(guest blogged by Howie Klein.)The first time I heard Israeli-Yemenite singer Ofra Haza she was just as a sample on "Paid in Full" by Eric B & Rakim. Eric B's song was really good but we rushed out to sign the sample. Ofra had already released a dozen albums in Israel, mostly children's songs, but "Im Nin-Alu," (the one the sample was taken from) busted her career wide open everywhere in the world. She had a top 5 song all over Europe and even in the U.S., where songs in strange languages make most Americans reach for their guns, the song gave Ofra a big underground/hipster following. I loved working with her and her manager and was heartbroken when I found out that her husband, who died of a drug overdose, gave her a fatal case of AIDs. (cd contest below the fold)

Let's listen to "Im Nin-Alu" from Shaday and then do a contest. Easy contest: just send us a playlist of your three favorite songs that aren't in English and tell us why you think they should be on the radio. Send your list to downwithtyranny@aol.com and you might win the 2-disc deluxe legacy edition of Santana III, his groundbreaking 1971 album plus his final concert at the Fillmore West (which includes 9 previously unreleased songs).