World
Musical traditions from Jamaica, East Asia, South Asia, and Iberia that cross-pollinated with Western popular music to create globally influential genres.
Sub-topics
Jamaican music emerging in the late 1960s from ska and rocksteady. Off-beat rhythmic guitar, bass-heavy grooves, Rastafari spirituality. Bob Marley made it a global language of resistance.
Jamaican genre from the late 1950s combining Caribbean mento and calypso with American R&B and jazz. Uptempo, walking bass, off-beat guitar. Precursor to rocksteady and reggae.
Jamaican production style (early 1970s) stripping reggae to drums and bass, adding echo, reverb, and delay. King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry. The birth of remix culture and producer as artist.
South Korean popular music blending pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic dance music with synchronized choreography and visual spectacle. BTS, BLACKPINK. Global phenomenon since the 2010s.
Japanese popular music encompassing a wide range of styles from the 1990s onward. Influenced by Western rock, electronic, and pop but with distinctly Japanese aesthetics and idol culture.
Film music from India's Hindi-language movie industry, blending Indian classical ragas, folk melodies, and Western pop/disco/electronic production. The world's largest music industry by output.
Andalusian art form combining guitar, singing (cante), dance, and handclaps. Romani, Moorish, Jewish, and Spanish roots. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Paco de Lucia modernized it.
Portuguese urban folk music expressing saudade — melancholic longing. Born in 1820s Lisbon from sailor songs, African rhythms, and Brazilian modinha. Amalia Rodrigues, Mariza. UNESCO heritage.