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Music You're Missing

10-19-02
Com. 1
Classification Essay
951 words

Music You're Missing

    Music is one of the greatest things in the world, and the world is a big place. That's why there are so many different types of music out there to discover and enjoy. Unfortunately, most people are so narrow-minded that they refuse to listen to music if it's not in the language they speak. To me, music is about enjoying the sound of the music, not the lyrics, and I believe that if others would just listen to music in a different language, they would being to realize that they don't have to understand what is being said to enjoy the music. Thankfully, as a result of the internet, it's much easier to find out about music from other countries and cultures.

    Chinese Pop, or C-Pop, is a wonderful genre of music. When most people hear the phrase "Chinese music," they immediately think of the twangy stuff they hear playing in the background at their local Chinese restaurant. on the contrary, Chinese pop sounds exactly like American pop, only in Chinese, of course (there are two languages used most frequently in Chinese pop: Mandarin, the national language of China, and Cantonese, a language mostly spoken around Hong Kong). Recently, C-Pop has really been turning more towards techno beats. C-pop is really quite a booming industry, sporting tons of artists such as Sammi Cheng (a personal favorite of mine), A-Mei, and Sun Yanzi.

    Indian Pop, or Indipop, is great fun. Although nowhere near as American-sounding as C-Pop, Indipop keeps its cultural identity while providing addictive, catchy tunes that attract American listeners. Huge amounts of Indian music are available out on the internet. This surplus of music is due to the fact that India loves musicals. Most of the movies that come out of India's movie industry, Bollywood, have some musical element in them. So, not only does India have music coming out of its music industry, but also from its movie industry! As with Chinese music, when people think of Indian music, they automatically think about the traditional music, like Ravi Shankar and his sitar. In reality, however, Indipop really has a great beat and is filled with the sounds of drums, flutes, guitars, and voices of happy singers. Some examples of Indipop artists are Alisha, Anamika, and Najma. Of course, many musical numbers from Bollywood movies are equally wonderful, and actually, more available on the internet than the plain Indipop.

    Turkish Pop is already gaining popularity in America. This might be due to the fact that people mistake it for Latin American music. There have been numerous times when I have found Turkish artist Tarkan hiding in the Latin music section of a music store. One of Tarkan's songs, "Simarik," has even been translated into English and played on radio station (although I heard that the man who sang in place of Tarkan did a below average job). Turkish music seems to be between C-Pop and Indipop in that it is more American-sounding than Indipop, but still manages to maintain some of its cultural flavor. Some examples of popular Turkish artists include Nilufer, Teoman, and of course Tarkan.

    Arabic music as a whole is the most get-up-and-go music one can possibly find. This is the music one wants to listen to while he or she is working out, jobbing, or doing anything that requires movement. Arabic music makes one want to move. Like Turkish pop, Arabic music is situated between extremely Americanized and extremely cultural. Lately Arabic music has been getting very techno-sounding, but it still manages to keep its Arabic sound. Everywhere one looks, he or she can find compilations of techno Arabic music. Listening to this music makes one feel as if he or she is riding a camel decorated with disco balls. The CD "Bellydancing Breakbeats" by Oojami best illustrates this feeling. The sound of the music is about as neon as the cover of the CD case. Arabic artists also sing in many different languages, due to the diverse colonization of the countries. Artists can and will blend Spanish, French, Arabic, and Hebrew all together in a song. Although solo artists such as Natacha Atlas and Dalida are great, the techno compilation albums are becoming very popular in America and are much easier to find.

    Japanese Rock, also called J-Rock or Visual Kei, is an odd but entertaining genre. For those who enjoy rock rather than pop, J-rock might be the most attractive choice out of all of the genres mentioned. J-Rock artists dress in flashy clothes and heavy makeup, usually sporting an unnatural hair color in any shade of the rainbow. Although the flashy look of these rockers usually creeps out fans at first, eventually it becomes something fans love the most about their favorite group. Fans often dress up as their favorite J-Rocker to attend concerts. Their music varies from pop rock to hard rock to gothic rock (complete with pipe organs and harpsichords). Great J-Rock bands include Malice Mizer, Janne Da Arc, Lareine, Due le quartz, and Dir en grey. J-Rock bands such as Gackt, L'Arc~en~Ciel, and Shazna are very popular with pop fans, too.

    If people start out with a very American-sounding genre, such as Turkish pop, they might gradually realize that world music isn't all sitars, erhu, and Japanese flutes, and slowly graduate into the less American-sounding stuff. There is some really great music out there that people are missing out on because they refuse to believe that international music can be just as good as the American music they listen to. The artists mentioned are very talented people who deserve to be discovered by the rest of the world. The least that people can do is give world music a chance.