Global .Wav | Our Lady of Rita

January 12th, 2011

by Fatima Al Qadiri

This Snooki-like Iraqi singer, Rita Al Turk, is giving signals and outfit changes from Baghdad that cannot be ignored. First off, her song is called “I Don’t Wanna Love You,” which instantly reminded me of the earnestness of country-western song titles.

Also, I did find a song called “I Don’t Want to Love You, (But I Do)”—Ewww!—by “Kelly Willis,” some crap country crooner whose being is vastly inferior to our lady of Rita.

See video and read more after the jump

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Trustafarian Eurodance

Germany, 1994 – Der Berg Ruft (The Mountain Calls…) by German band K2 is one of those videos that provokes discussion about cultural appropriation vs. cultural homage. Several factors contribute to the existence of this epileptic video: the rise of Alpine folk dance music bands like Edelweiss (from Austria) who sampled yodeling, dressed up in lederhosen and generally pioneered the fusion of the Middle European ethnic look with club attire. Included in the above is… [read more »]

December 16th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Grand Dame of Dangdut

Indonesia, 2007? – Uut Permatasari is the grand dame of dangdut (also known as dangdut disco), a popular genre of dance music in Indonesia that has been the rage for a number of years. In fact, just saying her first name makes me feel faint. Her legendary dance moves, like twirling one leg over the knee while spinning full circle, are bold additions to the œuvre of music video choreography. “Mabuk Janda,” a folk song… [read more »]

December 7th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Oh God, Why

Romania, 2010 – There are few women out there who believe with all of their might that they’re capable of singing like a legendary R&B chanteuse. Catalina Toma from Romania is one of these people. Her song, “Why…My Lord,” is highly problematic and a contender for “Sluttiest Christian Pop Video of the Year Award”. But then again, where does it say in The Bible that you can’t sing about God while flirtatiously exposing your tramp… [read more »]

November 16th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Sexy Flexxy’s Kenyan Cruise

Kenya, 2006 – There’s a Gangsta Rap Video formula sheet floating around America somewhere, dictating the ratio of bikinis to bling, to cash money, and the like. Over the years, a mass of generic rap videos filtered down from said formula can be found in every corner of the world, creating a cringe-worthy buildup of the highest order: A cacophany of ass-exposing hoes and flashy cars, from Warsaw to the West Bank. This global “G”… [read more »]

November 2nd, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Snooki Does Morocco

Morocco. 2008? – The Jersey Shore‘s Snooki has a doppelganger in Morocco, who once sang in a disused, 3-star beach resort. The song lyrics are too much: “Before you cry, I changed my phone number, you don’t deserve me…I’ll stay living alone and it’s OK.” Damn girl! Moroccan Snooki is so wise, juicy and sassy, just like her Jersey counterpart. Her man, Chab Regga, clad in Armani Exchange resort collection, swears to her, “The girl… [read more »]

October 19th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | More Deep

Japan, 1991-1993 – More Deep, without irony, is the best band name ever conceived. Better yet, they describe themselves as a “dance and sound unit”. Their song “Nail,” wholly inspired by Malcolm McLaren’s “Deep in Vogue,” is the reason behind the wise choice of band name, since “Deep in Vogue” is clearly not Deep enough! How is that possible, you ask? Just watch until the ring leader starts singing, then switch off. [Editor’s Note: DO… [read more »]

September 21st, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Congolese Cheese Pleeze

The Congo (formerly Zaire), 2008 (?) – Today’s entry is about the arranged marriage of disparate styles and the intense randomness that springs forth from such unimagined couplings. Koffi Olomide’s songs are a cheesy Congolese staple. In fact, you don’t need to see more than 60 seconds of this video to know that nothing about him stands out, except for his genius styling choices: think of early-’90s TLC videos, all of the shitty fur and… [read more »]

September 2nd, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | Action > Dance > Hype > Party

Global .Wav contributor Fatima Al Qadiri is presently on a global tour of leisure, but she didn’t forget to send us a dispatch straight from her WiFi at Lake Como this week. We can’t wait to see what she’s found for us when she returns! – Editors Germany, 1995 – In 1995 the seminal film Hackers was unleashed onto the general public. In Germany that same year, the über-cheesy techno ensemble, Das Modul, launched their… [read more »]

August 13th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Global .Wav

Global .Wav | MNKYBZNSS

Morocco, 2008 – How do Aarbaoui Miloudi and Nabila make their video stand out from the rest of the Rai? With images of girls with guns, frolicking penguins, tourist board of Morocco backgrounds, MNKYBZNSS and a lot of other really weird shit. The future of art direction in Arab music videos has finally arrived.

July 30th, 2010

by Fatima Al Qadiri