Global Pop

From the Tibetan Buddhist and Native American influences in the music of Pauline Oliveros to the arresting blend of Jamaican dancehall, rap, and bhangra of Apache Indian, this groundbreaking work examines the rise of ‘world music’ and ‘world beat.’ Musicologist Timothy Taylor draws on a wide variety of sources, from popular culture, interviews, liner notes, the Internet and the music itself, charting a path through the issues surrounding contemporary world music. Included in this volume are detailed discussions of such musicians as the Kronos Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Youssou N’Dour, Peter Gabriel, Johnny Clegg, Angelique Kidjo, Sheila Chandra, Apache Indian, Zap Mama and a host of others. Exloring the dynamics behind such collaborations as Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Taylor addresses the effects that these collaborations have on the music itself with particular emphasis on musical authenticity and the expectations around it. In addition to looking at the ways western pop/rock appropriates music from other cultures, he also demonstrates how cross-cultural collaborations bring music and musicians from other cultures to a much wider audience.
Global Pop offers a fascinating and timely survey of popular music and its impact on contemporary culture along with our ways of looking at and living in the world.

Author Biography

Timothy D. Taylor is Assistant Professor of Music at Columbia University.