By Ayesha Khan 
New Delhi, December 7: A strange little pocket of the internet has been busy lately, giving Yo Yo Honey Singh’s old hits a ’90s makeover nobody really asked for, but plenty of people are laughing about, sharing, or quietly enjoying. It started quietly, almost like a joke. Then a few remixes caught on, and suddenly a corner of social media was pretending that Brown Rang and Dope Shope had been born sometime around the age of cassette players and cable TV countdown shows.
A Trend That Looks More Accidental Than Planned
If you swipe through enough reels, you will eventually run into these so-called 90s versions. The creators behind them are mostly small names producing work that looks stitched together late at night on cheap software. Still, some of the attempts carry a certain sincerity. According to a report in The Lallantop, many of these mixes borrow bits of familiar ’90s ornamentation. Keyboards, tinny percussion, soft synthesisers, whatever seems to remind people of a decade they miss or at least think they miss.
The rhythm is different. The warmth is different, too. One version of Brown Rang, in particular, opens with a series of chords that feel like they came out of an early Indipop album, the kind that once played on local cable channels before the movie trailers. It does not sound like the original at all, but that is perhaps the point. People want the comfort, not the accuracy.
Why Listeners Are Paying Attention
There is an obvious reason the trend works. Honey Singh arrived at a time when Indian pop was shedding its old skin. His songs became shorthand for nights out, cheap speakers at college fests, long drives that stretched longer than intended. They meant something to the people who were teenagers or students then.
Those same listeners are older now, caught between their own memories and the ones their parents told them about the 90s. So when someone fuses the two eras, even clumsily, it feels oddly familiar. It feels like a memory that might not belong to anyone specifically but still rings true.
The Official Silence Behind The Buzz
There is nothing formal happening behind the curtain. No label hint, no message from Honey Singh’s management, no sign that these remixes are authorised. The original music catalogue sits exactly where it always did.
That silence is telling. It means the remixes float in the same uncertain space that a lot of online creativity occupies right now. People enjoy them, even share them widely, but everyone quietly understands that they do not carry the weight or legitimacy of an official release. The rights holders have not stepped in so far, maybe because the trend is more nostalgic than commercial, but the legal boundaries are very much there.
A Cultural Quirk With Something Real Beneath It
Honey Singh’s rise in the early 2010s changed Indian pop. Songs like Brown Rang did not wait for Bollywood’s approval. They found their own path through clubs, YouTube channels and word of mouth. That independence shaped an entire wave of Punjabi pop in metros.
Seeing those songs now dressed up in ’90s clothing says something about the moment we are in. People mix timelines casually. They treat decades as ingredients, not fixed periods. They reach for whatever sound matches their mood, even if it requires bending history into a shape that feels more personal.
What Happens Next Is Anyone’s Guess
If one of these remixes explodes in popularity, the industry might react. A label could announce an official retro series. Honey Singh could join the conversation or ignore it entirely. His response would set the tone for how long this trend survives.
Right now, though, the remixes remain what they started as. Small experiments. Curious plays on nostalgia. A few seconds of amusement in people’s feeds. They linger there quietly, gathering likes from some, eye rolls from others, and a strange affection from those who recognise that pop culture rarely stays still.
Stay ahead with Hindustan Herald — bringing you trusted news, sharp analysis, and stories that matter across Politics, Business, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and more.
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and join our Telegram community @hindustanherald for real-time updates.
Covers films, television, streaming, and celebrity culture with a focus on storytelling trends.
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
