Pop songs with Middle Eastern influences. Do you miss it?

[Sergi91]

Yes 

 

[mylicious]

 

yes!

[Marco_g2]

No its always been tacky to me 

[Luckitty]

y'all should listen to actual middle eastern music, it's superior 

[OnlyRealMusic.]

YES!!!

[OnlyRealMusic.]

6 hours ago, Oktober Knight said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taste! All of these sound so good today still!

 

[taipei]

 

[Pristine]

7 hours ago, FightDragonsWithMe said:

No I don't miss the appropriation of Indian music. 

well it not just Indian sis and how is Shakira and Zayn appropriation when it literally they culture? 

[Bacardo Royale]

6 hours ago, Bloodflowers. said:

Lil Nas X - Call Me By Your Name 

That was a classic 

[Reginald]

 

 

[getinthezone]

3 hours ago, Luckitty said:

y'all should listen to actual middle eastern music, it's superior 

No 

[Skinny]

now how can this not be linked?
 

 

[MadOnHer]

9 hours ago, JoeAg said:

yes

[Inverted]

On 2/15/2023 at 10:41 PM, Aren said:

It seems to have been kinda common in the early/mid 2000s.

 

 

 

 

On 2/15/2023 at 10:55 PM, Subzero said:

Yes

 

 

 

On 2/15/2023 at 10:57 PM, KLatz said:

Yes, that era produced such bops!

 

 

We've had moments of it here and there over the years, but we need a lil comeback era of sorts

 

On 2/15/2023 at 11:17 PM, Icarus said:

Yes

 

 

 

On 2/15/2023 at 11:40 PM, Miss Show Business said:

This is 90s, but same concept... Always thought this was such a bop  the whole Head over Heels album is criminally underrated, and should've been a bigger success.

 

 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 12:16 AM, Oktober Knight said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 12:20 AM, FightDragonsWithMe said:

No I don't miss the appropriation of Indian music. 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 1:04 AM, Quiqui4eva said:

Came here to praise this

 

On 2/16/2023 at 2:30 AM, mylicious said:

 

yes!

 

On 2/16/2023 at 7:11 AM, OnlyRealMusic. said:

Taste! All of these sound so good today still!

 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 7:26 AM, Pristine said:

well it not just Indian sis and how is Shakira and Zayn appropriation when it literally they culture? 

Embarrassing. 

 

India is not in the Middle East. It's a South Asian country. Zayn Malik's father is of Pakistani origin. Pakistan is also a South Asian country.

 

1) Beyonce's "Baby Boy" is definitely not Middle Eastern. It sounds Indo-Caribbean (Carribean music influenced by Indian/South Asian sounds and so is the food as a significant amount of the population in the non-Hispanic Caribbean is of South Asian origins). The only thing that sounds ME in the video is the added dance break (obviously because they thought India is in the Middle East). 

 

2) Paula Abdul's "My Love Is For Real" is a hodge podge of Oriental/Asian themes, but the only thing ME/NA (Middle Eastern/North African) about the song is the guest vocals from the Israeli singer and the theme of the music video, which was filmed in Morocco . The intro music, including the sitar, is clearly Indian/South Asian.

 

3) Hilary Duff's "Stranger" is just a basic pop song, but the music at the end of the song is clearly Bhangra music (just like Missy Elliott's "Great Your Freak On" and the Rishi Rich remix of Britney's "Me Against the Music.") Bhangra is a Punjabi music genre. That's South Asian. Doesn't sound Middle Eastern at all. But for some reason she's dancing like a belly dancer like some Mediterranean (Middle Eastern/North African/Greek/Turkish) woman in the video.  

 

4) Madonna's whole Ray of Light album was inspired by Indian spirituality (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc). The album art literally has Madonna doing yoga (something very Indian) and wearing Indian jewelry. There's literally a song called "Shanti Ashtangi" where she chants in Sanskrit. If these aren't indicators what part of the world it was influenced by, I don't know what would help you.  

 

5) Christina Milian's "Dip It Low" is not Middle Eastern. It's also a mix of themes, but mainly Chinese.

 

The other examples are just straight up clearly Indian/South Asian. Like how can anyone think they sound Mediterranean/Middle Eastern.  

 

 

[TheGreatestX]

 

[Roman Holiday]

Yes, cultural appropriation is a good thing and we should say it 

[Subzero]

45 minutes ago, Inverted said:

3) Hilary Duff's "Stranger" is just a basic pop song, but the music at the end of the song is clearly Bhangra music (just like Missy Elliott's "Great Your Freak On" and the Rishi Rich remix of Britney's "Me Against the Music.") Bhangra is a Punjabi music genre. That's South Asian. Doesn't sound Middle Eastern at all. But for some reason she's dancing like a belly dancer like some Mediterranean (Middle Eastern/North African/Greek/Turkish) woman in the video. 

