I like to listen to music that has a great feel to it and in languages I do not speak or understand. That way I can enjoy it without the burden of terrible lyrics. ☺️

I have a few that I listen to a lot:

Amatz by Shanti Dope - Filipino rap

Mundian To Bach Ke by Punjabi MC - upbeat Bollywood style

Life on Mars by Seu Jorge - just him and a guitar

Update: I have created a Spotify playlist with the songs so far. I will continue to update the list as new songs get added. If you find your song on the list but meant a different version please DM me a link to the one you want. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5MpR8Tio1klnb85LLqimgX

Update: Thanks to all who have participated so far! The playlist is getting long and very eclectic. I am being introduced to what will soon become some of my favorite songs and styles. I will keep updating the playlist as new music is added.

Carina Burina O Fortuna

Ongaku by Yellow Magic Orchestra

La Rage by Keny Arkana

Two Steps From Hell - Never Give Up On Your Dreams

säkkijärven polkka

Slanias Song - Eluveitie

Nas Ne Dogoniat

Säkkijärven polkka mentioned before Ievan polkka?

A lot of Kino songs:

Группа Крови

Восьмиклассница

Место для шага вперёд

Перемен

As a younger millenial I can't help it – Gangnam Style was and still is great

Music from Sigor Ros comes to mind.

I don't speak Portuguese, but sometimes I get in a mood to listen to bassa nova. I like the rhythm.

Mas Que Nada - probably my go to. I listen to that enough to annoy people around me.

I also like Águas de Março, particularly Elis Regina's duet with Jobim.

Wolf Totem by The Hu

Mundian to Bach ke

I am going to make a playlist just from this thread, thank you all who have participated so far.

Lisa LeBlanc - self titled album, heard about her from the show Letterkenny, in French.

Seven Seconds by Youssou N'dour and Neneh Cherry (French and English)

• this was my first foray into "world music" in, like Grade 7.

Sadeness by Enigma (Latin and French)

Miserere by Arvo Pärt (Latin)

The Expanse by Clinton Shorter (Old Norse?)

Disappointment by Moon (Russian?)

Also, I lived in Korea when Gangnam Style dropped. It was magical at the outset, but now... well, hyperexposure is a real thing. But, good on Psy for his work.

German song "Redukt" by Einsturzende Neubauten

Yura Yura Teikoku, “YURA YURA TEIKOKU DE KANGAECHU”.

https://youtu.be/uhz-B2NJ4n8?si=IxkLGYiJ4jqt5Gql

kate ryan - desenschantee. (no idea how to spell it)

Lafee - prinzeschen

rammstein - du hast

Malagueña Salerosa by Chingon from Kill Bill

ETA:
+1 for Carmina Burana, and I’ll add Hall of the Mountain King, & Beethoven’s 9th for good measure!

Slack Bird - Tupakkarulla

Lewa lesu mai - classic Fijian song don't know who the original artist is

Also anything from Altin Gün

Please share the playlist

I was originally gonna say Sigur Ros but that's already been covered

My shout out goes to Niteworks then, who sadly did their farewell tour last year. One of my favourites:

https://youtu.be/GY7q1DjmsiE

I often take little exploratory searches for some of my favorite genres in foreign languages, though the ones I remember the most tend to split between English and the other language. Stuff like
Tomcraft and Sido

Metal
Band-maid

bloodywood

Just some incredible and fun music out there when you explore the world.

Dragostea din tei (română) from O-Zone
Heard it a lot when I was junger.

Quelqu'un m'a dit by Carla Bruni - https://youtu.be/EelX_LwPHbA

Numanumanei numanumanumanei

Midori - Aratamemashite Hajimemashite Midori Desu

Zuco 103 - Zabumba no Mar - Portuguese

Leningrad - Fish - Russian

Mohammed Rafi - Jaan Pehchan Ho - Hindi(?) (That song from the movie "Ghost World")

First that come to mind:

Afrobeat/pop : great Xhosa rap/singing by moonshine sanelly (English tracks too)

Prog rock: magma creates their own language

Pop: Jay Chou has great tracks in Mandarin

Punk rock: exists in most local languages

Jazz: Avishai Cohen has tracks in ladino.

Electro song: Omar Souleyman has a very interesting background and tracks a nice, sung in Arabic.

Industrial : einsturzende neubauten sings mostly German.

Neu Deutsch Harte : Rammstein is the most known example.

Electroacoustic : Gedalia tazartes, includes vocals of diverse origins

I don't speak any Irish, but I am obsessed with Kneecap at the moment. Some of their lyrics include English of course, some tracks are fully in Irish. Either way, they are great!

Ya Rayah by Rachid Taha

wikipedia page

Loved it on first listen and it made me a fan of Taha’s. It’s kinda Arabic pop rock but with traditional instrumentation.

If you like this, maybe checkout the album Diwan 2 afterwards.

Polca Mazurca - El Guincho

or really any of the songs on Alegranza

I've been a bit obsessed with one of Cleopatra's arias from Handel's Giulio Cesare, Se pietà di me non senti. She's bummed that she thinks her brother is going to have her killed.

Se pietà di me non senti
giusto ciel io morirò.

Tu da' pace a' miei tormenti
o quest'alma spirerò.

Just heaven, if you feel
no pity for me, I shall die.

I shall give up the ghost
if you do not pacify my torment

Baby Yetu, theme from Civilization 4, won a Grammy ( a first for a video game). It's the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

MOVITS! - Fel Del Av Gården

Panda Lux (Swiss German or rather German from Switzerland): https://youtu.be/oJrjzw7iYHQ

Not individual songs, but Kraftwerk and Rammstein come to mind.

Alien weaponry have a track called Kai Tengata that includes Maori vocals

Although I listen to quite a lot of music from countries where English is not the native language, most bands just sing in English anyway

Prédio - Apanhador Só

For metal - Utsu-P. He's a Vocaloid metal artist and his stuff absolutely slays.

Highlights: Pure White Poison, Sugarcoat of Love, Harakiri, Gorgon, and really anything he writes using Gumi.

Shared in the original message

La Forêt by Lescop

I believe the appropriate response is Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam. No but seriously. Band Maid, Die Antwoord, The Hu, all great bands that sing on different languages. Oh also The Warning.

El Derecho de Vivir en Paz by Victor Jara

Anything by Shin Jung Hyun, but especially Beautiful Rivers and Mountains and The Sun

The Pillows - because of FLCL

Ado, especially Elf

El Coo Cooi - Voodoo Glow Skulls

Liebeslied - KMFDM

[온스테이지2.0] 이날치 - 범 내려온다(with 앰비규어스 댄스컴퍼니)

Con Te Partirò - Andre Bocelli
遙か彼方 - ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
アイワナビー - Stance Punks
I Samma Bil - Bo Kaspers Orkester
A 67-Es Út - Republic
Papaoutai - Stromae