My Early Music Blogs

In 2021, I had the best internship with SRAS where I got to write about Central Asian pop music which was a passionate of mine when I was living there. I wanted to fully integrate into Uzbek society and frequently ate at restaurants where music videos played. Also, I wanted to be fluent in Uzbek and I learned in college that music is the best way for me to learn. I have hearing loss for chronic ear infections; during testing, I learned that my hearing is best when I listen to music. With my ambition to become fluent, I asked all my Uzbek friends to suggest music. I googled the artists, and I noticed that the Wikipedia pages and other English-language resources were limited. And then, I reminded PopKult by SRAS. Reading their articles helped me learn more about Uzbek music. After my Fulbright, I spent a month in Tajikistan and learned more about their pop scene. During 2020, I decided to learn Tajik and used music to enhance my fluency. When there was an opportunity for an internship with SRAS, I jumped on the chance to add my knowledge of Tajk and Uzbek music scene. Below are my pieces, spotlighting Tajik and Uzbek pop stars with the links.  

Feruza Jumaniyozova 

Farzona Khurshed 

Shabam Surayo 

Madina Aknazarova 

I am personally proud of my piece on Feruza Jumaniyozova because I synthesize my knowledge of music, politics, and language. This piece taught me that I could write about music.