worldbeat
Cross-cultural pop blend
Worldbeat is popular music that blends Western rock or pop with traditional musical styles from Africa, Latin America, Asia, or other regions.
The term emerged in the 1980s as artists incorporated non-Western rhythms, instruments, and vocal styles into accessible formats: a worldbeat album mixing Senegalese drumming with electronic dance music.
Also called world music, though that term is broader.
West African funk-jazz fusion
- reggaeJamaican offbeat music style
- sambaAfro-Brazilian celebratory dance
- bhangraPunjabi folk music and dance
- cumbiaColombian folk dance genre
flamenco · zouk · calypso · klezmer · highlife · fado · bossa nova · merengue
Overlapping musical beat patterns
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
- percussionSound through impact
- claveLatin music's rhythmic spine
drumming · pulse · cross-rhythm · backbeat · meter · tempo · cadence · ostinato
Following long-held customs
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- folkRegular common people
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- ceremonialRelating to formal rites
ancestral · roots · diaspora · ethnomusicology · oral tradition · regional · village · community
Relating to entire world
- multiculturalIncluding multiple ethnic traditions
- cross-culturalInvolving multiple societies
- blendedMixed into uniformity
- hybridThing of mixed parentage
eclectic · diverse · Peter Gabriel · Paul Simon · Graceland · collaboration · synthesis · transnational
Hand-struck goblet drum
- tablaIndian paired hand drums
- sitarIndian plucked lute
- didgeridooAustralian Aboriginal wind instrument
- koraAfrican bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
steel drum · bouzouki · oud · gamelan · talking drum · congas · bongos · kalimba
Afrobeat
West African funk-jazz fusion
- reggaeJamaican offbeat music style
- sambaAfro-Brazilian celebratory dance
- bhangraPunjabi folk music and dance
cumbia · flamenco · zouk · calypso · klezmer · highlife · fado · bossa nova · merengue · ska
polyrhythm
Overlapping musical beat patterns
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
- percussionSound through impact
clave · drumming · pulse · cross-rhythm · backbeat · meter · tempo · cadence · ostinato · swing
traditional
Following long-held customs
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- folkRegular common people
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
ceremonial · ancestral · roots · diaspora · ethnomusicology · oral tradition · regional · village · community · celebration
global
Relating to entire world
- multiculturalIncluding multiple ethnic traditions
- cross-culturalInvolving multiple societies
- blendedMixed into uniformity
hybrid · eclectic · diverse · Peter Gabriel · Paul Simon · Graceland · collaboration · synthesis · transnational · intercultural
djembe
Hand-struck goblet drum
- tablaIndian paired hand drums
- sitarIndian plucked lute
- didgeridooAustralian Aboriginal wind instrument
kora · steel drum · bouzouki · oud · gamelan · talking drum · congas · bongos · kalimba · cajón
worldbeattraditional folk music
Regional heritage songs
roots music · indigenous music · field recordings · ceremonial music
beat, world, worldwide, worldly, otherworldly, underworld, unworldly