NationStates Jolt Archive


Non-English Rap

Neu Leonstein
24-08-2006, 13:26
Firstly: I realise not everyone likes rap music and hip hop in general. Others (including me) do. If you don't like it, no one is forcing you to post in this thread.

Now, after a thread about how pretentious your taste in music is, I think we should all take a step towards the most pretentious of tastes: music where the lyrics are not in English, so that not everyone understands them (since most NSers are in English-speaking countries). Not to forget that it is great to listen to foreign languages flow to music, even if you don't understand all the words. And rapping ultimately forces your language to take much more of a flowing nature than most singing does, IMHO.

In other words: I am looking for decent tracks where the lyrics are not in English, but still deep and meaningful. Not brainless pop, but songs with a message. Not 50cent, but Mos Def, in other words.

I'll start with a few great German tracks:

Afrob & Samy Deluxe - Hey du. (Hey, you.) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6_t1WoemOE)
Is about how people don't sit back and relax and think about themselves and their own lives. I like it a lot...very relaxed.

Samy Deluxe - Weck mich auf (Wake me up) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIrrURh8urk)
This is a bit older. Back then it was played everywhere around the clock, people got sick of it. But now, a few years on, I think we can recognise what a great track it is. It's Samy's rant about how wrong everything is in modern Germany - the people, the attitudes, the system itself.

Sido & G-Hot - Wahlkampf (Election Campaign) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGVe5HSB-Cc)
People are gonna hate me for it, but I like this song. It's angry, and it illustrates nicely how far some kids are disconnected from the politicians and the establishment.

Azad - Gegen the Strom (Against the Flow) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s1ZgIv91jY)
Hehe, I'm violating my own rule already. It's not exactly a deep song, but I like it anyways. Very raw...and with the whole debate about immigrants not fitting in - this guy is a Kurd, and he certainly seems to fit in just fine. To be honest, he is a lot more like the immigrant kids that I knew than the ones we always read about in the news.

Afrob & D-Flame - Öffnet die Augen (Open your eyes) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a7TOzVl4iI)
Much like the title says, it's a call for people to open their eyes and finally face the facts: There's plenty of black people in Germany, and both those people and the Germans need to sort out a way to live together.

And now, I'm sending out a call to you gurus of the search engines...I am looking for another track which I cannot find but which you must hear. It's by a guy called "Erci E" and the title is "Weil ich ein Türke bin".
Laerod
24-08-2006, 13:30
While I generally loathe hiphop and rap and the like, the song by ASD (Afrob and Samy Deluxe doing something together once) was pretty good. But Sido? He makes me ashamed of being from the same city...
Mr Gigglesworth
24-08-2006, 13:35
I prefer a soft sea ballad!
Yaargh!
Ilie
24-08-2006, 13:40
I highly recommend Funky Armenico, a very talented French rapper. I cannot speak to the depth of his lyrics, because, while I can speak some French, rapidfire French is beyond my capability to translate. (I do recognize when he counts to 8 at one point in a song.)

My favorite songs by him are "Speedy Speedy Flow" and "Toi!"
Baguetten
24-08-2006, 14:00
MC Solaar - Solaar pleure (Solaar cries) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofOAdYPpz5Y)
I just love the intro line "Fuck la Terre, si je meurs voici mon testament."

Timbuktu - Gott Folk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsYe5v4PvFE)
Generally critical of selfishness and political apathy.

Looptroop - Fort Europa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvCOVDdzrCU)
OK, so it's in English (they're Swedish). But it's still good, and the lyrics are anti-EU. :)

"well i guess you know about how i dreamt of super power
wanted to roll with the bad boys
but got butt-fucked in the showers"

"fort europa
my so called utopia
where i cant find no culture
feel the walls getting closer and closer and closer"
Neu Leonstein
24-08-2006, 14:07
MC Solaar - Solaar pleure (Solaar cries) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofOAdYPpz5Y)
I just love the intro line "Fuck la Terre, si je meure voici mon testament."
You know, if I ever do learn French, it'll be for this guy.

http://www.rattapallax.com/fusebox_03mcsolaar.htm
Peepelonia
24-08-2006, 14:15
Ever heard of a Spanish group called XXL? A sort of rap/rock/dance flavour type of thing going on there. I don't understand a word, but I like the music!
Iztatepopotla
24-08-2006, 14:55
Not really my cup of tea, but I like Molotov and a maybe some by Control Machete.
Daistallia 2104
24-08-2006, 15:42
Well, living in Osaka, the funky capital of Japan, I can't escape J-rap/hip-hop.

Japanese hip-hop and rap pretty much exhibit everything evil and awful about the mainstreaming hip-hop, the "gangsta"ization of rap, and mainstream J-pop in general.

There are only a couple of J-rap/hip-hop groups I'd reccomend. The first would be would be the various incarnations of East End x Yuri. My fave would be a local MC who works under the name of Shingo Nishinari. He's the only rapper I know who raps old school and isn't putting on a front. (Nishinari, where he grew up, is one of the few actual real ghettos you'll find in Japan.)

J-punk and indie is much better.
Harlesburg
25-08-2006, 10:59
Well, living in Osaka, the funky capital of Japan, I can't escape J-rap/hip-hop.

Japanese hip-hop and rap pretty much exhibit everything evil and awful about the mainstreaming hip-hop, the "gangsta"ization of rap, and mainstream J-pop in general.

There are only a couple of J-rap/hip-hop groups I'd reccomend. The first would be would be the various incarnations of East End x Yuri. My fave would be a local MC who works under the name of Shingo Nishinari. He's the only rapper I know who raps old school and isn't putting on a front. (Nishinari, where he grew up, is one of the few actual real ghettos you'll find in Japan.)

J-punk and indie is much better.
Yes, the Maori and Samoan Culture of New Zealand has been absorbd into that evil.
The Atlantian islands
25-08-2006, 21:26
I like Dutch songs...especially funny ones from Ome Henk..like Lekker Lekker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7mMnDvoZ_Q);)


I also like De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig:

*Watskeburt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7Hk4Knu1Lc)*

*Voorjekijkendoorlopen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orcZo8OC7GU)*

*Kerstballen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CgzkH_Aw2c)*
(This guy already said what needs to be said about Katja;) "ze hebben wel gangbang op katje gezet whaha gare slet :P")
Sel Appa
25-08-2006, 21:56
MC Solaar is a French rapper...
Liberated New Ireland
25-08-2006, 21:59
Reggaetton FTW!

I don't know any artists though, I just borrow mixtapes from my friends...
Neu Leonstein
26-08-2006, 02:27
There are four tracks here of probably one of the best German Hip Hop Albums ever made: Bambule (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=51513485) by Absolute Beginner.
Zilam
26-08-2006, 02:28
I thought those that rapped weren't speaking english in the first place :p


Honestly though, I don't like too much english hip hop/rap and have never ventured into a different language. However, I still love to go back and listen to some old school Nas, back in his Illmatic and I am days
New Stalinberg
26-08-2006, 02:41
Ugh.... Rap.... Ugh.....

Only decent rappers are the Beastie Boys.

Everything else.... ugh....
Zilam
26-08-2006, 02:54
Ugh.... Rap.... Ugh.....

Only decent rappers are the Beastie Boys.

Everything else.... ugh....


-does a newbish post-:mp5: :mp5: :mp5: :mp5: :sniper: :sniper: :gundge: :upyours:

WTF??? Da rap is da sh!t man....word!
Neu Leonstein
26-08-2006, 03:31
Ugh.... Rap.... Ugh.....
*Points at OP's first three sentences*