They stylin' on you...
January 4, 2010 12:39 PM   Subscribe

 
See also Bolivian Hip Hop (Spanish, English, Qehchua, Portuguese, Guarani, Aymaran...)
posted by Pollomacho at 12:48 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


Quechua. Apparently seamless spelling is not possible from me.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:50 PM on January 4, 2010


Watch me freak it in Korean.
posted by box at 1:10 PM on January 4, 2010


This just has one language, but it gives you a generous amount of it.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:10 PM on January 4, 2010 [4 favorites]


Well, the English parts sound like Christian rap. "till we realize him(?) that it all ties in vertically rising" Lately Vertical thinking has been a keyword among evangelicals to refer, I guess, to thinking about god.

Given how Ernest the whole operation seems I'm going to have to guess that's whats going on.
posted by delmoi at 1:14 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


This is why hip-hop will ultimately conquer.
posted by mightygodking at 1:17 PM on January 4, 2010


Only three languages, but I'm endlessly amused by Heartsdales - Bailamos. Japanese, English, Spanish.
posted by specialagentwebb at 1:28 PM on January 4, 2010


Turkish
posted by fire&wings at 1:32 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


Meh. I was expecting one guy rhyming in 5 languages. Also, they look like a bunch of programmers trying to act hard.
posted by gnutron at 1:41 PM on January 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


so hip hop only languagehat can fully appreciate? fuckin' awesome.
posted by shmegegge at 1:44 PM on January 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


I'm rather see rapless languages in 5 seams.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:02 PM on January 4, 2010


delmoi, I think it maybe is "till we('re) realiz(in) that it all ties in vertically risin"
perhaps it's Desi, the intimate ties between cultures that have been split by constructed walls (borders), and the history that came out of those separations... and the attempts to return to the regional community, rather than being a local community isolated from others. The return to a global home idea, and bringing that community along, even when outside of any particular borders.
posted by infinite intimation at 2:23 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


actually, just found this, on a forum, seems to be written by one of the members...

This song is one of our most important pieces, both emotionally and sociologically. It utilizes two languages, Gujarati and English, to paint an honest picture of the often overlooked hardships involved in leaving one’s motherland. This story of two brothers, one who emigrates to America and the other who prefers to remain in his native land, is presented as a dialogue that spans both time and place. This heated discussion strives to capture the essence of the immigrant experience: the reconciliation of old and new within a constant struggle to regain balance. -Swap


-from a description of inspiration to a song titled "blood brothers" by karmacy.
posted by infinite intimation at 2:26 PM on January 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


I wanted to join in here with the Swedish Fattaru - Bättre, which I assume is located here - but all I get is "This video contains content from EMI. It is no longer available in your country." which I find rather ironic in this case. (who else wants to hear Swedish rap but people in Sweden?)
posted by dabitch at 3:05 PM on January 4, 2010


I interned at a South-Asian based human-rights nonprofit almost 4 years ago, and we met these guys because the NP was going to have a table at the show Karmacy was putting on at the Knitting Factory. They all seemed like very passionate guys trying to represent an ethnic culture that is pretty much completely ignored in hip-hop culture.

I'm glad to see they are still at it and putting stuff out. I gotta say, though, that programmer comment wasn't too cool.
posted by piratebowling at 3:22 PM on January 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


Not quite the same, but this seems like a good opportunity to shoehorn in a great song by Ouaga All Starz I've been into lately—I first heard it in the documentary I saw on Link TV, Fangafrika, which was great— and you can download it free here (in French, just click on the "bonus mp3 gratuit" button on top, the next page autoplays it but there's another mp3 button below you press that opens a download).
posted by Red Loop at 3:40 PM on January 4, 2010


While we're at it: How about Rap around the world (30 languages!)
posted by ts;dr at 4:49 PM on January 4, 2010 [3 favorites]


Turkish
posted by fire&wings at 1:32 PM on January 4


Ceza is unbelievable. Not just his amazing talent, but also his and his fellow hip-hoppers impact in modern turkey. I visited my old district in Istanbul a while ago, the middle-class neighbourhood in Kadiköy where I grew up in the 90s, and was surprised to find it full of record- and t-shirt stores selling hiphop merch and baggy panted youths gathering for a signing of Ceza's new album... I never recognized any kind of sub-culture in Istanbul before, aside from the obligatory long-haired metal-band shirts wearing "alternative style" you find everywhere, so I was really positively surprised to see them there...

