Keeping Up With The Times
Mexican regional, Japanese hardcore, and a check-in with the Nigerian underground
A number of articles in the list this week could probably better be described as “trend reports” than “scene reports,” but I try not to be too picky if I feel like a journalist is shedding light on the happenings in a less-covered corner of the music world. So here we are, with pieces on rising African genres and retro-leaning Latin styles alongside more traditional histories of jazz in Lebanon and punk in Japan. Bandcamp takes a look at roots music in Zambia, Dazed investigates the muzzling of corridos tumbados in Mexico, and National Geographic comes in from left field with a well-photographed report on Brazil’s take on country.
The Album:
ZOUJ, Sabah Al Kheir Men زووج (Mixtape)
Somewhat of an unconventional album pick this week, since it is 1) not an album, and 2) not necessarily the work of a single artist, as each track has a different vocalist. The unifying figure is ZOUJ, aka Adam Abdelkader Lenox, a Germany-based producer with roots in Morocco, France, and the U.S. The songs on his Sabah Al Keir Men mixtape are the product of collaborations across the Middle East and Europe, including several artists that popped up in past articles featured here (e.g. Rita L’Oujdia, Elias). His songs showed up again this week in OkayAfrica’s coverage of Way-Way, a hyperpop-leaning take on traditional Algerian music that, like ZOUJ, I’m hoping to see more of in the future.
The Reports:
Jamal Khader, a prolific expert on country music across the world, is in Bandcamp Daily discussing how Zambian artists were adapting American roots music to local traditions long before Zamrock arrived on the scene.
Alex Deller at The Guardian uses several recent reissues of 80s-era Japanese punk as an opportunity to look back at hardcore’s history in one of the most conformist societies in the world.
Richard Villegas has taken on yet another dedicated column on trends in Latin music, this time for Mezcla. His first piece looks at the growing tendency for Hispanic artists to mix folk music styles and other hometown influences into their albums, with Bad Bunny’s now Grammy-winning DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS held up as one of the most visible examples of this shift.
Meanwhile, Oscar Adame Galeano is in Dazed discussing the traditionally-oriented and oft-sensored corridos tumbados, using ten tracks to plot the Mexican genre’s rise to global success in a walk-through that’s grounded in both academic theory and an intimate knowledge of the Mexican experience.
Alte may be mainstream now, may Nelson C.J. argues in OkayAfrica that the (somewhat loosely-defined) Nigerian underground is still providing the country’s music scene with fresh ideas.
Nelson C.J. in OkayAfrica again, this time with Tšeliso Monaheng in a different type of article in which the two writers look at the local African genres they expect will make an impact in 2026 (hint: there are probably more than you think).
Amelia Dhuga of Condé Nast Traveler walks us through the history of jazz in Lebanon and how the scene has continued to sustain itself through decades of war and conflict. (paywall)
Anyone who primarily associates Brazil with bossa nova or baile funk might be missing the bigger picture. Mac Margolis reveals in National Geographic that the country-adjacent sertanejo style has become the nation’s biggest genre in a ranch-to-radio cross-over that many in the U.S. may find familiar.
