The music and voice that shaped the identity of an entire village, province and it's people. The music lives on always.

Name or Post your favourite Hollie Maea or Robert Oeka song in the comments.

(Other comments welcome too.)

Sareva lareva. 🐊

The duduk is one of Armenia’s oldest traditional instruments, with roots going back centuries. Its deep, haunting sound has become closely associated with Armenian identity, especially the sorrow and loss that have shaped so much of Armenian history. “Siretsi Yares Taran,” meaning “They Took My Beloved Away,” is a song about mourning, separation, and the pain of losing someone you love. For many Armenians, the sound of the duduk is more than just music. It's a reminder of the people, homes, and lives that were taken from them.

i have not really seen many playlists where people actually mix music from across continents. usually when they are doing so, it is out of an obligation, such as trying to get a song from every country. that's okay. but how many people actually add songs from all these places in their normal listening habits? do people just have playlists separated by country / region / language and never mix them at all with the music of their native country / language / region? i can't speak for others, but i definitely do.

really though, i don't often see people doing what i have just described: having different mixes for different places. i want to shout out someone who did some good ones relegated to specific regions in the past: https://www.youtube.com/@goldilockszonemusic8582/videos (i'm not affiliated with them, trust). these are probably the most accessible to people here. he did some very good work, and making these would not have been easy, in fact i'm not sure how he would have found most of these songs. he's definitely worth checking out, as his channel is very underappreciated. next, I will go over why even more diverse mixes can be good as well.

why total mixes are a good thing: you are going to be confronted with something you are unfamiliar with, thereby increasing your tolerance for things different to you in the world. not focusing on the country of origin keeps you away from biases that you will unconsciouslessly or sometimes consciously (unfortunately) associate with a country. news, people and communities on the internet help propagate these negative biases and you may not even be able to tell it's happening. the different languages gives this away, but your ear gets tuned to this eventually. to me, this is true equality, seeing someone as they really are and not tied to a country and everything that comes with it. deep down, you will know their country of origin, but eventually the distiction becomes less important once it's within a pool of lots of different types of music you all enjoy. at this point you appreciate the differences without biases, as the enjoyment outweighs all else.

French musician Vincent Bucher on harmonica

An example of famo music, the folk music genre of the Basotho people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao?wprov=sfti1#Political_views_and_activism:

"Chao believes that our world lacks spaces for "collective therapy" and describes his concerts as small temporary spaces where people of different backgrounds can come together.[[21]](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-Youtube-21)

Chao's lyrics provoke his audience to think about immigration, love, living in [ghettos](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto), drugs, and often carry a [left-wing](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics) message. This reflects Chao's own political leanings—he is very close to the [Zapatistas](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation) and their public spokesman, [Subcomandante Marcos](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcomandante_Marcos).[[1]](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-beater-1) He has many followers among the European left, the Latin American left, the [anti-globalisation](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-globalisation), and [anti-capitalist](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-capitalist)movements.[[22]](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-rp-22) Chao is a founding member of [ATTAC](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTAC).[[23]](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-23) Punk and reggae historian [Vivien Goldman](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Goldman)commented of his work, "I was writing about [Good Charlotte](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Charlotte) and [The Police](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Police). They adopted the trappings of punk. They aren't bad groups, but the punk aspect is more manifested by somebody like Manu Chao. He's one of the punkiest artists out there I can think of. It's an inclusionary spirit that is punk."[[24]](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-24)["](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Chao#cite_note-24)

Pachamama Madre Tierra is my musical offering to the Earth — a song of gratitude, connection, and reverence. 🌿🥁🪶

Afro Bros with Iski - Pum Pum

Moombahton from Suriname.

Trollward - Syntagma

Fast-paced (good for headbanging) Medieval Folk Metal!

