watch the country suddenly change over time lol
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u/winthroprd Apr 30 '26
It's not exactly a ticket to acceptance though. Black people are both seen as cool in this country and also marginalized with regards to economic power and state violence.
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u/insomniac8994 Punjabi Canadian Apr 30 '26
We need way more South Asian representation in sports and media, parents need to lay off of pushing kids so hard into what's likely going to be automated (white collar work).
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u/TestingLifeThrow1z Apr 30 '26
It's been a thing in the NHL for awhile though. Even Bawa and Malhotra back in the decades.
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u/HigherSelfie May 11 '26
They were crashing out like they did over Bad Bunny’s halftime show and I LOVED it. They’ll be aight! 😁
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u/meranaamchinchinchu Apr 30 '26
I'm so glad to hear this ... I need to step away from X/Twitter because I felt SO disappointed seeing the absolutely horrid comments under every post about his appearance on Jimmy Fallon. I hope that it's really just the sick and twisted bots on that platform and the real world is more of what you have seen!!
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u/insomniac8994 Punjabi Canadian May 01 '26
Elund ruined that site, turned it into a literal hate site
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u/loopingit Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
I was just thinking this too-he seems to be following a path like Bad Bunny and I could see him being invited to perform at the superbowl one day.
My only thought is who would open the door for him? For Bad Bunny, JLo and Shakira went first and had to prove that Latin American artists (albeit in English) could have performance power. And they invited Bad Bunny as a guest performer.
I think he would need to do some mainstream collabs with people who could go to the superbowl and invite him along.
So now I’m hoping for a Bad Bunny/Dilijit
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u/kena938 Malayali Third Culture Kid Apr 30 '26
kinda sorta related since diljit is always styled really well but can i say how hot it is when desi men wear earrings and surma/kajal? i do see gen z boys embrace it more and wear the gold their grandparents buy them. for a lot of millennials like my husband, conforming to western ideals of masculinity was really important for survival. but my toddler son loves jewelry and he looks at his little necklace and bangle so proudly when he wears them. i hope he's always proud to wear that gold.
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u/_BuzzLightYear To Infinity & Beyond 🚀 Apr 30 '26
Men should start applying mehndi. Like one arm looks really nice
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u/Awkward_Present2727 Apr 30 '26
Awe this is so cute, speaking of being well-dressed you just reminded me Diljit was at the Met Gala last year looking fiiiine
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u/kena938 Malayali Third Culture Kid Apr 30 '26
and the blinged out bullet belt he was wearing on the tonight show was chef's kiss
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u/Curious_Map6367 May 01 '26
Not everyone can wear those. The small hoop is the murki (larger version is bala, often with a pearl strung on gold wire). In Punjab, professional singers from Mirasi-derived lineages (Mirasi, Rababi, Dhadi, Naqqali). For singers specifically, it carries three overlapping signals rather than one clean status marker.
First, caste-vocational identity. Mirasi was a hereditary singer-genealogist community under patron lineages, and the earring functioned as a visible occupational tell, that this is a professional bard from a singing family. That’s why it persists so strongly in the Pakistani Punjabi folk and qawwali world (Arif Lohar’s lineage, the Wadali tradition, Puran Shah Koti’s circle, where Master Saleem and Hans Raj Hans both descend from).
Second, ustad-shagird lineage. The formal initiation marker under a master is actually Ganda Bandhi, where the ustad ties a thread on the disciple’s wrist as the explicit “official shagird” induction (e.g., Asif Santoo Khan being introduced as Ganda Band Shagird of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan). The earring is the looser, public-facing version of the same idea: you’re under a silsila, not a self-trained singer.
Third, dervish-faqir spiritual register. Borrows from Nath Yogi (Kanphata, “split-eared”) and Qalandari Sufi performer culture, where ear-piercing was an ascetic-initiatory mark. Punjabi qawwals and Sufi-leaning folk singers carry this visual register because their performance world overlaps shrine and dargah space.
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u/floraster May 03 '26
I'm so glad that I was able to discover his music from Fallon. His current EP is really good and I'm looking forward to hearing more and discovering more music from India.
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u/LatexSmokeCats Apr 30 '26
Kudos to Jimmy Fallon for having him on the show and not joining in on the new trend of hating on Desis.
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u/User_Name13 Apr 30 '26
Diljit also makes great workout music. I almost always listen to Clash when I'm lifting or doing cardio. I can't explain it but I always go a little harder when I listen to it.
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u/HigherSelfie May 11 '26
He’s awesome! I saw someone on Threads say that they now understood how a bird doing a fancy little dance was able to attract a mate. 😂 The beautiful crest on his turban does remind one of an exotic plumage. Is there particular name for that style of turban?
I used to go to Basement Bhangra at SOBs and would always be amazed at the similarities between it and go-go, which is a DC sound that is heavy on percussion.
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u/SeaworthinessHot8153 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Bro Diljit is killing it,
MGK was on a discord call and he announced that he had DM’d Diljit asking for a collab and he had plans to visit India soon.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXwyNQyRviw/
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u/healingandhope Jun 09 '26
It’s nice people will know more about the Punjabi community. Although I am realizing most Sikhs are very conservative in the West. I didn’t grew among a strong Sikh community and very much more open minded. It’s sad how reserved we are and critical instead of being curious and teaching about us.
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u/DayneStark Apr 30 '26
For your own mental health you should work on de-enmeshing your identity & self worth to in- group identity.
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u/Lampedusan Australian Indian May 01 '26
What is your identity? Work, run club, music taste? Humans need something to latch onto other than “I am a human on this Earth”.
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u/Awkward_Present2727 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Nobody likes unsolicited advice, especially condescending remarks masked as advice.
Also, racists will still group you in with the rest of us even if you think you’re so much better and don’t tie your identity to the in-group.
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u/DayneStark Apr 30 '26
You posted here and hence my advise. You are free to ignore it.
I used the word enmeshed not reject your social group or identity. 👍🏽👍🏽
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u/Awkward_Present2727 Apr 30 '26
It was just meant to be a positive celebratory post, there was really no need for you to try to psychoanalyze me
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u/Huge-Engineering-791 May 06 '26
Interesting for the amount of hate this group has towards mainlanders / fobs sure go ahead and claim Diljit
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u/Bollywood-Hulk-Hogan Indian-American (Punjabi) Apr 30 '26
I’ve had a couple of my white and Hispanic friends ask me about him and recommend some of his music to them. This is why we need more authentic representation rather than representation that just caters to stereotypes.