"Jalebi Baby" is a Punjabi-English song sung and produced by Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter and producer Tesher, first released on November 13, 2020 by Namah Music Group and

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. Following the viral success of the track, a remix with American singer

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

was released on May 28, 2021. "Jalebi Baby" was written by Hitesh Sharma, with additional lyrics added for the remix by Jason Derulo. In February 2024, the remix was included on Derulo's fifth studio album '' Nu King''.

Background and release

In 2020, after his debut with the single "Young Shahrukh", Tesher independently released "Yummy Jalebi", a remix of

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

's " Yummy" with "Jalebi Bai" from the soundtrack of Bollywood film ''

Double Dhamaal ''Double Dhamaal'', also known as ''420s'' or ''Super Kameenas'', () is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language comedy film and a sequel to the 2007 hit film ''Dhamaal'', and the second installment of the '' Dhamaal film series''. The film is directed and pr ...

''. The song went viral on social media platforms including

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and

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for a verse featuring original vocals from Tesher. In response to popular demand, he released a version that removed "Yummy" and extended his verse to a full original song with his own rapping in Punjabi and English. The new song, entitled "Jalebi Baby", was released for digital download and

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on November 13, 2020 as his second major label single. "Jalebi Baby" achieved viral success on

, which caught the attention of American singer

. Derulo approached Tesher to feature on the song, and a remix version with the duo was released for digital download and streaming on May 28, 2021. The official

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the remix, directed by Gil Green, was released on July 13, 2021, and starred Tesher and Derulo alongside Indian-American model Ghazal Gill as the female lead.

Composition

"Jalebi Baby" is composed in the key of

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

for both the original and the remix, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 93 beats per minute. The track contains a sample of "Havana Salsa" by artist "Drum! Drum! Drum! from which you can hear piano, trumpet and bass. The song title refers to a well-known South Asian and Middle Eastern sweet known as

jalebi ''Jalebi'' is a popular sweet snack in the Indian subcontinent, West Asia and some parts of Africa. It goes by many names, including ''jilapi'', ''zelepi'','' jilebi'', '' jilipi'', ''zulbia'', ''zoolbia'', ''jerry'', ''mushabak'', ''z'labia'' ...

. Tesher posted on his Instagram page that "He can tell you the 2021 song of the summer is literally about an Indian sweet. And that's got to count for something". However, the lyrics were intended by Tesher as a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

, with the titular jalebi taking on a more risqué meaning. In an interview with ''PopShift'', Tesher admitted, "For me personally … when I say, 'Baby let me eat it, I just want to see it,' I’m not talking about jalebis. And I’ll leave it at that."

Live performances

On July 7, 2021, Tesher and Jason Derulo performed "Jalebi Baby" together live on ''

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''. On May 15, 2022, Tesher performed "Jalebi Baby" live with

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He rose to prominence by starring as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021). Liu was born in Harbin and raised in Ontario. ...

at the Juno Awards of 2022, which were held at

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's Budweiser Stage.

Commercial performance

Upon release, "Jalebi Baby" became a viral sensation, topping the Shazam charts in 25+ countries and amassing over 100 million combined global streams by May. The track became Tesher's second after "Young Shahrukh" to peak at number one on the UK Asian Music Chart and remained atop the chart for seven consecutive weeks. The song also debuted at number 20 on the Top Triller Global chart on the issue dated February 20, 2021 and at number 16 on ''

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chart on the issue dated May 29, 2021. "Jalebi Baby" entered at number 186 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart and at number 116 on the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S. chart on the issue dated June 12. The track also steadily rose on the

chart to a peak of number 3 for two weeks in July. The song debuted at number 17 in the inaugural edition of India's top 20 international singles chart on June 21 and rose to a peak of 7 for three weeks starting on July 26, becoming Tesher's first top-ten hit in the country. It was a success in Europe as well, charting in Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. "Jalebi Baby" amassed over 200 million global streams as of July 2021. Outside Europe, the song also topped the charts in India, the US, and Canada. Following the release of the music video, "Jalebi Baby" gained traction globally. After weeks of static or downward motion on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 charts, in the week ending July 15 streams rose 26% to 12.8 million and sales rose 6% to 2,100 worldwide. The song shot from number 142 to 119 on the July 24-dated Global Excl. U.S. chart and re-entered the Global 200 at number 187, approaching its original peaks. This was the first week in which Derulo was credited on the Global charts, as the remix outperformed the original in chart activity for the first time. The following week, the track reached new peaks at number 80 on the Global 200 and number 50 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart. The song entered the

Pop Airplay Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...

chart at number 39 on the week of August 14.

Usage in media

"Jalebi Baby" featured in the second episode of the

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original television series '' Ms. Marvel'', which stars

Iman Vellani Iman Vellani (; ; born August 2002) is a Canadian actress and comic book writer. She starred as Kamala Khan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe productions '' Ms. Marvel'' (2022), ''The Marvels'' (2023), and ''Marvel Zombies'' (2025). Vellani has a ...

Kamala Khan Kamala Khan is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, Kamala is Marvel's first ...

, the first Muslim superhero in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU). The song plays as Kamala meets her crush Kamran shirtless for the first time. Tesher was delighted by the inclusion of his song, stating "It's no secret I'm a big Marvel fan so being Kamala Khan's mental thirsting soundtrack is an absolute dream come true for me. The best part of all this, however, is that I can officially say that I exist in the MCU."

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel for "Jalebi Baby" and its remix adapted from Tidal. * Tesher, lead artist, producer, composer, lyricist, mixer, recording engineer * Shweta Subram, background vocalist *

, lead artist, composer, lyricist (remix) * Ben Hogarth, recording engineer (remix) * Jack Curtis, keyboardist * Ghazal Gill, lead actress

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalebi baby 2020 songs 2021 singles Jason Derulo songs Songs written by Jason Derulo Songs in Punjabi Canadian dance songs