Popular Music of Solomon Island

During in the 1920s, bamboo music gained popularity in several countries. Bamboo music was created by hitting open-ended bamboo tubes of different sizes, initially with coconut husks. After the American soldiers introduced their sandals to the Solomon Islands, these substituted coconut husks during the early 1960s, just as the music started extending to Papua New Guinea.

source of picture: www.sziget.hu

By the 50s, Edwin Nanau Sitori composed the song known as Walkabout long Chinatown which became renowned all over the Pacific and has been known by the government as the unofficial national song of the Solomon Islands.

In the year 1969 and 1970, ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp recorded a series of indigenous songs which were produced on an LP in the year 1973, as part of the UNESCO Musical Sources collection. One of the songs, a cradlesong named Rorogwela, which was sung by Afunakwa, a Northern Malaita woman, and it was used as a choral sample in the year 1992 single Sweet Lullaby by the French electronica duo Deep Forest, which became the worldwide hit, but also cause some problem over perceived looting of the world music tradition by the western artists. Death Lullaby which was composed by Rorogwela was a lesser-known use of the song in the track. The musician (whose personality is not certain) clearly took the name from the sample utilized. As opposed by the Deep Forest’s track, Death Lullaby is a severe noise song with rudiments of Rorogwela utilized towards the end. The track emerged on Susan Lawly’s composing album, known as Extreme Music from Africa.

The words to Rorogwela interpret to: Young brother, young brother, be quite you are crying, but our father has left us He has gone to the place of the dead to guide the living, to guide the orphan child.

Current Solomon islander renowned music comprises different types of reggae and rock as well as something known as island music, a guitar and ukulele band arrangement influenced by Polynesian and Christian music.

Folk Melanesian choir singing includes heavily in the soundtrack of the film The Thin Red Line, which is set against the backdrop of the Battle for Guadalcanal.

There is Wantok Music Festival.

Onetox, Jah Boy, DMP, Devande, Thomas Frank, Peter Lui, Pascal Oritaimae, Fred Maedola, Solomon Dakei, Jim Baku and Sharzy were the Solomon islander artists.