And I mean hardcore Bible belt, patriotic, Bush-baby, “we love our soldiers” country music. Articles like this show blatant disregard for homegrown Ulithian music–music that’s sometimes on SoundCloud, and not on YouTube (and if it is, it’s sure as hell hard to find), iTunes, or C.D.s, but rather transmitted via flashdrive or bluetooth or thought of on the spot.Ĭountry music is very popular in Ulithi, for reasons I cannot fathom. This song was recorded by another woman my age, named Lita, and it’s amazing. The lyrics of these songs are in Ulithian, and the subjects range from difficulties with parents understanding their children’ lives, to local food getting spoiled because the girls didn’t reheat it…because they were drunk and flirting with boys (not sexist at all! 😑). There are lots of modern Ulithian songs, often recorded by members of the community on island (in our (typhoon-ravaged) elementary school, so I was told) or abroad in Guam or Hawaii, where a sizeable population of Asor people (Asorians?) live. Melton (left) and Kyle (my host-nephew) making music! Young men and boys on Asor learned to play it on the guitar, and blasted it from the one solid stereo system on the island, conveniently located in my family’s compound. I arrived in Ulithi in August 2014, eight months plus after DJ Tiesto came out with a club version of John Legend’s “All of Me.” Little did I know, the reggae version was still being played with raging popularity. There were Justin Beiber songs, for example, “Love Yourself,” that I did not realize was an actual song by anybody but Jahboy. I introduced my students to the original song “Hello” by Adele, and before, they had only heard the reggae version. That’s another thing: I started my service with one main stereo system in August 2014, and by July 2016, a solid third of the island had personal cell phones (but no phone service), tablets (but no 4G), KindleFires (but no wifi), and portable speakers (yes, to bluetooth, flashdrives, and memory cards!). Every now and then, there were hits like “All About that Bass” that were not covered, and the original played from portable speakers everywhere. DJ Noiz, along with other reggae cover artists, local bands, and country music, were the predominant music groups on Asor. None of his music is original, it is all covers ( this one was played on repeat on Asor (it’s a cover of another reggae song) and this one is my favorite).
Which brings me to DJ Noiz, or rather, D-d-d-d-DJ Noiz Noiz Noiz, as this is how he introduces himself in all of his music.
Traditional Yapese grass skirt (that Nina made!) with colored hibiscus and natural banana leaves for Yap Day, 2016
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