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Is there music I haven't heard because I only speak English?

5d 1h ago by lemmy.zip/u/moistracoon in nostupidquestions

So I was having a philosophical debate with myself inside my head and also trying to figure out why exactly I like the music I like so I can make it easier to discover new artists and tracks. I ran the numbers and I like every single music genre pretty much equally, don’t prefer if a man or woman is singing, doesn’t appear to be any sort of rhyme or reason other than the beat. Am I missing out on anything from other countries? I don’t care if they sing about killing babies or speaking in a made up language, if there is a “Meek Mill who only raps in French” or a “Deftones that only sings about the scientific method in Chinese” I want to hear it. I’m not asking for suggestions; I’m asking if anyone has had luck “flipping a switch” and finding tons more music in a similar way.

"Do other countries have music?"

Um, yes. Yes, they do.

Fascinating 📸

Are you asking whether there's music in languages other than English?

I kind of imagine this as a question of genre more than language.

Like reggae being primarily Jamaican or Caribbean. Do non English have entire genres of music that I've missed?

Hmmm.. I know that the sub is called 'no stupid questions', but if you only listen to English music, you will by definition not hear any music that is not in English. So that question answers itself basically.

But trying to be less pedantic: which music genres do you like? Try finding music in those genres that are not in English and see for yourself. I have found some nordic folk music that I love, as well as Spanish Ska music. I do not understand a word of them, but I love the music anyway.

Ooh I’ve been listening to Ska-P for years! Great band!

which music genres do you like?

Did you not read the post? OP clearly says:

I ran the numbers and I like every single music genre pretty much equally

😂

Non english countries have their own music. K and Jpop come to mind

Get your lovely arses in here, peoples!
nonenglishmusic@piefed.social

Thanks johnnyenzyme@piefed.social I came here to mention this sub too.

I did not know I needed this in my life until you posted it. Thanks so much - I'm going through all the old posts now!

Glad you found it useful!

I will say, though-- just because the songs are handpicked doesn't mean that they're necessarily good songs. However, the genre tags help a lot with that kind of thing.

Oh yeah dude, if you are into metal and you haven’t listened to Nordic bands you are missing out.

Sure, loads of it. Eastern music in particular is well underrepresented on American algorithms.

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Sorry but music has always been English-only. Music actually wasn't even invented until the 5th century

Every language has their own music, with their own styles and little masterpieces. Considering how many languages there are, you're mostly just scratching the surface

Yes. Even people who speak more than one language don't know all the music in the world. But they are likely to have been exposed to a greater variety.

If hypothetically you wanted to listen to all the music in the world, you'd probably fail because you would need to dedicate every waking moment to the project and you'd die before you finish.

Contribution: Go check out other countries' translations of Disney songs. Disney puts in a lot of work to make sure that their foreign language singers sound as much as possible like the original and that the translated lyrics have about the same rhythm as the original. It's deeply uncanny sometimes, a bit like having a brain malfunction where the song sounds exactly the same but you can't understand the words.

Corollary: Can anyone recommend some good German rap? I downloaded one German rap song back in my Napster days and I loved how it sounded, but then I realized that I didn't speak a word of German and for all I knew they were rapping some truly heinous lyrics without my knowledge, so I took it out of rotation. I'd love to have some good German rap that I wouldn't be horrified to learn is about right wing politics or something

Yes this is what I mean! Maybe I am looking for rap. French rap is cool too.

Probably loads of.

Way back in the day, Last.fm recommended me a number of (mostly metal) tracks in other languages that absolutely slap. I have no idea how to pronounce any of it, or even type the characters to see what else they might have done. All I can do is copy/paste, which is of limited value since I only speak English.

So yes, and I'm sure I'm missing a ton more just like these that I just have no way to find.

Yes.

Find a community here that has the music style you have & ask.

Go here, https://campexplorer.io/ , type in the country name, hit enter, type a genre name, hit enter.

The problem isn’t finding music, it’s finding music you like. Hence finding the communities (or yes, even subreddits) that specialize in it, because Sturgeon’s Law still holds true. I listen to 95% foreign music for the subgenres I like. It’s fine, it’s cool. Some genres are under-represented in some countries - think country-western (USA) for instance.

Aria, a Russian metal band very similar to Iron Maiden, if that's up your alley:

https://youtu.be/LobNZ2IoddU

There's also Al Namrood, a Saudi black metal band that sings in Arabic:

https://youtu.be/Trlz9C9vpEM

Uhh yes, yes you are. Loads. Just to give one example, le monde francophone has yaya pop (Juniore is one of my favorites)

Okay, look.

I took it a step further.

I highly recommend taking an intro class in any other language. And then start listening to the music. It's like you're studying but you're not even trying. You'll be listening to banger after banger and just getting better and better at the other language.

Some recommendations:

Spanish: Maluma - Carnaval

Ha-Ash - Estés Donde Estés

Reik - Ya Me Enteré

Aitana - AQYNE

Some in other languages:

Portuguese: Giulia Be - Não Era Amor

Italian: J-AX - Ostia Lido

Oh, and this one is in Spanish AND Italian, and it slaps: Sangiovanni and Aitana - Mariposas

Kneecap are causing a huge resurgence in the Irish language. Outside of their music there is just a larger appetite for other Irish artists using language and more spaces for people to practice and use it in your day to day too.

I like every single music genre pretty much equally, don’t prefer if a man or woman is singing, doesn’t appear to be any sort of rhyme or reason other than the beat

That's fair, I like the beats of music too

Am I missing out on anything from other countries?

Yes, definitely! Although American and British music is plentiful, there's also lots of great music from other places too of any kind of genre.

Personally, all the Croatian music I've heard are bangers, and in general, a lot of the Balkan music is great.

I don’t care if they sing about killing babies

I feel like you should probably care if somebody actively pushes for the killing of babies. Just my opinion though.

I tend to enjoy a lot of (mostly Euro) rock and punk music, so here are some of my favourites:

  • Opca Opasnost, Film (Croatian)
  • Ska-P (Spanish)
  • Nova Koma (Latvian)
  • Metro Luminal, Vennaskond (Estonian)
  • Asta Kask, Bjornarna (Swedish)
  • Kino, Bi-2, Nautilus Pompilius, Gromyka (Russian)
  • Die Artze, Die Toten Hosen (German)
  • Ornato Violeta (Portuguese)
  • Indochine, Luke, Starshooter, Telephone (French)
  • Jufkamental (Bosnian)
  • the pillows, Melt-Banana, Otoboke Beaver (Japanese)
  • Myslovitz, Republika, Kult (Polish)
  • BTR (Bulgarian)
  • Generacion Suicida (based in LA, sings in Spanish)

Yo that’s the thing though, I like to separate the art from the artist. There was a whole documentary about Michael Jackson (not that I am interested) who pretty much almost killed a baby.

There's a great song from a great band about killing babies tho ☝️ https://youtu.be/QCoIBtL0s54

Here's a varied selection I love:
German: Dendemann - Stumpf ist Trumpf
Dutch: Froukje - Groter Dan Ik
Spanish (instrumental): Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun

Absolutely kick arse Te Reo metal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kwIkF6LFDc

Mongolian throat singing rock/metal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE

You have a starting point to how you are exposed to music, defined by a lot of factors including language, location, and current tastes. You probably could go out of your comfort zone to find other music, but there are going to be various limitations both from your ability to reach music and the music's ability to reach you.

I sometimes wonder if people see "no stupid questions" as a challenge.

It wasn’t, I got a few really good answers. User sbeak in particular.

No need to understand it.

Hanezeve Caradhina - Kevin Penkin