Dubai’s Punjabi power play at its peak when AP Dhillon and Yo Yo Honey Singh hit the stage together

Dubai: Watching AP Dhillon and Yo Yo Honey Singh jam together in Dubai was the cultural crossover we didn’t know we needed — and exactly the one that left fans screaming for more.

Two Punjabi powerhouses, two completely different energies, and one city that now proudly claims both. It was less about rivalry and more about camaraderie, and trust me, the gig organised by Team Innovation, Livenation & Coca Cola Arena made my heart swell.

AP Dhillon might be the portrait of laidback cool — thoughtful, almost shy — but when paired with Honey Singh’s larger-than-life aura, it felt like Punjabi music had finally come full circle in Dubai.

Honey Singh 2.0: Dubai feels like home

Dubai: Yo Yo Honey Singh is no longer the wild, party-fuelled Indian rapper who once ruled the charts with swaggering hits like Lungi Dance and Angrezi Beat stuffed with raunchy lyrics. These days, he’s a man on a mission — spiritual, creative, and, surprisingly, paternal.

“I want to have a daughter soon,” Singh told Gulf News recently in a rare sit-down interview, with a sincerity that’s both disarming and endearing. “That’s how I want to pay it forward — raise her to be a superstar and a super social worker, just like my mother and sister.”

Having been based in Dubai since 2023, Singh credits the city with giving him a second wind. “Dubai has always felt like India to me,” he said. “We speak Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu here… it’s one big family.” His connection to this city goes way back — his first video Brown Rang was filmed here in 2011 at Roberto Cavalli Club.

Now, he’s swapped chaos for craft, launching Yo Yo Watches in collaboration with Titan, making affordable yet stylish timepieces.

“It’s classy, like me — and affordable too. If you can buy an iPhone, you can buy a Yo Yo watch. And it’ll probably hold more value,” he quipped, hinting at a premium Swiss-made collection on the horizon.

AP’s kitchen beats meet Honey’s discipline

What’s fascinating is how Dhillon and Singh’s work ethics, while wildly different, complement each other. AP and Shinda confessed that their biggest tracks were written everywhere but a studio — in kitchens, cars, even an Emirates lounge mid-boarding call. “Forget studios,” AP laughed, “we’ve made beats on planes with dodgy Wi-Fi.”

Honey, on the other hand, is all about structure now. “I don’t go to parties anymore. I make two songs a day, three beats a day. I don’t work for labels — I work for my fans and myself. That’s my kick.” Watching him and AP nod along to each other’s stories backstage, you realise they’re two sides of the same coin — one chasing unfiltered creativity, the other chasing balance through reinvention.

From turmoil to transcendence

Singh doesn’t sugarcoat his past. His meteoric rise gave way to a dark descent — addiction, illness, withdrawal from the spotlight. But Dubai became the backdrop for his reset. “I’ve changed as a human,” he admitted. “I kept the best parts of myself and deleted the rest. I turned towards God, spirituality, friendship, love. That’s what keeps me going.”

Gone are the hedonistic nights. These days, he’s more about tattoos that pay homage — including one for A.R. Rahman — and visions of being a strict father to a son but a doting one to a daughter. “Balance is key,” he shrugged.

Dubai: The stage and the test ground

For AP, Dubai is his creative laboratory. His central-stage format, now a touring staple, was first tested here. “It’s always ten on ten energy in this city,” he said. “People fly in from everywhere, and I love the diversity.”

For Honey, Dubai isn’t just a stage — it’s sanctuary. It’s where he remade himself as an artist, entrepreneur, and man.

The jam we needed

When AP Dhillon’s boyish laugh collided with Honey Singh’s booming charisma on stage, it wasn’t about their pasts — it was about possibility. One is shaping global hip hop with kitchen-born beats; the other is reinventing himself as Dubai’s adopted son with a vision bigger than music.

And the audience? They lapped it up. Because watching them side by side wasn’t just about entertainment. It was about seeing two men — one shy, one flamboyant; one emerging, one rebuilding — finding the same frequency.