Next time you enter a major music store try and find its ‘world music’ section. Don’t give up too quickly, or at least, not before you reach the dark back corner of the shop. Since ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown came up with the term in the early 1960s, it has become harder and harder to define just what exactly ‘world music’ is; perhaps it is music hyper-aware legend and founder of the Luaka Bop music label David Byrne who best described the current state of affairs in an article for the New York Times: ‘The term is a catch-all that commonly refers to non-Western music of any and all sorts, popular music, traditional music and even classical music,’ he wrote.
Now that the digital age and globalisation have taken over and the days of the record shops as we knew them are numbered, the diverse ‘exotic’ ethnic sounds which were often left unheard and kept in distant shelves have become widely available through the world wide web. Consequently, these global rhythms are propagating faster than ever before, thanks to independent artists who ‘steal’ samples to mix with their own music and consumers whose cultural perception boundaries are now more blurred than ever.
We take a journey through some of the hottest countries for ‘world music’ to discover the sounds that are shaping the true universal language that is music.
Mali
When it comes to music, Mali is one of the richest places in the world. The multi-ethnic West African country is home to music styles such as the maninka, bajourou and wassoulou as well as unique instruments such as the kora (a 21-string harp) and the balafon (an intricate wood xylophone). As Toumani Diabaté, a kora virtuoso and one of Mali’s most notable superstars told The Guardian: ‘Culture is our petrol. Music is our mineral wealth. There isn’t a single major music prize in the world today that hasn’t been won by a Malian artist.’
Mali is also, very unfortunately, a country where playing, listening or simply enjoying music is becoming increasingly more difficult since the coup‘d’état in March this year. In the north of the country, Islamist militants have declared a war on music and are enforcing the Sharia – a strict Islamic code of law. All music is banned, except for the singing of Qur’anic verses. Earlier this year, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and Elaga Al Hamid, members of one of Mali’s most popular bands, Tinariwen, were unable to join the group for their performance at WOMADelaide when the pair found themselves stuck at a refugee camp and caught between the crossfire between the rebels and the Malian Army near the Algerian border.
Despite death threats and having their instruments and amplifiers burnt, Malian musicians aren’t giving up just yet. Scores of artists are being forced to leave the country, while others resist and perform underground to keep their rich cultural heritage alive. Even the country’s most popular festival, Festival au Désert, which saw U2’s Bono pay a visit this year, will go on next year after being forced to leave their original site at Timbutku following the looting of the organisations’ stored materials.
‘The brute sound of weapons and the cries of intolerance are not able to silence the singing of the griots or the sound of the Imzad (violin) and the Tinde (drum),’ said the festival organisers in a statement.
Australia will be lucky enough to experience the talent of one Mali’s greatest superstars, Boubacar Traoré, at the upcoming Australasian Worldwide Music Expo in Melbourne.
Malian artists worth finding at the back of your record shop: Tinariwen, Khaira Arby, Bassekou Kouyaté, Vieux Farka Touré, Rokia Traoré, Amadou & Mariam, Oumou Sangaré, Fatoumata Diawara, Tata Pound and Les Escrocs.
Puerto Rico
Although Ricky Martin might be this Caribbean island’s most famous musical export, there was always more than just livin’ la vida loca to this commonwealth of the United States. Before Christopher Columbus reached the island, the Taíno Indians had long been rocking their güiros (a notched hollowed-out gourd). Drawing from Spanish, African, French and American influence, Puerto Rico’s musical landscape features a plethora of genres ranging from the elegant and classic danza to the slavery-inherited drumming of the bomba.
More recently it was Puerto Rico’s reggaeton that took the world by storm with its funky mix of Jamaican dancehall, salsa, hip hop and electronica. The genre has become somewhat of a hybrid of the many different musical styles that echo through the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States quickly conquering audiences in Europe, Asia and North America.
While most of the reggaeton on offer would probably make you cringe with lyrics that know no boundaries and explicit perreo dance moves, talent such as band Calle 13 were also born of the reggaeton scene. Calle 13 hold the record for most Latin Grammy wins, with nineteen awards under their belt. The group tackles social issues in their songs, which are also influenced by Balkan music, Brazilian bossa nova, latin folk, Colombian cumbia, Argentinean cumbia villera, Uruguayan candomblé, salsa and afro-beat.
