In 2007, Avril Lavigne released her hit song "Girlfriend" in 7 languages. George Ball chronicles how this might have been a harbinger for a larger trend.
I understand hardly any of the lyrics to Paulo Flores' music. He is an Angolan singer and I have been listening to his extraordinary music since the mid 1990's. Angolan music is my favorite African music.
You can also listen to artists like Carlos Lamartine, Carlos Burity, Tito Paris, Cesaria Evora and others on YouTube. The algoriddim will keep feeding your ears.
Whenever this comes up, I always think of Scorpions, Germans who for decades did all their singing in English; as contrasted with Rammstein, who revealed the impact and fitness of German to sing heavy metal in.
While I have no doubt Klaus Meine could've made something cool (tho' different) singing in German; Till Lindemann's forays into English and Spanish in the Rammstein catalog ranged from awkward to embarrassing.
Here in Brasil it's quite common that a viral/hit song gains a BR portuguese version.
Sometimes it's parody, sometimes it's a good translation and other times the song is altered to another music genre like brazilian funk or forró or etc.
Just to be clear, "non amo tua ragazza" in the Italian version by Lavigne is grrammarly wrong: it's supposed to be "non amo LA tua ragazza", but I guess it didn't fit the topline so they thought, well, fuck it, no one's gonne pay attention to it anyway — and they were right: song was quite a hit here but no one knows that version in Italian. (Thank god. It sounds like bad ai)
Interesting. Mina, an Italian singer, did this in the 60s or 70s, not just with the Chorus but the whole song, even in Japanese. BTW, the above translation in Italian is incorrect, should be "non amo LA tua ragazza." We always put the article there ✌️
I understand hardly any of the lyrics to Paulo Flores' music. He is an Angolan singer and I have been listening to his extraordinary music since the mid 1990's. Angolan music is my favorite African music.
Any specific recommendations?
From Paulo Flores' discography?
Yup
You can also listen to artists like Carlos Lamartine, Carlos Burity, Tito Paris, Cesaria Evora and others on YouTube. The algoriddim will keep feeding your ears.
I would start with his "Brincadeira Tem Hora" from 1993
I do remember one song in which he sings that in Angola they dance their traditions.
Whenever this comes up, I always think of Scorpions, Germans who for decades did all their singing in English; as contrasted with Rammstein, who revealed the impact and fitness of German to sing heavy metal in.
While I have no doubt Klaus Meine could've made something cool (tho' different) singing in German; Till Lindemann's forays into English and Spanish in the Rammstein catalog ranged from awkward to embarrassing.
Here in Brasil it's quite common that a viral/hit song gains a BR portuguese version.
Sometimes it's parody, sometimes it's a good translation and other times the song is altered to another music genre like brazilian funk or forró or etc.
And Avril's portuguese version became a brief twitter joke here, because her "namorada" pronunciation is super funny.
Peter Gabriel, too, recorded full versions of his third and fourth solo albums in German.
Just to be clear, "non amo tua ragazza" in the Italian version by Lavigne is grrammarly wrong: it's supposed to be "non amo LA tua ragazza", but I guess it didn't fit the topline so they thought, well, fuck it, no one's gonne pay attention to it anyway — and they were right: song was quite a hit here but no one knows that version in Italian. (Thank god. It sounds like bad ai)
Here's Mina in Japanese: https://youtu.be/TgEnsuADyAA?si=sa45b1GpvDeotong
Interesting. Mina, an Italian singer, did this in the 60s or 70s, not just with the Chorus but the whole song, even in Japanese. BTW, the above translation in Italian is incorrect, should be "non amo LA tua ragazza." We always put the article there ✌️