The music of
Papua New Guinea
has a long history.
Traditional music
[
edit
]
After independence, the outside world knew little of the diverse peoples' traditional music genres. The first commercial release to see an international audience did not occur until 1991, when percussionist
Mickey Hart
's
Voices of the Rainforest
was released.
After 1872, foreigners introduced
Christian
hymns
, including
Gregorian chanting
.
Peroveta anedia
,
ute
and
taibubu
, all forms of
Polynesian music
, were also introduced in this period. The
Gold Rush
brought an influx of Australian miners who brought with them the
mouth organ
.
Traditional celebrations, which include song, dance, feasting and gift-giving, are called
sing-sing
. Vibrant and colorful costumes adorn the dancers, while a leader and a chorus sing a staggered approach to the same song, producing a
fugue
-like effect. 1993 saw television spreading across the country, and American popular music continued to affect Papuan music given the diffusion of radio since World War II. Since 1953, singsings have become competitive in nature, with contests occurring in
Port Moresby
,
Mt. Hagen
and
Goroka
. 1949 saw the first Papuan to achieve international fame,
Blasius To Una
, begin his career.
By the end of the 1970s, a local recording industry had appeared and artists such as
Sanguma
and later
George Telek
began mixing native and Western styles like rock and jazz.
Sing-sing photos and traditional instruments
[
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]
Below are pictures from Papua New Guinea and Papua Indonesia.
-
Tifa drummers, part of a tambur-flute ensemble. Such a group can include several tifa drummers, several flute players, and one leader of the line
-
Tifa drummer
-
Leader of the line of a suling tambur (flute drum) combination.
-
-
-
Tifa drum
-
Suling
(flute) player of the
Raja Ampat Islands
, off the western end of
New Guinea
.
-
-
A dance rattle from
East Sepik Province
in Papua New Guinea. Rattles like these may form part of traditional dress, tied to the ankles of people dancing in traditional ‘singsings’
-
Wooden pipes made of thin bamboo are used for music making and ceremonies.
New Ireland Province
.
Pop music
[
edit
]
By the beginning of the 20th century, Christian hymns,
work songs
and
gold rush
songs were popular, some in native languages and some in English or German. By the 1920s, recorded music had become popular and radio broadcasting of western
popular music
appeared by the late 1930s. A few years later, Allied soldiers and sailors during World War II popularized the guitar and
ukulele
while stationed in the
Philippines
and
Hawaii
.
String bands
became very popular by the early 1950s, and soon dominated the pop landscape. In the late 1960s, rock bands like the Kopikats had appeared in cities, while string bands like the Paramana Strangers had become well known internationally. This was followed by the importation of
bamboo bands
, a style of music from the
Solomon Islands
using bamboo tubes played by hitting them with sandals.
[1]
It first arrived in the area of
Madang
in the mid-1970s, and soon spread throughout the country.
Reggae music
[
edit
]
Anslom Nakikus
is a leading figure in Papua New Guinean
reggae
.
[2]
Hip hop/rap
[
edit
]
O-Shen
was one of the first to blend hip hop with reggae. The culture soon spread as many local underground talents surfaced, such as Naka Blood with their first hit "Pom Pom City" followed by "Time is Now". Another group surfaced later by the name of 3KiiNgZ, taking Papua New Guinea by storm with the hits "High Groove Theory", "Kanaka Walk", and "One Sound" (featuring Sprigga Mek from the hip hop collective Naka Blood.) Sprigga Mek of Naka Blood went solo and released "Sweet Mekeo", rapping in his local
Mekeo
dialect, and later released "Pasin Kanak;" this is now known as the unofficial national anthem of the Papua New Guinea
Kanakas
. Papua Gong Native with his Kanaka rhyming skills is one of the best-known local rappers rapping in
Motu
dialect. As the 21st century progressed, technology and influence from the outside world caused an exponential growth of recording artists and 'Pacific-style' music. Artists such as Wild Pack (Tasik Yard), Daniel Bilip, Ragga Siai, Tarvin Toune, Saii Kay and Tonton Malele began to create their own mixture of modern and traditional music sung in Tok Pidgin, English and local tribal languages. This style of music by these popular artists now dominate music scene in PNG.
Papua New Guinea musicians
[
edit
]
- Anslom Nakikus
- O-Shen
- Kande Dwayne
- Maltech Citizen Boyz
- Tasik Yard (Wild Pack)
- Ragga Siai
- Daniel Bilip
- Tarvin Toune
- Saii Kay
- Uralom Kania
- Sir Lister Serum
- Gedix Atege
- Archie Tarzy
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Feld, Steven (2000). "Bamboo Boogie-Woogie".
World Music (volume 2 Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)
. Vol. 2. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. pp. 183?188.
ISBN
1-85828-636-0
.
- ^
"PNG Talent to Perform in Honiara"
, Joanna Sireheti,
Solomon Times
, March 26, 2008
- Feld, Stephen.
"Bamboo Boogie-Woogie".
2000. In: Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.),
World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific
, pp 183?188. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
ISBN
1-85828-636-0
|
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