Classroom lesson 路 Music馃嚥馃嚲 Malaysia

Malaysian pop music

Pop, rock and a special soulful style called 'irama Malaysia'

What is it?

Malaysia has a huge and lively pop-music scene. Songs are sung in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil - all of which are spoken in Malaysia - and there is a special soft, soulful style called 'irama Malaysia' that mixes pop with traditional Malay sounds.

Tell me more

Modern Malaysian pop sounds a lot like pop anywhere in the world - catchy choruses, drums, guitars and synths. But the lyrics often switch back and forth between Malay and English, sometimes in the same line. This mixing of languages is called 'bahasa rojak' (literally 'salad language') and is just how lots of Malaysians actually talk.

Some Malaysian singers have huge fans across all of South-East Asia. Singers like Yuna and Siti Nurhaliza have performed all over the world, and bands like Hujan have sold out big concerts. K-pop and Western pop are also enormously popular - lots of Malaysian children learn to dance to TikTok hits in the same way as kids everywhere else.

But there's a special homegrown style too. 'Irama Malaysia' means 'Malaysian rhythm'. It mixes modern pop with traditional Malay instruments like the rebana (a hand drum) and the gambus (a kind of lute). The result is gentle, dreamy songs that often tell stories about love, family and the country.

Malaysia has 'Anugerah Juara Lagu' (the AJL), one of the country's biggest music awards, a bit like a Malaysian Eurovision. Singers compete with brand-new songs in front of huge crowds. Whole families gather round the TV to cheer for their favourite, and the winners are talked about for months afterwards.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Have you ever heard a song that switched between two languages? What did that feel like?
  2. 02How do songs from another country end up being loved here? What helps a song travel?
  3. 03If you wrote a song about your school day, would you pick a fast one, a slow one, or something in between?
Try this

Classroom activity

As a class, write a short pop song chorus (4 lines) about your school. Pick a tune everyone knows. Choose one word in your chorus that everyone agrees to sing in a different language - someone might know it from home, or you can pick a Malay word to learn together.