If there is a current wave of Pan-American pride sweeping through Latin America, blame it on Puerto Rico!
Puerto Rican artists worth finding at the back of your record shop: Luciano Quiñones, Andrés Jiménez, Tito Puente, Hector Lavoe, Olga Tañon, Yomo Toro, Calle 13, Choco Orta.
Egypt
Egypt credits the invention of music to their ancient goddess Hathor and continues its long cosmopolitan musical tradition and influence as the epicentre of the Middle East’s music industry with its high classical music, folk rhythms and iconic pop. Harps, lyres, lutes, oboes, rattles and bells are just some of the instruments developed in ancient Egypt still used today.
A myriad of genres including the sawahli, Nubian folk and saiyidi can be heard across the country but since the Arab Spring toppled the 30-year regime of Hosni Mubarak, it is the underground that has reigned supreme with the revolution tunes of pop rock, heavy metal and rap artists taking over stereos and the streets.
Take a taxi or hop on a bus in Egypt and it becomes quite clear that the beats of mahraganat (festival music) and electro shaabi are on the rise. Wedding DJs are being credited with the creation of this new genre, which blends shaabi, an old style of popular Egyptian music, with upbeat wedding music and freestyling. Egypt’s newest sensation comes from poor neighbourhoods and its crude lyrics and wild party scene collide with increasingly religious politics in the country. Although, FM radio and TV don’t dare playing shaabi, local and international music producers are jumping on board and the middle-class has started to embrace it. It is new music made by the people for the people in our digital age.
Egyptian artists worth finding at the back of your record shop: Umm Kulthum, Cairokee, Yousygirl, DJ Figo, Arabian Knightz.
Angola
The musical history in Angola is heavily influenced by the many political struggles endured by Angolans including a violent Portuguese colonisation and a devastating civil war. Music was often the weapon used by Angolans to resist their oppressors and it has played a fundamental role in shaping the country’s patriotism and independence.
Angola is home to the kizomba, quilapanga, rebita and semba (a predecessor to Brazilian samba). These days, however, it is kuduro, a cross-pollination of urban music styles blending breakneck percussion, ragamuffin with the western sounds of house and techno, that has caught the world’s attention and seen artists such as M.I.A and Portuguese group Buraka Som Sistema pay constant visits to Luanda.
As kuduro continues to update a new Angolan identity, it is also opening doors for homosexual artists such as transsexual diva Titica and openly gay Edy Sex by provoking much needed debate around LGBT issues in the African continent, where homosexuality is still illegal and punishable by law in Angola and neighbours such as Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya and Cameroon. Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos was recently in attendance when Titica performed at an annual Divas concert breaking taboos as she was named a diva herself.
Angolan artists worth finding at the back of your record shop: Waldemar Bastos, Salsicha & Vaca Louca, Bonga, Os Kiezos and Patricia Faria.
South Korea
Long before the world was infected by PSY’s Gangnam Style, Koreans enjoyed the traditional drumming of the sanjo, the love stories of the percussional pansori and all the popular dancing that goes on with the pungmul or nongak.
Now that the West seems to have finally caught up with the South Korean cultural exports, there is certainly a lot of hallyu in the air. Hallyu is a South Korean word to describe the love for the country’s cultural exports elsewhere and if South Korea is currently perceived as the Hollywood of Asia, then rest assured K-pop is to blame.
As East meets West in a bubblegum-like world, the manufacturing of teen idols is going strong and cost Korean music industry executives $4.5 billion last year. Trainees take lessons in singing, dancing, acting and learning Japanese, Chinese and English as well as media coaching, and are submitted to strict rules regulating their diets and relationships. The result is often extremely sweet, precise and optimistic pop performances that not even North Koreans can resist with reports of executions of DVD smugglers at the border between the two countries.
But K-pop also has its rebels…
South Korean artists worth finding at the back of your record shop: J Rabbit, Mad Soul Child, Nylon Pink, Apollo 18, No Reply.
The Australasian Worldwide Music Expo runs from 15 to 18 November in Melbourne.
