Romani people

The Romani (also spelled Romany; /ˈroʊməni/, /ˈrɒ-/), or Roma, are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas, who originate from the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, specifically from Northern India, presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan,Haryana and Punjab. The Romani are widely known among English-speaking people by the exonym and racial slur "Gypsies" (or "Gipsies"), which, according to many Romani people, connotes illegality and irregularity. Other exonyms are Ashkali and Sinti.

Romani are dispersed, with their concentrated populations in Europe — especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe including Turkey, Spain and Southern France. They originated in Northern India and arrived in Mid-West Asia, then Europe, around 1,000 years ago, either separating from the Dom people or, at least, having a similar history; the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left North India sometime between the sixth and eleventh century.

The Gypsies (Danish band)

The Gypsies are a Danish hip-hop / R&B band with a live sound instead of using backing tracks or turntables. The band's sound is characterized by vocalists Shaka Loveless and Benjamin Kissi. The other members are: Lasse Boman (guitar), Peter Blonde (bass), Andrew Hagedorn (keyboards) and Birk Nevel (drums). The band began before the 2000s as The Electric Gypsies with a more rock-oriented sound. With the addition of Benjamin Kissi, the group moved to a more urban sound and a consequent change of name to The Gypsies.

In addition to being regular backing band for Danish names like Jokeren and Outlandish, they have also opened for The Roots and Fugees for their Danish concerts.

In 2007, The Gypsies released their debut album, One Hand Up on Superstar Records label. The video for the single "Part of Me" from the album was released on 18 January 2008. The follow up second album was For the Feeble Hearted in 2009.

Other projects

The Gypsies (Sri Lankan band)

The Gypsies are a Sri Lankan band that perform English and Sinhala songs and have been around since the early 1970s.

History

The band was formed in 1969 by Anton Perera, a confectioner at the Glucorasa company, composed of his five sons (Sunil, Nihal, Piyal, Nimal, Lal) - all of whom had recently completed high school. Lead singer Sunil Perera, schooled at St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa and St Peter's College, Colombo. Anton renovated a portion of his house on Galle Road (in Ratmalana) into a recording studio and began recording their first album. In the thirty years that followed, many changes have occurred in the group's membership that have led to the eight members present today. Sunil Perera and Piyal Perera are the two surviving members from the original line up.

Their early success was due to a series of 5 LPs they released in late 1970s (entitled Dance With the Gypsies). In the 1980s the group released their first audio cassette containing their novelty hit "Kurumitto" ("Dwarfs"), which is a cover version of Dutch musician Father Abraham's "The Smurf Song". With the arrival of CDs in Sri Lanka, they released their first CD Gypsies Gold containing 17 songs and following its success there, with two other CDs, Dance With the Gypsies and Singyore, both well received as well. The group has since released other CDs and continues to enjoy success. Sunil Perera and the Gypsies are world famous for their Sri Lankan baila music. The Gypsies have also successfully collaborated with other Sri Lankan stars like Desmond de Silva. They are also credited for having the first ever biala non stop medly. They are known for their hit song "I Don't Know Why" as well.