Breaking Borders: Malta’s South Asian Music Revolution

By Rohan Ram

Chani Nattan and Inderpal Moga burst into Malta’s Ta’ Qali Arena to open the first ever Breaking Borders festival with a frenzy. G-Funk’s producer tag blared through the sound system. Moga cried out “Toronto diye morniye”. The crowd flexed their vocal chords, roaring “Vancouver da maar lai tu geda” right back at him. It was a moment which embodied the no limits spirit that ran through the whole festival

The track, “COOLIN”, built in Birmingham by heavyweight G-Funk and brought to life by Indo-Canadian maestros Chani and Moga, became a microcosm of the festival itself: using a Mediterranean idyll to stitch together people and sound from across the global diaspora, unified by a shared passion for Punjabi and broader South Asian culture.

From Widespread Panic to Total Vibes

As the duo dovetailed effortlessly through a set sketching out the length of their discography, it seemed hard to believe they, along with Ammy Virk and Imran Khan, were drafted in as last minute replacements. A week before launch, the festival seemed on shaky ground. Big name withdrawals sparked panic across social media. Whispers of a “South Asian Fyre Festival” grew louder, and doubt loomed over the event.

Enter the ever-reliable barometer of public opinion: the ascension of the so-called “Malta Final Boss”. First gaining TikTok traction for his semi coherent waffling amidst the pre event panic, his tone shifted the moment he landed. Touching down early, his vlogs now showed him “Totally vibing here in Malta”. The TikTok mafia made this the festival’s unofficial sound. His rallying cry to “f*ck the haters” became a deeply weird but reassuring light in the haze of uncertainty.

Blessing of the Final Boss now in hand, Breaking Borders was ready to write itself into the good part of the history books.

Trust in Talent, Not Just Headliners

Rather than booking the same names for the same slots, Breaking Borders embraced partnership and collaboration to centre curatorial excellence. Organisers spread programming responsibility across collectives that define different but complementary sections of the South Asian soundscape: Indo Warehouse, Jawani 4eva, Desi Beatz, Dialled In. This injected freshness and variety, attracted a diaspora in miniature and let the idea shine through.

Jawani4eva’s booking of Junglebandi captured this spirit. The Brummie trio — Vishal Mahay on tabla, Vish on dhol and A.S. Kullar’s inventive production and programming — lit up the stage and closed out their set with Malkit Singh’s Panjab Mera Rahe Wasda, featuring a QR code directing to Khalsa Aid’s flood appeal

Karan Aujla Framed by DJs of the Future

Junglebandi’s set occurred just hours before global megastar Karan Aujla took to the very same stage. Since the B.T.F.U days and collab with Derby’s Tru-Skool, I’ve counted myself a massive Karan fan. But, as he ushers in a more commercially digestible era of ‘P-Pop’, the wannabe contrarian in me almost wanted to pick holes in parts of his set. However, I left with the distinct feeling that I had just witnessed greatness.

Aujla sprinted out the gates straight into the banger ‘MF Gabhru’, recently shrouded in controversy resulting in a markedly less explicit Spotify re-upload. The Indo-Canadian hooked the attention and voices of the whole Ta’Qali crowd, from the barrier all the way to the Soho Tavern marquee at the back of the site. Backed by a rhythm section with a distinct gospel flavour, a guitarist with all the licks in his locker and a hypeman who brought so much energy you would have been forgiven for mistaking him for Ikky, the foremost, most wizard-like, producer around today. From the hustler’s anthem ‘52 Bars’, to the romantic’s ballad ‘Admirin You’ there was something for everyone. Karan Aujla delivered an all timer.

To precede or follow this Aujla sized behemoth was no easy feat. But Breaking Borders trusted in talent and placed DJ Gunni from a position of relative obscurity into this prime slot. To put it into context Karan has around 10,000 times as many followers as Gunni. And if you were to conceive the difficulty of different slots in terms of likelihood to be bottled, Gunni’s would definitely rank the highest. The combination of alcoholically brewed angst and building anticipation make for tricky conditions for even the most experienced selector. Gunni navigated them perfectly and absolutely shut it down.

Desi Beatz also hit a six with the booking of DJ Kizzi as the centrepiece of the key after party of the weekend. Taking us out of the Aujla and Gunni shaped hole in Ta’Qali into the early hours of Sunday over the road in UNO de Malta. She seamlessly shifted between multiple genres like Drum and Bass and Punjabi Classics, whilst sprinkling in some dance in a spellbinding 150 minute set. It was topped off with surprise appearances from the aforementioned Ikky and South London’s Snake Charmer, Raf Saperra……more on him to come later. I saw DJ Kizzi at Dialled In’s Manchester takeover a year ago and her set was undoubtedly our highlight. Now, despite being only 23 years old, bolstered by this Desi Beatz platforming, there is no doubt that she will go to the very top of the scene.

Diversity of Sound, Diversity of Crowd

As someone of mixed heritage (Birmingham and Derby), JK and Tru Skool’s set was one I was looking forward to most. The recipe of unmatched vocal delivery and unrelenting Bhangra, stirred up by Tru Skool’s masterfully idiosyncratic production sent the crowd into a whirl of song and dance.

JK, along with Jazzy B who closed the festival the same day, is a quintessentially Punjabi artist: dressed in a fashion not dissimilar to the likes of Chamkila and consistently paying respect to those who paved the way, while also being sure to mix in his more contemporary hip hop and reggae influences on songs like ‘Pomp Pomp tha Music’.

Diversity of sound has the effect of attracting a broader demographic audience. Whilst there was no shortage of Desi wedding dancefloor bangers, the festival wasn’t just limited to this. Sandwiched in between the two Punjabi titans, was Swiss-Sri Lankan Priya Ragu. Broken Tamil beats played the perfect backdrop to her blend of soulful vocals and staccato rap delivery.

This attracted a diversity in audience across the diaspora. The festival was marked throughout with DJs calling out different corners of the planet for the inhabiting audience members to cheer back in response to. Whether it was Norway, New South Wales or North London there was always an audible cheer. Oh and Brampton of course. The resulting blend of cultures created an open atmosphere of expression, unfortunately often atypical of many UK based Desi events. Across the site there was always space to dance however you felt like. Whilst there was obviously still space for a rail guddi, we managed to spot some cool contemporary takes.

Before Breaking Borders kicked off, some people called for it to be cancelled because of the floods in Punjab. Realistically that was never going to happen, with more than a year of work already put into making the festival. In the end I am glad it went ahead, because it brought much needed awareness to the situation.

This piece has mainly focused on the programming and the range of sounds on display, but the one thing that tied every act together was their response to the floods. Junglebandi played in front of a 30 foot QR code for donations. Karan Aujla promised to donate his whole fee. Across the board, artists used their platforms with sharp political awareness.

Passing the Torch

No artist centred their set on the depth of Punjab more than the closing act, Jazzy B. He turned his back catalogue into a 30 year musical history lesson and paired it with an education on the richness of his homeland. No topic was left untouched, from the floods to the importance of keeping the Punjabi language alive.

The final moment said everything. Jazzy B embraced Raf Saperra, a Sikh Punjabi legend passing the torch to a Muslim Pakistani Punjabi star. It was symbolic of what Breaking Borders stood for: proud of its roots, true to its heritage, and open to what may come of the future.