world beat
International fusion music
World beat is a genre of popular music that blends Western pop and rock with traditional music from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and other non-Western regions.
The term emerged in the 1980s as artists began incorporating indigenous instruments, rhythms, and vocal styles into accessible dance music.
World beat differs from traditional folk recordings in its explicit fusion with contemporary production techniques and song structures.
The DJ mixed world beat tracks into her set.
West African funk-jazz fusion
- reggaeJamaican offbeat music style
- bhangraPunjabi folk music and dance
- salsaSpicy tomato condiment
- flamencoRhythmic Spanish dance style
samba · Celtic · Balkan · Andean · Caribbean · Middle Eastern · highlife · zouk
Involving multiple societies
- blendedMixed into uniformity
- syncreticCombining disparate traditions
- hybridThing of mixed parentage
- multiculturalIncluding multiple ethnic traditions
eclectic · amalgamated · polyrhythmic · intercultural · Peter Gabriel · Paul Simon · Graceland · David Byrne
Hand-struck goblet drum
- tablaIndian paired hand drums
- didgeridooAustralian Aboriginal wind instrument
- sitarIndian plucked lute
- koraAfrican bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
balalaika · steel drum · kalimba · bouzouki · gamelan · oud · talking drum · panpipes
Afrobeat
West African funk-jazz fusion
flamenco · samba · Celtic · Balkan · Andean · Caribbean · Middle Eastern · highlife · zouk · cumbia
cross-cultural
Involving multiple societies
multicultural · eclectic · amalgamated · polyrhythmic · intercultural · Peter Gabriel · Paul Simon · Graceland · David Byrne · global village
djembe
Hand-struck goblet drum
- tablaIndian paired hand drums
- didgeridooAustralian Aboriginal wind instrument
- sitarIndian plucked lute
kora · balalaika · steel drum · kalimba · bouzouki · gamelan · oud · talking drum · panpipes · ukulele
- world musicAfrican music, Celtic music, Indian music, Brazilian music, reggae
- folk musicfolk, folk music, folk songs, folk ballads, folk ballad
- world mediaforeign films, news networks, dubbed films, news channels, subtitled films
- African MusicAfrobeat, highlife, afrobeat, Afro-pop, African rhythms
- Argentine musictango, milonga, folklore, cumbia, gato
world beatWestern
Of Euro-American civilization
Europop · British Invasion · Top 40 · arena rock · bubblegum pop
world beattraditional folk music
Regional heritage songs
ethnic music · indigenous music · roots music · classical music · field recordings
world beatmainstream
Dominant cultural current
mainstream pop · popular · Top 40 · chart music · radio-friendly
world, beat, worlds, worldly, worldliness, unworldly, otherworldly, beats, beaten