When I listen to the radio station in my parents’ cars, most of the time it’s tuned to Z104.3, Baltimore’s Top 40 pop station (106.5 on occasion in my dad’s car because he has a little bit more uncool to him). What I’ve noticed, but expected, is the lack of non-English music played on the radio. Like I said, this isn’t unexpected at all. We might hear an occasional Spanish word in any song featuring Pitbull (which is probably at least more than half of the songs, so I guess we might be getting somewhere #TeamMr.Worldwide) or any crossover Latin pop artists, but even then, most of the music we hear on the radio is in English. A lot of my friends don’t even listen to the radio, yet often find themselves in the same spot as those who stream the Billboard charts quite frequently: everything they listen to is in English! You’re probably reading this thinking “Why do they even care so much about this whole music in other languages thing?” The world is becoming more and more Americanized each day, and unfortunately, that can sometimes mean we diminish other country’s musical identity. Can’t we break out of our comfy English-speaking shells? Here are some awesome artists to get you started on branching out into embracing other culture’s music.

Stromae

While a few of the artists on this list are relatively low-key independent artists in their respective home countries and abroad, Paul Van Haver aka Stromae is no stranger to success in his native Belgium and across the French-speaking world. Known for his eclectic blend of Afropop style, spitfire rap and puro Eurodance, Stromae’s music is essentially a universal dance musician. Stromae’s most popular song, “Papaoutai”, was released in 2013 and still shines. I’ve even committed myself to learning the rap in it as I advance in French 3 (probably won’t happen, but a girl can dream). While I’m out here trying to figure out how to string together “Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables?” you should also be listening to the aforementioned “Papaoutai” and the extra-dancey “Alors On Danse” (There’s a Kanye remix too!)

Zion.T

Triple threat Kim Haesol (record producer, singer-songwriter, and rapper) is better known as Zion.T and also the Korean Drake. Are we still calling people who can sing AND rap Drakes? I guess we are because I have half of this guy’s singles on my “sad” Spotify playlist. Zion.T is known for this smart blend of vintage funk, cool beats, and soul, and has been hailed by the Korean indie scene and the larger public as the crown prince of RnB in South Korea. Some of best songs include “Yanghwa BRDG” and “Babay”.

Boogarins

I only speak positivity for Boogarins. This psych rock band a la Tame Impala and Foxygen hails from Goiânia, in the Central-Western Region of Brazil. I happened to discover them sometime in the summer of 2014 in my futile attempts to pick up Portuguese (for reasons…). In that time, I discovered a bevy of chic Brazilian mainstream pop artists, but Boogarins, by far, had the coolest vibe to them. This isn’t any “The Girl from Ipanema” cover band. Gallons of fuzz and buzz were dumped onto their debut record alongside bossa nova groove, As Plantas Que Curam (apparently loosely translated to “Plants That Heal”) to create an alterna-tropical masterpiece. They also recently released a new album in 2015 called Manual. Check out “Lucifernandis” and “Avalanche”.

Kinoko Teikoku

Kinoko Teikoku (きのこ帝国 in Japanese characters) literally means Mushroom Empire in English. In a way, it’s a fitting name to describe Chiaki Sato and co’s brand of dreampoppy shoegaze. Their cloudy post-rock is contrasted by the floaty vocals of Sato. Kinoko Teikoku is one of the many J-indie groups I came across getting caught in the deep web of Youtube, alongside girl bands Tricot and Akai Koen (that y’all should listen to for extra credit!). Kinoko Teikoku makes music in the vein of Lush and My Bloody Valentine with pop-esque sensibility. Sato herself is also a popular drama actor (Actor and musician- have we another Drake?). This indie group is a bit harder to find, but “Umi to Hatanaba (海と花束)” and “Sakura Ga Saku Mae Ni (桜が咲く前に)” are two songs worth searching for.

Yasmine Hamdan

39 year old Yasmine Hamdan is a veteran and pioneer in her own right. Hailing from Beirut, Lebanon (a place that has never been that noteworthy for their music scene), Hamdan gained critical acclaim for starting the revolutionary Soapkills, an underground electropop/trip hop duo. Soapkills became one of the forebears of electronic music in the Middle East. In 2013, Hamdan decided to drop her first solo record, Ya Nass. I don’t know a lick of Arabic, but her genius blending of traditional Arabic folk, indie pop, and electronica music is universally appealing. Hamdan was even featured in a cameo in super-kitsch Jim Jarmusch vampire film, Only Lovers Left Alive as a dreamy Lebanese club singer. So, in essence, herself. Off of Ya Nass, “Deny” is a foot stomping acoustic piece and “Shouei” is a twinkly fun track.

Embracing the musical cultures of the world can do nothing but enrich your awareness of places other than Harford County, Maryland. Expand your musical horizons, Bobcats!