Some bands have an incredibly broad set of musical genres. Ozomatli is certainly one of those bands. The Los Angeles-based group, which has been named a U.S. Department of State Cultural Ambassador, has written songs belonging to a variety of musical genres: hip hop, salsa, cumbia, samba, funk, merengue, Jamaican ragga and others. Many of the genres are Latin genres, which has become increasingly popular in the United States.

The song Can’t Stop models the type of Latin music that you often hear on American radio stations. The song has influences of both salsa and rock, and combines rhythms from the two genres. With a special touch of Latin vibe, it’s hard to listen to the song and not want to dance along. And once you start dancing, you simply Can’t Stop, as the song title indicates. The song title applies both to the powerful rhythm of the song as well as the message of the song itself. Ozomatli wants listeners to know that we need to believe in the power of love and think positively about the future. In other words, we can’t stop believing and should not look back. The future is ahead of us.

Lyrics and Classroom Activities
Do you want to use this song in your classroom? Here are the lyrics and classroom activities to get started.

In Simple Down, California-based artist Lael Neale uses guitars and the banjo to sing about living a simpler life. Many of us have probably at some point in our lives desired a simpler life, in which we give importance only to the things in life with a deeper meaning.  For the singer, who started playing her guitar at the age of 12, these include things such as love, nature and a life without excess.

The origins of folk music are related to a genre of music in which songs are made by the common people and for the common people. Each country has its specific varieties of folk songs, which are closely linked to the local culture. Folk artists from different cultures and backgrounds will use local instruments in their songs and sing about topics that people from their culture will be able to relate to. However, folk music has a common core, no matter where it is played: it is music that we can all relate to one way or another. The lyrics of folk songs tend to be simple and real-life to most of us.

The Texas-based bluegrass-folk group Austin Lounge Lizards defines themselves as “the most laughable band in showbusiness”. The group uses humor in their songs in order to discuss various social and political topics such as love, politics, health care and religion. In their song Hey, Little Minivan, the group has decided to talk about a different topic: the passing of time and of our young years, and the new responsibilities that come with having a family. Despite the upbeat rhythm of the song, the lyrics indicate a certain feeling of nostalgia on the part of the singer and the fact that he is no longer young and fancy free. Many things have changed and the singer has now a different lifestyle, with its own advantages and disadvantages. In any case, his little minivan is now an integral part of this new life, and the fast muscle car is a thing of his past.

Kermit Ruffins, a jazz musician from New Orleans, Louisiana has decided in this song to sing about the grandiosity of his native city. Sometimes we simply love a certain place and all the things associated with it. This is how Kermit Ruffins feels about New Orleans. In this song, we can listen to Ruffins sing in his low-pitched, jazzy voice about how much he and other people love New Orleans, which is considered the birthplace of jazz music.

Ruffins not only sings about the greatness of the city itself, but also about its swinging atmosphere and the great people who are part of it. This song is a clear example of jazz music, a musical genre native to the USA and which combines African and European influences. As a special bonus, we can listen to Ruffins perform some nice scat, which involves singing nonsense syllables in a way that imitates a musical instrument. Scat singing is a very typical characteristic of jazz music.