Jazz - HipHop

Strange, but I thought that hip-hop used to be into jazz. I remember the group Jazzkantine. They're from Germany, and they fused jazz with hip-hop. That came up with some pretty cool stuff, which I must sadly say is not available in Malaysia. Does this justify downloading MP3's and file-sharing programs then? I would say that if the file downloading acts as a "teaser" and whets audience appetite, it would follow that demand for the music would increase around the globe. The problem is, music stores do not have the confidence to import obscure acts from other nations to be sold in a country with "conservative" music tastes... or, in the case of Malaysia, one with more "ethnic" tastes. Dangdut would succeed, but jazz would take a little more effort to make a dent on the music scene.

I'd like to buy albums from...

1. Roupa Nova - Brazilian
2. Jota Quest - Brazilian
3. Calegero - French
4. K-Maro - French
5. Jazzkantine - German

On the other hand, Malaysia's got some good homegrown stuff as well. In this category... for the singer-songwriter I admire but have never supported (yet)... I nominate Amir Yussof.

Music is universal. Just look at the video below. You don't need to understand the language or the lyrics for *that* song, do you?