I see, my bad. I'm no expert on the Middle Eastern sound (not sure I know the much of difference between Middle Eastern and South Asian sounds as I haven't been too exposed to it, that's on me) so I was going based off the music video, which really came off as Middle Eastern inspired (as you yourself even said) so I assumed that it was intentional to match with the music, that was my wrong assumption. I'm not as educated on it and I wasn't intending to be offensive or anything, so my apologies

 

Genuinely asking though, is PCD's Buttons actually Middle Eastern influenced in sound then? I've seen others say it is and am curious if that's the case

[Inverted]

7 minutes ago, Subzero said:

Genuinely asking though, is PCD's Buttons actually Middle Eastern influenced in sound then? I've seen others say it is and am curious if that's the case

Definitely. FYI you'll hear tons of modern South Asian songs with a MENA sound (and the other way around), but it's because of sampling, copying, etc. It's just like how you'll hear rap/hip hop/R&B everywhere in the world even though it's actually of black American origin.

 

Here's Middle Eastern-inspired western pop songs:

 

1) Timbaland plagiarized the whole song from an Arab pop song:

 

 

2) Remake of an American pop song that was a remake of a Turkish song:

 

 

And a few more:

 

 

 

 

And there are some songs that combine music from different parts of the world whether it's intentional or not like the Paula Abdul song posted above. The intro music in "Bad Girls" sounds South Asian here (like MIA herself who's of Sri Lankan origin), but the loop throughout the rest of the song sounds MENA and the theme of the video is clearly ME:

 

 

 

[PopThatCorn]

1 hour ago, Inverted said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embarrassing. 

 

India is not in the Middle East. It's a South Asian country. Zayn Malik's father is of Pakistani origin. Pakistan is also a South Asian country.

 

1) Beyonce's "Baby Boy" is definitely not Middle Eastern. It sounds Indo-Caribbean (Carribean music influenced by Indian/South Asian sounds and so is the food as a significant amount of the population in the non-Hispanic Caribbean is of South Asian origins). The only thing that sounds ME in the video is the added dance break (obviously because they thought India is in the Middle East). 

 

2) Paula Abdul's "My Love Is For Real" is a hodge podge of Oriental/Asian themes, but the only thing ME/NA (Middle Eastern/North African) about the song is the guest vocals from the Israeli singer and the theme of the music video, which was filmed in Morocco . The intro music, including the sitar, is clearly Indian/South Asian.

 

3) Hilary Duff's "Stranger" is just a basic pop song, but the music at the end of the song is clearly Bhangra music (just like Missy Elliott's "Great Your Freak On" and the Rishi Rich remix of Britney's "Me Against the Music.") Bhangra is a Punjabi music genre. That's South Asian. Doesn't sound Middle Eastern at all. But for some reason she's dancing like a belly dancer like some Mediterranean (Middle Eastern/North African/Greek/Turkish) woman in the video.  

 

4) Madonna's whole Ray of Light album was inspired by Indian spirituality (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc). The album art literally has Madonna doing yoga (something very Indian) and wearing Indian jewelry. There's literally a song called "Shanti Ashtangi" where she chants in Sanskrit. If these aren't indicators what part of the world it was influenced by, I don't know what would help you.  

 

5) Christina Milian's "Dip It Low" is not Middle Eastern. It's also a mix of themes, but mainly Chinese.

 

The other examples are just straight up clearly Indian/South Asian. Like how can anyone think they sound Mediterranean/Middle Eastern.  

 

 

This happens every time a thread is made regarding this subject. I was already prepared and expecting all the examples to be songs inspired by Indian music or just be straight up typical pop songs that bear no resemblance to Middle Eastern music. 

[Inverted]

Just now, PopThatCorn said:

This happens every time a thread is made regarding this subject. I was already prepared and expecting all the examples to be songs inspired by Indian music or just be straight up typical pop songs that bear no resemblance to Middle Eastern music. 

I've noticed this too. And forget music. They even cast Indians/South Asians as Middle Eastern people in movies and TV shows. Remember Naveen Andrews in Lost? And people think it's real. 

 

Iraqi in real life:

 

 

 

Iraqi on Lost:

 

 

 

 

[Subzero]

15 hours ago, Inverted said:

Definitely. FYI you'll hear tons of modern South Asian songs with a MENA sound (and the other way around), but it's because of sampling, copying, etc. It's just like how you'll hear rap/hip hop/R&B everywhere in the world even though it's actually of black American origin.

 

Here's Middle Eastern-inspired western pop songs:

 

1) Timbaland plagiarized the whole song from an Arab pop song:

 

 

2) Remake of an American pop song that was a remake of a Turkish song:

 

 

And a few more:

 

 

 

 

And there are some songs that combine music from different parts of the world whether it's intentional or not like the Paula Abdul song posted above. The intro music in "Bad Girls" sounds South Asian here (like MIA herself who's of Sri Lankan origin), but the loop throughout the rest of the song sounds MENA and the theme of the video is clearly ME:

 

 

 

Ah okay so it is, good to know, I wasn't sure. Oh that's pretty cool, I know most if not all of these songs already and didn't even associate a lot of them to having middle eastern sound or influences. Especially Aaliyah, I've listened to that song for so many years and never would have known. Appreciate you showing me the differences and all the examples! 

[Kiel D-01]

On 2/16/2023 at 5:16 AM, Oktober Knight said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you joking or this is just ignorance? Because Indian music is NOT Middle Eastern music.  

[Broken]

The IGNORANCE in this thread .