Works categorized as world music carry a distinct dual identity, rooted in the specific cultural landscapes that spawn them while building bridges to audiences across geographies and lived experiences, tying local creative traditions to global networks of exchange that allow underrepresented sonic practices to reach listeners who might not otherwise encounter them. The classification of world music itself has evolved over time to reflect a growing recognition of the depth and diversity of creative production outside of the dominant Western music industry, moving beyond early framing that treated non-Western sounds as monolithic to instead center the specific identities of the countries and communities that create them, acknowledging that each work carries its own unique history and cultural context that cannot be lumped in with unrelated practices from other regions.