The HU as a Symbol of National Pride

The HU is a rock band from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, formed in 2016. What makes them special is their music style, they call it Hunnu Rock. It mixes heavy metal with traditional Mongolian instruments like the horsehead fiddle and a unique singing style called throat singing. They sing only in Mongolian and their music videos show the beautiful landscapes of the Mongolian steppe. When their first two songs “Wolf Totem” and “Yuve Yuve Yu” were released in 2018, they got over 100 million views on YouTube. The world had never heard anything like it.

“We sing in Mongolian because we are so proud of our culture as anyone should be.”

But the biggest change wasn’t outside Mongolia, it was inside. For years, many young Mongolians felt torn between modern Western culture and their own traditions. The HU changed that. They made throat singing and folk instruments feel exciting and modern. Young Mongolians started feeling proud of things they used to think were old fashioned.

The impact grew fast. Mongolia’s president gave them the country’s highest honor the Order of Genghis Khan. They became official cultural ambassadors for Mongolia. And in 2022, UNESCO named them Artist for Peace, the first rock band ever to get that title. They also raised money for Mongolia during COVID-19 and kept their connection to home strong even while touring the world.

The HU didn’t just make great music. They showed that you don’t have to give up where you come from to be heard by the whole world. For Mongolia, that is a message that changed everything.

References

• VICE — “The Mongolian Metal Band Keeping Their Language Alive Through Music” https://www.vice.com/en/article/hu-mongolian-metal-band-language-culture-music/
• Foreign Policy — “Mongolia’s ‘The Hu’ Beats China’s Pop Giants” https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/11/mogolia-music-china-hu-review/
• RANGE Magazine — “The HU: This is Mongolian Metal” https://readrange.com/the-hu-interview/
• Afterglow — “Music Without Borders: The HU and the Rise of Mongolian Folk Metal” https://www.afterglowatx.com/blog/2021/1/26/music-without-borders-the-hu-and-the-rise-of-mongolian-folk-metal
• SRO PR / Anthropic Press — “The HU Become First-Ever Rock/Metal Group to Receive UNESCO Artist for Peace Designation” https://sropr.com/press-releases/mongolian-act-the-hu-become-first-ever-rock-metal-group-to-receive-unesco-artist-for-peace-designation/
• DUNYA — https://www.dunya.com/kultur-sanat/the-hu-16-temmuzda-kucukciftlik-parkta-hayranlariyla-bulusacak-haberi-782068?
• REVOLVER — “ The HU: Mongolian Folk-Metal Sensations Aim to Conquer the World” https://www.revolvermag.com/music/hu-mongolian-folk-metal-sensations-aim-conquer-world/