Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rap Around the World | A Bodega Pop mix


Listen to "Phnom Penh Hip Hop" by The Khmer Rap Boyz (Cambodia)

Listen to "Haiti" by Elza Soares (Brazil)

Listen to "Eat Around" by Missile Scoot Girl (Japan)

Listen to "Γουστάρει Η Παλαβή" by Εισβολέας (Greece)

Listen to "DK Anthem" by Divided Kingdom Republic (Zimbabwe)

Get the 24-song mix here.

As anyone who has spent a bit of time in the Bodega knows, this here shop keep has a particular predilection for international rap and hip-hop--the further the language from English, the better. That said, rap & hip-hop from around the world comprise a small percentage of the CDs in my collection, maybe 1%, if that. But you wouldn't know it, looking at the BP tag cloud.

I'm not exactly picky when it comes to pop; though I suppose I do have some standards. But, while there is certainly a goodly amount of bad hip-hop out there--mostly stuff that simply mimics rap in the USA--there are people in all corners of the world who, picking up cues from Western examples, take it somewhere else, occasionally somewhere totally unexpected. 


I'm not going to sit here this morning and tell you that every hip-hop artist in this mix is some sort of insane genius, turning rap & hip-hop up to 11. But some of them are. And those that aren't, at least among what I've tried to include here, are at bare minimum making the genre their own.

If you visit here often and have partaken of the dozen or so hip-hop related CDs I've posted over the last couple of years, fear not: I tried really, really, really extra-special hard not to duplicate, whenever possible. So there's Fama in here, but not the Fama you can get elsewhere on this site. I didn't actually count, but I think maybe 4 or 5 songs in this mix can be found in other full CDs or mixes on this blog.

I also didn't just rip stuff from YouTube videos, although--Jesus God Almighty, it was certainly tempting. Everything here is from my own personal CD collection, with a few things I downloaded myself from other sites that I wasn't able to find in CD anywhere (e.g., the Khmer Rap Boyz).


Okay, I'm going to shut up now and let you get to this. Would love to know what you think. It's my personal favorite Bodega Pop mix, and--at some point in the future, assuming people like this--I'll probably put together another (or two, or three).

9 comments:

Crafty C said...

Well, I downloaded it last night and am listening to it this morning and I gotta tell you that this (as well as pretty much all of the rest of the stuff you post) is the kind of music I live for. I have virtually no interest in American rap - unless it's mashed up with some cool 70s song or something else that makes it interesting - but there is something about listening to it in another language, with other vocal sounds, that makes it soooo interesting to listen to. Thank you so much for this - and YES, you should make more mixes!

If you're interested in some Romanian rap check out BUG Mafia and Parazitii. They are both pretty decent. This song in particular

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrDV1vvOBM8

is pretty great (the main word they say over and over "pula" is a crude term for a part of the male anatomy - so it's a much beloved song :).

I also really dig Elephant Man - who does dancehall - but it has a good rap feel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBg9vp6AyUg&ob=av2n

Thanks again!!

Gary said...

Carol, I did a quick search for Parazitii and found this:

http://www.mediafire.com/?fnmnicn5ndx

which you may or may not have--but, if not, now you do!

Will check out Elephant Man in a bit ... I feel like I've heard of him ...

Crafty C said...

Cool! I have a whole crazy DVD disc of Romanian music I got from some of my students when I was teaching English there. It's downloaded singles for the most part so I'm pretty sure I don't have it. Thanks!

boebis said...

cool to see this compilation. I did the same a few years ago (http://pirateschoice.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/global-hip-hop/)

Only 2 artists in common: Ceza and MC Hot Dog.
I also know Phong Le (the song means spend money for girls) and Stomy Bugzy (because i'm French...).

Hammer said...

Gary, sire...
Some Arab Rap (Arap), and hip-hop music from the MENA region (Middle-East & North-Africa), is also worth listening to. I will make sure to rip my own, self-compiled 4-CDRs coo'lection of good Arappers soon, which has rap from Sudan, Yemen (Yeah, imagine?), the U.A.E., Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, you have it all. It'll be worth its while, fer hope's sake.

Dig.

H.H.

Henk Madrotter said...

nice one:) i'll get into indonesian rap again soon on my blog, there's quiet a lot in my collection!

Henk Madrotter said...

elephant man was quiet big a few years back by the way, he had a few hits there and was a lot on mtv for a while....

Crafty C said...

Hey Madrotter! I'm not a fan of all of Elephant Man's stuff (I'm not real big on straight up Reggae) - but some of it is pretty freaking cool! Dip Again is another good one - and Run Dem Weh.

I listened to both of these mixes (rap around the world and the pirate's choice one) and they are both great - but both have a distinctly different feel to them. i really like that.

:)

Pisŧöff said...

What a great listen. Rockin' out on the bus this morning- thought I'd share the love here:
http://pettyvendetta.blogspot.com/2012/04/spotlight-on-bodegapop.html

Cheers,
PettyV