In the mid-2000s, I was on the internet. I was a loser with few friends, and it was a long summer of late nights and muggy weather—but it was okay, because I had a shiny, new YouTube account. It was thrilling, sitting at the family computer, slapping on headphones and watching whatever I wanted. I don’t know how to get across how significant it was to suddenly have so much control over the content I consumed. It was content from all around the world, and not just the heavily curated stuff you got through Much Music, MTV or any other channel on television. I had so much choice and variety that it permanently impacted my library.

See, when I wasn’t watching two guys in California lip sync the Pokemon theme (Smosh), I was watching music videos and lyric videos uploaded by fans from all over the world. Meanwhile, record execs were only just starting to ask what a YouTube was. The quality was absolute crap—144p and 240p were to be expected—but that didn’t matter when your music choices suddenly felt unlimited. Before I knew it, I was listening to pop from Japan and UK Garage. I even was an early international fan of K-pop (I might have to write Confessions of an ex-K-Pop fan about that whole experience.)

But reminiscing got me thinking, even with music crossing more borders everyday, the North American market is still extremely difficult to break into for international artists—and it’s a damn shame. So, I’m offering up a few recommendations of songs from around the world that found me back then.

South Korea: Epik High – Peace Day

This song got me through high school. Why? I don’t know, it just slaps. It introduced me to some legends I’m still loving nearly two decades later. I want to say it has a 90s and early 2000s hip-hop inspired sound but frankly, I’m bad at getting specific about genres. I think if you like I Wish by Skee-Lo then this could be a good track for you.

Japan: m-flo - Come Again

When friends bring up Japanese music, it’s often an act like L’Arc~en~Ciel or BABYMETAL—both cool, but it’s crazy to me how industry legends like m-flo are unknown here. Choosing one track to showcase them was next to impossible. Their albums are experiences to be listened to in full (the m-flo LOVES series is especially good if you want to sit back and pretend that you’re on a shuttle to Mars.) In the end, I’m choosing to stick with the old-school hip-hop sound and recommend Come Again. It mixes up smooth sections with sharp bursts that keeps it exciting and is just beautiful overall.

Germany: Die Fantastischen Vier – Der Picknicker

Again, old-school hip-hop, and again, legends in their country—they were instrumental to the popularity of hip-hop and rap in Germany. Der Picknicker has a smooth sound and bassline and I know enough German to tell you that the lines shouted during the chorus mean, “No shit, man. Everybody knows,” which are some useful phrases to know, I think.

This is a miniscule fraction of songs, but I hope that they got you thinking about the music scenes in other countries. There are amazing songs released everyday, all over the world, and it’s so easy to find them. The world feels so connected now and experiencing that connection firsthand through music is just incredible. So, what are your top tracks from around the world?

Tess

Tess is a long time attender of live music, from someone’s basement with questionable fire safety to sleeping in a muddy field for a week with tens of thousands of others- and questionable fire safety. Her favourite sport right now is parkour.