Breakdown: Columbus Columbus, AR Rahman, Jeans (1998)
A closer look at the DNA of a track years ahead of its time.
When the soundtrack album for the movie ‘Jeans’ released in March 1998, A.R. Rahman dropped a ‘song of the summer’ that I just could not stop listening to.
The story called for a weekend getaway, and Vairamuthu’s lyrics at one point read ‘kondaada kandupidithu kondaa oru theevu’ (Translation: Find me an island to party), and Rahman fittingly gives us some tropical vibes to boot.
So far ahead of his time was Rahman, infusing tropical house, dancehall and reggaeton elements into Tamil music. It is testament to Rahman’s vision that this song still sounds incredibly fresh today, 13 years after it dropped.
Creating a tropical wonderland
Let’s dive into what makes this song kick. There are 3 key elements we’ll look at in this post:
Xylophones
A Dembow Riddim-esque beat
A fat bassline
<insert xylophones for tropical feel>
A.R. Rahman’s go-to element which creates that funky island vibe is a xylophone. Subtle, yet present in the mix, Rahman employs the xylophone to add some melodic rhythm. Complementing the xylophone is a snarky organ during the opening of the song.
So you know what I’m talking about, here’s a snippet of me playing my interpretation of one the xylophone phrases in this song. See if you can spot it more clearly in the song now!
Dembow Riddim
Fun fact: Riddim, is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the word ‘Rhythm’.
Rahman lays down a beat heavily influenced by Dembow Riddim, a beat style which originated in Jamaica.
Dembow Riddims are exceptionally popular today in reggaeton music such as Despacito, the most streamed music video on YouTube. (Screw Baby Shark). So popular is the influence of Dembow, that even mainstream pop and dance hits adopt the beat’s ethos. Great examples include Lean On (Major Lazer), Sorry (Justin Bieber) and Cheap Thrills (Sia).
If you’ve heard any of these songs, you know that the beat makes you tap your foot and shake your head in time. It toys with you by almost teasing what feels like a quick pause in the beat… before launching back full steam.
Columbus Columbus features a beat that seems to draw from the same vein. However, as a departure from traditional Dembow instruments, it employs some harder-hitting percussion elements (like feet stomps) to pack a punch.
Here’s a snippet of the beat overlaid with the xylophone from earlier. See if you can spot the similarity it shares with some of the other songs mentioned.
A fat, fat bass line
Despite the track having a prominent bass line which deftly adds to the foot-tapping rhythm, what I love about the bass in this song is the nature of the sound itself.
Music producers generally refer to a bass sound of this quality as ‘fat’ or ‘subby’. Sub-bass refers to notes at the deepest end of the frequency spectrum (below 60Hz), which are generally felt more than heard. At a loud disco or concert, this is what you feel pulsing through your body. With a pair of good headphones, sub-bass is what you feel tickling the back of your neck. On laptop or phone speakers, you won’t hear a thing, so do yourself a favor and grab your headphones.
Enough harping on, for a demo.
The clip below plays the chorus thrice over:
v1 - The chorus with the sub-bass muted (but the bassline very much audible)
v2 - The sub-bass frequencies soloed
v3 - The final product
Without the sub-bass, this song sounds like it’s being played out of a tin-can radio. The lack of energy is palpable, and the track itself just feels empty. While the bass section certainly isn’t the hero of this song, it turns up in a capacity much like Q does in a James Bond film, bringing in the tools for success.
A couple of other A.R. Rahman songs that come to my mind with some lovely sub-bass are Saanwariya Saanwariya (Swades) and Manasukkul Oru Puyal (Star).
And that’s that! Three great aspects of this song, without even talking about the catchy tune which Rahman sings.
If you like this song, or know more like it, leave a comment below! Subscribe to to get posts delivered directly to your inbox!