I’m not sure how familiar the public is with current Romanian pop music, but damn, it is good. The lyrics flow seamlessly over the modern take on traditional folk beats. The slight accent (funny how most of these songs are in English) is perfect as well. Groups such as Activ, Akcent, DJ Project, and Morandi all produce fine pop music with a distinctive Romanian flavor.

“Dragostea Din Tei”, the 2004 hit by O-Zone made famous in the U.S. by the Numa Numa Dance, is written in Romanian, although the performers hail from Moldova. It’s not a bad example, but the genre has developed in the past four years.

Kiss FM, the main Top 40 Romanian radio station based in Bucharest, even has a live stream via Shoutcast.

Many American acts are popular in Romania, but native pop music still has a slight edge. Take for example Morandi. Morandi’s latest song, “Save Me”, currently holds the #2 spot on Kiss Fm and the #3 spot on the Romanian Singles chart. The group has had multiple successful singles inside Romania, and they occasionally make it to Moldova, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic, but are relatively unheard of in other parts of the world. Such is the case with most Romanian music.

However, my favorite Romanian group, Akcent, made it big with the catchy dance hit “Kylie” back in 2006 and have a new single on the way. They describe their music as ‘disco-house/pop/powerpop’. Click the image to check it out at their site.

So, what songs are popular in Romania this October?

Morandi ft. Helena – Save Me

Helena’s smooth chorus is the best.

David Deejay ft. Dony – Sexy Thing

Electro-house with just the right tone of vocals

Marius ft. Giulia – Rain

Another great male-female duet. Marius is an ex-member of Akcent.