Wassup everybody. It’s been a while since I’ve done a recommendation post, so I thought I’d share some new vibes I’ve been rocking with lately. This isn’t necessarily a genre, but for this article’s sake we’re gonna call it “Multi-Cultural R&B/Alternative”. That should be pretty explanatory, but if not continue reading for further clarification.
In the past, I was never really one to listen to music from different cultures. While I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, I’ve realized it was because I hadn’t discovered any that I actually liked. Unfortunately, this caused me to write it off as a whole. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still only scratching the surface. You can deduce from the name I gave the category that it’s still somewhat American music, hence the “R&B”. But conversely, that’s why I like it. Artists from different parts of the globe applying their cultural influence on music born in America is what music is about, expression and influence.
In conjuction with it being Women’s history month, we’re gonna cover four amazing female artists from four different parts of the world. Let’s get straight to it.
Rosalía
Rosalía is a rising star hailing from Spain. However, she’s hardly ‘rising’ anymore, as she’s made songs with some of the biggest artists in the world such as The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish, and Bad Bunny.
She’s the only artist on this list who’s music is not in English, and I really feel that it makes me appreciate it more. She’s labeled as Pop on Apple Music, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. She makes Alternative music to the fullest, which is why I cherish her music being Spanish. Not that I don’t already do this, but my lack of Spanish speaking ability allows my focus to be 100% on the music rather than the lyrics.
Her most recent album El Mal Querer is a masterpiece in my eyes. She marries a classic Spanish sound with modern day musical engineering for a very unique listening experience. If you like Billie Eilish, and are a generally open-minded person I would definitely give it a listen.
She’s got such a big influence that she’s even got Billie Eilish making songs in Spanish. But that being said, this is easily one of the best songs I have ever heard.
Lila Iké
This next artist is one my good friend Leone put me onto. Lila Iké is a Jamaican singer that adds traditional Caribbean sound to an R&B setup. Currently she only has one album available for a streaming, The ExPerience, but with seven songs without any misses it’s enough to hold me over for now.
Partially due to the accent but mainly due to the type of listener I am, I haven’t really caught many of her lyrics. However, the musical composition is very quality. She does an excellent sound of marrying her Jamaican and American influences, making for quite a pleasing sound. It’s so successful in my eyes because the Jamaican origin makes it an upbeat type of R&B, but not Pop. This is a very fine line where if you cross it I won’t like it, but if you toe it it’ll be a hit.
I really can’t wait for more music and hope she’s next up out of Jamaica. This is the song that made me fall in love with her.
Eloise
Like the last, I was referred to this next artist by my good friend Miya. I was so glad that she me put me on because this artist is a gem. Why? Because she has a total of only five songs on Apple music and they’re all hits. If you don’t check out any of the other recommendations from this post, check out her. Four out of the five songs are from an 11 minute EP called This Thing Called Living. It’s literally 11 minutes so if you like R&B there’s literally no reason not to listen, when I did I was actually upset when it ended.
I’m actually not entirely sure where she’s from, but she has an English accent, so I’m guessing some where in England. Just another reason that if you don’t check out anyone else, still give her a listen. Her music is basically just American R&B with an English accent, and who doesn’t like English accents. BUT I won’t let go unsaid, that English accent is wrapped around a super soft and beautiful voice.
I’m a fan because she executes one of my favorite styles of music, simple music. All of her songs sound she could’ve made them in her bedroom with just her guitar and her voice. When you can sing like her, you don’t need too much in your songs. It distracts from the best instrument there is, the voice. Obviously her songs display a healthy level of instrumentation that push forward the vibe and rhythm of the song, but when she sings the attention is right on her.
Her fifth song out of the five is her new single “Hungover”, you can give that a listen as well.
Tash Sultana
Our final artist today is out of Melbourne, Australia. She makes Alternative/R&B style music but leaves no musical skill trait untouched. Truthfully, I don’t know much about her, as she’s definitely the artist on this list that I’ve listened to the least. However, I do know that she’s got a silky voice, she’s very versatile, and she’s unpredictable. In my cook book, that’s a recipe for a great musician.
Just speaking on her most recent album, Terra Firma she shows a lot of complexity in her music while still mainly using real instruments. A lot of different genre influences made an appearance on this album, so it makes it easier to label her as Alternative. But don’t let that take anything away from her, you can clearly tell that this girl understands music.
But Yeah…
I really enjoyed writing this article because these artists are in line with what I love about music so much. There’s no rules, so if you’re from Jamaica who says you can’t make American style music, and if you’re from America who says you can’t make Spanish music. It’s all about influence and creativity. Also, learn from my mistakes. I said at the beginning that up until recently I had never given music from other cultures a chance. If you’re listening to a genre or a style of music and you don’t like it, don’t close yourself off to it. Give things multiple chances, and try to find what YOU like. I think you may surprise yourself. But also if you’re here, go ahead and check out the music that I like and let me know what you think.
You’re the realest if you’ve gotten this far.