In the past years, international artists have climbed through the American music charts with songs such as “Gangnam Style” or “Papaoutai.” This newfound affinity for international music has altered the tastes of Aragon students and is providing a new insight into its benefits and differences from mainstream American music.
For freshman Helen Lu, breakout star PSY made her more aware of the presence of international music. “Gangnam Style” was interesting and I searched up the girl featured in it. I first started listening to that and I thought it was catchy, then somehow I clicked on similar videos, and I liked it,” says Lu.
Some may listen to international music to strengthen their connection between culture and heritage. Freshman Emily Xu says, “The music I listen to is more closely related to my own culture, since I’m a Chinese-American living in America. I feel that Asian music is more connected [to]me and that I can understand it better.”
Spanish teacher Josefina Cid adds that the appeal might be that the message of the song, no matter what language, is universal. “I sometimes incorporate human rights issues in the lessons I teach and songs are huge component of that,” says Cid. “Students resonate with something that’s unjust. Sometimes teenagers are unfairly judged and whenever they see a population of people who don’t have a voice, again, who are unfairly judged or mistreated, they can resonate with that.”
Because international music is primarily in foreign languages, it vastly affects the way one will learn a language. Cid describes how listening to music from a variety of places aides in one’s comprehension of a language. “It helps you see the words in context that you probably wouldn’t get in the textbook.”
Spanish teacher Ben Ho adds, “If you like music and are studying a different language, it’s a great way to facilitate vocabulary learning, culture, and pronunciation.”
However, there are differences between the foreign language as if it is taught in a classroom and as it is featured in music.
Says music teacher Troy Davis, “Let’s say you’re learning Spanish at school. In music there are colloquialisms and there is slang. Music is poetic, so the ways you are writing, which is structured, is not the same as when you speak. So, if you’re listening to something, even if you understand the words, the comprehension can be really challenging because of the fact that it’s much more poetic.”
Although international music is a way of bringing people together, it may also separate students. Xu, an avid K-pop, C-pop, and J-pop listener says, “People who listen to mainly international music tend to have a little barrier in their social life. At homecoming they always play American music and everyone was singing along, having a good time, and I was just sitting there not having as good a time as I could [have had]. In a lot of social activities in America, they play a lot of music and sing along and say, ‘Oh, this is my jam!’ And they make friends that way and talk about songs that way.”
As a result of this newfound popularity, international music industries have tried to make their music more relatable and easier to sell through Americanizing their music. Lu talks about how the traditional heritage is being lost amidst the Americanization. “I don’t think K-pop reflects Korean culture. It’s more like American culture, not Korean,” says Lu. ”I know that K-pop is more Americanized in terms of like there’s is a lot of rap. In fact, in international music there are more English lyrics,” explains Xu. “There’s literally that one random line of English throughout the course of the song. I mean it’s cool in some parts, but others I’m like, ‘can you stop being so American? I like you for who you are and what you did before and you don’t have to be so Americanized.’”
However, Ho has a different opinion. “Cultures are always evolving and really nothing is ever stagnant or permanent in culture. Different time periods determine what different people like and what’s relevant or interesting,” he says.
All in all, international music helps diversify a person’s knowledge of other countries and resonates with people worldwide.
