Entertainment
Don’t think rap has arrived in Bollywood: Baba Sehgal
New Delhi: Rap songs seem to have become the most favoured in Bollywood nowadays, but Baba Sehgal, who is credited as one of the first Indian rappers, says the genre has still not arrived in the Indian music market.
“I don’t see any rap happening in Bollywood…the only thing I see is four to five lines of ‘dharr dharr’ (loud music). That’s it. I am not saying so because I only rap…but these guys, whoever you’re saying in Bollywood, they sing four to five lines and basically say ‘Oh daaru! Oh daaru!’,” Sehgal told IANS.
Sehgal, who has given hits like “Thanda thanda paani”, a brazen remake of “Ice ice baby” of international rapper Vanilla Ice, says repeating some lines is not rap according to him.
“They (Bollywood) have a song, then they have four to five lines mixing rap. So I do not think so rap has arrived in Bollywood. Just singing few lines like ‘Oh baby! Oh whatever’… that is not rap according to me,” he added.
The rapper, who has crooned a number for an Indian animated comedy TV series for children titled “Pakdam Pakdai”, airing on Nickelodeon’s Sonic channel, says that “it will take some time for actual rap songs to come” in the industry.
Having given comical titled tracks like “Chicken fried rice”, “Aloo ka parantha” and “Mutual fund”, the rapper believes that the digital age has given an impetus to help non-film singers get a worthy platform.
“When you talk about non-film songs, you can’t do much of dance numbers. But if singers do it in movies, they get support of the films, Bollywood, actors, producers and banners… that’s how those songs are promoted.
“But our songs are promoted merely on our credit and through the internet,” said Sehgal, who was also seen in the first season of “Bigg Boss”.
Sehgal will next be seen doing a cameo in a project by Yash Raj Films titled “Bank Chor”, which features actors Riteish Deshmukh and Vivek Oberoi.
“Im going to Baba Sehgal in that film…I have done a title song, which is a rap song,” he added.
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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