If you enjoy Latin, hip hop and electronic sampling,
you might like Si*Sé and Manu Chao.
Si*Sé is not necessarily a world music group, considering they are from
New York City…but they are worth mentioning simply for their seamless
fusion of hip hop and Latin music. Part urban, part flamenco, part R’nB;
founders DJ U.F.LOW and singer Carol C have helped create an album that
flows with a smooth, sultry beat. Adding viola, maracas, keyboards, and
other unlikely instruments gives it a clean contemporary feel that somehow
works in spite of their disparate styles. Carol C sings in both English and
Spanish adding to the multicultural flair, while bongos and classical guitar
dance over fulfilling urban beats to create a new generation of
folk-influenced hip-hop.Manu Chao has been thus far a sleeper in America, but is a star in Europe
and in Central and South America. Born in Paris to Spanish parents, his
multi-cultural upbringing – along with influences from the 70’s punk scene
across the channel in the UK – gave him an eclectic variety of influences to
create his sound from. He is attributed to helping foster what is now known
as the “Latin Alternative” movement in the 80’s. His music is much like a
modern window with a view of traditional sounds, a contemporary vehicle for
European folk. Using guitars, tambourines, bass, and samples – especially of
people speaking in Spanish, French, and sometimes English – he builds
compositions that sound like folk songs invading the dreams of electronica.
His song “Bongo Bong” (or “King of Bongo”), off of Clandestino, was
used on the soundtrack for Madonna’s “The Next Big Thing.” The song “Me
Gustas Tu” off the album Proxima Estacion: Esperanza is a good intro
to anyone interested in this style of music. It’s light without being empty,
and well-mixed despite all the various elements that the song utilizes.
If you like classical guitar and African rhythms, you should
try Oliver Mtukudzi, Habib Koité and Salif
Keita.
Africa is a huge continent with many countries, so it follows that it would
encompass a huge amount of culture full of many musical styles. Oliver
Mtukudzi (known as “Tuku” for short) hails from South Africa, where he has
become an “African pop” artist Tuku has gained international fame with the
traditional music of his home country Zimbabwe, combining local genres such
as “chimurenga,” “mbaqanga,” and “Korekore.” Singing in both English and his
native Shona language, his lyrics are mainly political and economic in
nature – though not without humor. An excellent solo artist with a beautiful
dark voice and joyful countenance, he combines electric guitars with tribal
drums and traditional African instruments to create African pop. Completely
unlike American pop music, but still containing some similar influences such
as catchy guitar licks and the standard stanza format, it is easy to see why
Tuku has become the voice of the new “pop Afrique.”
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