Just dropped the official video for "Broken Dolly" — Produced By Dj Jahmar , Edley Shine (Born Jamericans) on the mic. Lead single off Book of Micah Riddim, shot on location in Port Royal, Jamaica.

https://youtu.be/PcTL9Frr40Y?si=wCr36DxJ1kxovs7x

Hi everyone,

I've been searching for almost a full year now trying to track down the lyrics and Bambara transcription for the track "Sa Golo" by Malian blues legend Boubacar Traoré (from his 1996 album Sa Golo / featured in the film & soundtrack Je chanterai pour toi).

Here is a direct link to listen to the track on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAffQXly36w

Because it's an older acoustic track sung in Bambara, standard lyrics databases like Genius and Musixmatch don't have it transcribed. I know the title refers to "snake skin" (sa golo) and draws on proverbs about human character, trust, and deceit, but I haven't been able to locate the full verses or a line-by-line translation anywhere online.

Does anyone here speak Bambara, own the physical CD booklet / liner notes, or know where to find a French or English transcription? Even if someone can transcribe a few key phrases by ear, it would mean the world to me after searching for so long!

Thank you so much in advance!

https://www.allmusicas.net/en/biografia/kinito-mendez/:

“José del Carmen Ramírez Méndez, better known as Kinito Méndez is a Dominican singer and songwriter. He was born on November 18, 1963, in Azua, Dominican Republic. He is known for his merengue performances.

Many of his compositions became classic merengues such as "El cacu", "El coronel", "El boche" and "La manito".

Kinito Méndez's beginnings in Music

Kinito Méndez was a member of the merengue group Cocoband, being a fundamental piece. Their talent contributes to the creation of a new concept of meringue with a refreshing air.

In 1991, he decided to create a new project called Rokabanda. With this group, he established a very personal style classified as merengue refranero. With his orchestra, he managed to be honored with the most sacred awards of the Dominican national art chronicle (ACROARTE), obtaining Casandra awards as Revelation Group of the Year in 1992 and as Popular Orchestra of the Year in 1993. "Ají titi", "El vacano", "Rechenchen" and "Los hombres maduros", are just some of the numerous hits they presented.

Subsequently, Kinito Méndez sought new paths, left Rokabanda and decided to be Kinito Méndez & Orquesta, establishing himself as a soloist with the commercialization of the productions "El hombre merengue", "El decreto" (1997), "A caballo", "Su amigo", "D' colores", and "A palo limpio", the latter nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards, in the category of Best Merengue Album.”

Bally Sagoo - Tum Bin Jiya

Indian Pop / 90's Electronica fusion.

"Tum bin jiya" means "Living without you" in Hindi.

Besides the music itself, I like opposing duality represented in the music video.

🇦🇪

Dary 3alamha

My Homeland's Flag

Artist: Mehad Hamad

Genre: Aghani Wataniya (Patriotic Songs) / Khaliji Folk

Language/s: Arabic

Year: 2011

Overview: "a profound patriotic anthem that blends political allegiance with traditional Bedouin tribal values"

Note: Modern Emirati National Day celebrations are said to be incomplete without this song from UAE's answer to Bob Dylan.

Lyrics

Genre and Overview are based on Google AI's responses to "genre and meaning/analysis" prompt

Juno Reactor - God is God

Electronica (PsyTrance) with Arabic samples. The music video is weird, but wild, in an artistic way.

Shantel - Andante Levante

Traditional brass band music from the Balkans [Serbian / Romanian / Bosnian / Croatian / Greek / Bulgarian / Rom (Gipsy) / Turkish].

🇦🇩

De Nit

At Night

Artist: Lluís Cartes

Genre: Acoustic Folk-pop (MV Version)

Language/s: Catalan

Year: 2012

Album: Carenant L'absurd

Overview: "a poetic exploration of the human psyche's duality between the constraints of daytime conformity and the chaotic freedom of the night"

Note: The album version is apparently more upbeat with its pop rock vibe.

Lyrics

Genre and Overview are based on Google AI's responses to "genre and meaning/analysis" prompt

Ensiferum - By the Dividing Stream

Ensiferum is a folk metal band from Finland. Some of their pieces are purely folk music (mainly medieval and Viking-era influenced folk music), with no heavy metal at all. This is one of them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.