Music

On this page you can find all of my Spotify playlists for music from around the world, the story behind these playlists, and some of my favorite songs on them.

Regions

European Rap

This playlist is one of my favorites. It is a mix of rap songs from many of the following playlists as well as songs that don’t have a playlist. There are songs from Germany, Estonia, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and many other countries. It incorporates rap from all corners of Europe that all have a very similar upbeat feel. It will really make you want to go out on the town in Europe. Some of my favorites: Na jena njo (Ardian Bujupi, Dalool), Du Gør Det Godt (Basim, Johnson, HEDEGAARD), and Gebe Auf (Lune).

Latin America

I started this playlist right before I went to Costa Rica. About the first 10 songs were the soundtrack to my vacation. As I fell more in love with Latin culture and learned more Spanish the playlist grew. Now it is about 17 hours long and ranges in genres of Latin music. Some of my favorites on the playlist: Reggaeton Lento (CNCO), China (Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, J Blavin), and Una Vaina Loca (Fuego, Manuel Turizo, Duik).

Scandinavia/The Nordic States

This playlist has changed many names to become the one it is now. It started with one particular Norwegian song I heard while exploring the charts around the world. The song was called Raske Briller and it became the start of my love for Scandinavian music. This playlist includes the sounds of pop music in the Nordic States. There is some slow acoustic, upbeat electro-pop, and catchy rap. Some of my favorites: Raske Briller (Nicolay Ramm), Svag (Victor Leksell), and Stanna kvar (Oscar Ahlgren, Julia Lov).

Countries

Bulgaria

I am not quite sure how I got to listening to Bulgarian music. I don’t know a ton of Bulgarian songs, but enough to form a playlist. Bulgarian music has a fun Balkan mixed with European rap feel, which makes it really cool to listen to. You won’t ever hear anything like it. It a unique Eastern European sound. Some of my favorites: Nyamam Zabelezhka (Emanuela) and Красиви лъжи (Krisko, Galena).

France

I first started listening to French music before I went back to Germany and had my day trip to France. Francoton became one of my top genres on Spotify not long after. This playlist has constantly been evolving as I’ve explored more French pop. It has a lot of pop, but also a little bit of the French rap that is becoming really popular in the French speaking world. Don’t be turned away by the rap though. It also has a bit of more mellow cafe pop music. Some of my favorites: Oasis (Amir), En secret (GIMS, Vitaa), and Stop Là (Souf, Lyna Mahyem).

India

Desi music is a cool genre because most of the songs come from Bollywood movies. The music is so catchy! The songs have an original sound that stems from todays pop and South Asian sounds. This is probably one of the most unique genres I have come across. Plus I think it has one of the most beautiful languages to listen to in music. Some of my favorites: Shayad (Pritam, Arijit Singh), Makhna (Tanishk Bagchi, Yasser Desai, Asees Kaur), and Raabta (Pritam, Arijit Singh, Nikhita Gandhi).

Ireland

This is my “all things Irish” playlist. I have many Irish playlists, but this one is the blend of all of them. It has Irish trad, ballads, and pop songs. The ballads were my original Irish playlist, but I fell in love with trad in Ireland and so of course it needed to be added to the playlist. Then I thought about all the pop songs about Ireland like Galway Girl by Ed Sheeran and Zombie by the Cranberries and I knew those needed to be added to an Irish playlist also. Out of my semester abroad came my “all things Irish” playlist. Some of my favorites: The Galway Girl (Celtic Thunder), Make a Mark (Beoga, Ryan McMullan), and Echo (Talisk).

Italy

My love for Italian pop music started with the introduction to it by an Italian exchange student in high school. Let me tell you, Italian rap is so good!! Anyway, I began to explore more of the pop side of Italian music and created this playlist. It has a wide range of sounds. There are some Mediterranean sounds, but also European rap and rock as well as reggae sounds. Its a pretty unique type of pop music and I really enjoy it. Some of my favorites: Ringo Starr (Pinguini Tattici Nucleari), CHIAMAMI PER NOME (Francesca Michielin, Fedez), NUOVO RANGE (Rkomi, Sfera Ebbasta, Junior K).

Netherlands

Dutch pop… Hmm… I would rather not say the exact reason I started this playlist. Let’s just say that I started this playlist because I find Dutch men very attractive and I would like to have something to talk about if I were to run into a Dutch man. This may have been a silly reason to start listening to Dutch music, but the music is actually really good and I love it! It is kind of the best of European rap in my opinion. It is the perfect mix between rap and pop, which makes it so catchy. Some of my favorites: Smoorverliefd (Snelle), Vluchtstrook (Kris Kross Amsterdam, Antoon, Sigourney K), and Als Je Huilt (Gio).

Romania

I discovered Romanian music right before my spontaneous trip to Romania. I was so amazed by how good it was and I was surprised I hadn’t listened to it sooner! It actually is so good. It has a very original sound that I don’t know how to explain. It is almost like Reggaeton, but with a bit of Eastern European flavor. It has a lot of sounds that you would probably hear in traditional music incorporated into the pop music. Its super catchy and makes you want to dance! Some of my favorites: Anotimpuri (Andia, DJ Dark, Mentol), Johnny / Sanie cu zurgalai (Damian & Brothers, Alina Eremia), and Mi-E Dor (Andia, Andrian Funk, OliX).

Thailand

This Thai playlist is a bit shorter than all of the rest, but all of the songs on it are really good! I first heard Thai music as I was sitting in a salon in Chiang Mai getting my nails done. They had the music videos playing on a tv so I watched them as I listened. After that trip I tried to find all of the songs I listened to in that salon, but only ended up finding a few. I did find some other really good ones as I did this though and that was the birth of my Thai playlist. I can’t really choose any favorites, but the ones by VARINZ, Z TRIP, and Ponchet are really good!

Others to listen to

This playlist is a mix of some of my favorite songs from around the world. It has a fun beat and it makes me dream of traveling!

This playlist is a long playlist of music from around the world. It has many different genres and languages to listen to from K-pop to Bachata to R&B to African pop. It’s the playlist I use to keep track of all the different foreign music I hear.