Big Blog II: Music of the Romani People
Who are the Romani people? You might know them by another name. They’re sometimes referred to… as a word that rhymes with “tipsy” and starts with a ‘g’. It’s the name of a Fleetwood Mac song. And a Shakira song. I don’t want to type it because there’s a large debate going around over whether or not that word is a derogatory term due to its association with centuries of mistreatment and discrimination. I’ve heard some Romani people say that it is and some say that it isn’t. Either way, I’m not Romani, so I’ll refrain from using it. Anyways, the Romani (or Romany, Rromani, or Roma) people are a traditionally migratory group that likely originally hail from northern India. (It’s important to note that their migratory nature was not of choice, but rather as a result of constant persecution.) The agreement that their origin is northern India is based on genetic and linguistic research, as the history of the Romani people was never documented. Today, they’re mostly settled and predominan...