In order to spare you that awkward feeling of being the only one at the bar who doesn’t know the song (and how can you not know these songs!), pop these into your Ipod before your next trip abroad.
Yes, American pop music is heard in every corner of the world but every region has its own local music stars.
NIGERIA
WARNING. This music may cause spontaneous movements from your lower half. If you can handle that and you want more wind to your grind, look no further than “the heart of African music”, Nigeria. “Wande Coal” is part of the young wave of music artists you will hear in the area but if you want to hear some classics you can always depend on Afro Beat’s “Fela Kuti”. His music occupies my house for at least half of the day, mostly because his songs are thirty minutes long.
RUSSIA
Leave it up to Russia’s number one DJ to keep the HOUSE hits coming. “DJ Smash” has put in work and being one of the hardest working DJs has paid off. His first major single was back in 2007 with Moscow Never Sleeps. So yes, he’s worked the best nightclubs in Russia, has gotten his MTV Award, so stand back so I can work on my trance. Catch DJ Smash in Eastern Europe this summer.
PANAMA
If you walk down any street in Panama City you will hear “El Kid” blasting from someone’s speakers. His music even echoes in Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Mexico. Young and ambitious,”El Kid” quickly became a reggae king with songs like “Quedate cool” and “Porno star”. The music is in his blood, “El Kid” is the son of the Panamanian musician, “Renato”, who is still doing shows.
Many of the lyrics reflect the violent streets of inner cities and unfortunately “El Kid” passed last year at the young age of twenty three, he joins a hefty list of talented artists that have been murdered in Panama in the past couple of years.
FRANCE
Love to dance/workout? Then get into these moves. If you’ve spent some time in France, as of recent, you should be familiar with the dance. The Senegalese comedian, based in France, hit big in 2011 when “Logobitombo” went viral. The title combines African music genre (Logobi) with part of his name (Tombo).
BRAZIL
Now a days, if you step into a Latin ANYTHING, you will hear this song. Be ready. This is one of those that makes all the ladies stand up, wave their arms, and pretend that he’s singing to them. I still don’t get it but maybe after hearing it twenty more times it will sink in. The song has been playing non-stop in Columbia and Argentina for the past six months, yet it feels like the momentum is only beginning.
3 comments
Katherine - Kapcha The World says:
Jun 27, 2012
New Zealand – especially Christchurch – it’s The Exponents “Why Does Love Do This To Me”.
When I was in South Korea, we used to go to Songtan which was the US Air Force Base – their ‘anthem’ was Tenacious D’s “Fu*k Her Gently”! Still makes me laugh when I hear that song!
I love listening to local music though when in differnt countries. Have so many random tapes – yes tapes – that I got when on my RTW years ago. Still collect bits when I travel – although now usually download them! lol
LozinTransit (music) says:
Jun 23, 2012
I always enjoyed it when a song would come on and everyone would stop and sing along, even though for that moment you felt like you were missing out. It was usually a daggy, culturally significant folk song. If you were in Australia it would be Men at Work’s ‘Land Down Under’. i always made a point of finding out who it was, so I could relisten to it and trigger some memories.
I feel your guilty of the same. Its always nice to have a holiday Anthem to rekindle the memories.
Ashlea P. says:
Jun 23, 2012
Agreed!