# Did you know that 90% of the world is made up of Africa and South America? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347 "2003-07-18T07:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/1 "2003-07-18T07:51:29Z")
And that about two thirds of South America is made up of Cuba? Well, that is what you would assume from listening to any “world music program”. I am so sick of any “world music” bit on NPR, or anywhere! 90% of the “world music” is always some African beats, or funky South American rhythms. Never do you here anything from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia or Oceana. No. It is always freaking Africa and South America. I am tired of it and would like to hear some real world music please. And if I here another God-damned mention of the Buena Vista Social Club I am going to smash my radio to bits ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/2 "2003-07-18T07:55:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\* Never do you here anything from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia or Oceana. \*\* I get a cable channel that shows Middle-Eastern music videos. Man, do they SUCK! The visual effects would have seemed dated in the '70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/3 "2003-07-18T07:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*I get a cable channel that shows Middle-Eastern music videos. > > Man, do they SUCK! The visual effects would have seemed dated in the '70’s. \*\* I too watch TV-Orient every now and again. For all the money that is floating around the Middle East, you’d think they would sink a tad into production value… ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/4 "2003-07-18T08:06:39Z")
Too busy spending it on WMDs… ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/5 "2003-07-18T10:40:03Z")
Don’t you think European and North American music gets enough exposure already? And plenty of Asian music is broadcast in services tailored at specifically Asian markets. World music is often just the collection of whatever’s left over. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/6 "2003-07-18T10:48:50Z")
What **refusal** said. Plus, it may just be your station, I know some world music programs include music from Asia, Oceania, and Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/7 "2003-07-18T13:20:09Z")
I think **Muad** missed a good rant. The reason Africa and South America get so much airplay is because they have vibrant and very productive musical scenes. Also, owing to the quality of the product, there is great demand the given product. My beef is with the utterly meaningless and condescending label “World Music”. Yes! Let’s lump all these _completely_ unrelated genres into one big pot because, well, because it’s not in English. ---
**Author:** ![swami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@swami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swami)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/8 "2003-07-18T13:28:41Z")
Well, you do know that Africa is fucking big? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/9 "2003-07-18T13:51:39Z")
NPR Rant Snipped Man, I love NPR. They’re frequently hilarious, although they don’t mean to be. Especially “All Things Considered”. Sure, sometimes, they have decent short bits by writers between their stories, but they’re usualy self-congratulatory crap. It’s amazing how every single one of those writers came from a poor immigrant family that had a grandmother that was a font of wisdom, a father that was overly strict, and Christmas Eves that would make Dickens choke on the saccharine. Still, thier bumper music is the best part. Toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-TOOT! That music is so damned pretentious (or at least, attempts to be pretentious) that it makes me think of the theme song Charles Emerson Winchester III would have had, had Hawkeye and BJ been the ones to write it… -Joe ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/10 "2003-07-18T14:43:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*And that about two thirds of South America is made up of Cuba? > \*\* I would say that 1. Cuba is not in South America, it is in the Caribbean, and 2. Yes 90% percent of the world, my world at least, is taken up by Cuba. You got a problem with that? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/11 "2003-07-18T16:06:29Z")
May I make a point? I’ve never particularly cared for “world music”. I know YOU’VE heard Buena Vista Social Club 10 billion times. But some of us are just now attempting to broaden our pitifully narrow horizons. It’s like…“Oh, never heard rock music before? Well, you might like this one band from Liverpool that was big in the 60s that they play on NPR every now and then…” ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/12 "2003-07-18T16:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > **I would say that 1. Cuba is not in South America, it is in the Caribbean** Yes, I think the OP is well aware of that. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/13 "2003-07-18T20:19:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > Never do you here anything from Europe, Russia… \*\* Olaf!! Berzerker!! ---
**Author:** ![Berserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Berserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berserker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/14 "2003-07-19T01:03:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Olaf!! Berzerker!! My love for you is like a truck… ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/15 "2003-07-19T03:16:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I get a cable channel that shows Middle-Eastern music videos. Heh, you need a _cable_ channel to watch these? Every sunday morning my TV is flooded with channels showing this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/16 "2003-07-19T03:18:53Z")
Oh, those Middle Eastern music videos…topped only by the Pakistani music videos! I don’t get ANY of those around here, alas, and I miss them! I only get the really, REALLY scary TV preachers. The ones who make Jack Chick look positively mainstream. And Buena Vista Social Club is probably getting a lot of extra airplay right now since one of its members just died. So deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/17 "2003-07-19T03:20:39Z")
You have to take in to consideration that most music around the world really sucks. Have you ever heard Israeli disco? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/18 "2003-07-19T03:26:23Z")
I don’t know, I have heard music from all over the place on NPR’s World Music bit. Two recent ones I remember off the top of my head were a trio of wacked out French rappers and an Israeli musician who was working with a Palestinian singer. P.S. I loooove Indian music videos! ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/19 "2003-07-19T05:14:33Z")
I just listened to NPR yesterday, on “Studio 360.” They were discussing Bhangara (sp?) music from the Panjabis of Northern India and Pakistan. Maybe you aren’t listening at the right times. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Apoptosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Apoptosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apoptosis)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347/20 "2003-07-19T06:52:19Z")
> [@](#): > > My love for you is like a truck… …Berserker! Would you like some making fuck?.. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-90-of-the-world-is-made-up-of-africa-and-south-america/189347.md?page=2)