Also, since this is maybe the place to share some local hip-hop culture: German rap suffered a horribly long and painful death in the late 90's. Most of the recent "Sprechgesang" can be entirely dismissed, if it were not for some smart and original underground acts like Amewu, who is seriously awesome, if a bit esoteric.
posted by ts;dr at 5:16 PM on January 4, 2010


"Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" by Locomondo isn't rap, but it's still very amusing re: the number of languages. Languages include English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French, and Romanian. The only integration of languages comes at the end of the song, though I wouldn't really call it "seamless."

It is awesome, however.
posted by ElectricBlue at 5:27 PM on January 4, 2010


Oops! I meant to say that the song is by Todomondo. Locomondo is a completely different group!
posted by ElectricBlue at 5:28 PM on January 4, 2010


Y-Love rapping in English and Aramaic, with plenty of Hebrew/Yiddish vocab.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 7:16 PM on January 4, 2010


Tight. Their flow is kinda like a 4 man Camp Lo.
posted by yeloson at 8:09 PM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


Very cool! :)

It's not hip hop, but one of the features on the Dreamworks Prince of Egypt DVD is a multilanguage version of "When You Believe." The film's producers dubbed the soundtrack (and songs) in a number of languages for international distribution. This video of the song is a compilation of many of those tracks -- each line in a different language, except for the Hebrew Choir's chorus in the middle. That link is the best sound quality available on YouTube, but there's a lot of distortion at the end. This one has lower sound quality, but includes subtitles.

YouTube users have been known to post their own spliced-together multilanguage versions of songs from animated feature films. I've been thinking of doing about FPP with a bunch of links to various examples....
posted by zarq at 9:20 PM on January 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


Only two languages here but I used to listen to this song all the time.
posted by sveskemus at 4:43 AM on January 5, 2010


As someone who speaks two of the languages, English and Hindi, and understands two others, Punjabi and Gujarati, with a bit of an effort, I'd say full points for effort, but if the idea is to talk about Shanti and such high concepts ('Shanti ki vaadi doyo' in the starting lyrics, I'm presuming that means 'Give an assurance for peace' in Gujarati), then the limitations are obvious: it's too quantized in message. The Spanish bits are musically fantastic, but they give me this gap in understanding their message fully.

Not saying it can be _improved_ if it's done in a single language - the song is musically fantastic, and frankly, the Hindi lyrics are a notch above the crap you get out of Bollywood hip-hop - just that the limitations of this approach are quite glaring.
posted by the cydonian at 7:36 AM on January 5, 2010


Always I have thought that bouncing between languages was the future(of music, culture, discourse and of course hiphop); admired have I the elements essentially embodied by the confidence therein exuded, a gift to each fragmented culture to which has ever been alluded, in a stylistically rendered rhythmic rhyme, held in place by the steadiness of incredibly-steady-tempo and time; flowing musical flowers growing causing sparks of fireworks showering. quirks and quarks, included in every line; precluded by the faceless, the uprooted, mothers and fathers, listening intently to every word looking closely, never dissenting, self-distracting, multi-lingually interacting, like reading the fine print above every dotted line.
Especially have I extra respect for the talent of those utilizing a slow flow and mega bonus points for all of the multies, whilst expressing passion, no rhymes touting the latest of fashion, all full of strongly held emotions, including, but not limited to; painful, positive, conflicted thoughts or otherwise beautiful ideas, on a recording, with a heavy instrumental in the background, was a completely amazing and beautiful thing... so; a+ is what this is getting. great example of my favorite genre of music that comes from the future here.

That is, to me at least, an element of the beauty of this approach to communication... I can get part of it, but I need to speak to someone who knows the other languages to be able to explain the the other parts... dialogue, and collective deciphering of a multilingual piece is always a positive thing. In this modern world, we all may speak differently, but once we have the toolset to decipher each others language; we see the things we are saying very often follow parallel lines..
posted by infinite intimation at 1:20 PM on January 5, 2010


Kongehuset makes Danish hip-hop work. For me.
posted by sklero at 2:52 AM on January 6, 2010


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