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| Turbo-folk | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1990s, FR Yugoslavia |
Turbo-folk is a subgenre of contemporary South Slavic pop music that initially developed in Serbia during the 1990s as a fusion of techno and folk. The term was an invention of the Montenegrin singer Rambo Amadeus, who jokingly described the aggressive, satirical style of music as "turbo folk". While primarily associated with Serbia, this style is also popular in other former Yugoslav republics.
Croatia
Turbo-folk grew in Croatia in part due to the popularity of the Croatian singer Severina's fusion of turbo-folk in her music. Turbo-folk is purportedly seen as a "part of everyday life in Croatia and serves a means of social release and reaction to the effects of globalisation in Croatia" according to contemporary art professor Urosh Cvoro of UNSW Sydney.
Upon introduction of Billboard Croatia Songs chart on 15 February 2022, it became apparent that mainstream music from Serbia and other former Yugoslav republics (which is all described as turbo-folk or by a derogatory term "cajka" (plural: cajke) by its critics in Croatia) dominated the music taste of the people of Croatia, as the only Croatian artists featured on the chart were Eni Jurišić, Matija Cvek, 30zona, Kuku$ Klan, Jelena Rozga and Grše, and the only Western artists featured on the chart were Glass Animals and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Central Europe
Turbo-folk can be heard in Balkan clubs and Ex-Yu-style discos in parts of Switzerland that speak German. Reports of turbo-folk from 2023 describe the music used for diasporic youth in these areas to "socialise and live out the culture of their country of origin" according to Dr Müller-Suleymanova of ZHAW.
Criticism
Critics of turbo-folk alleged that it was a promotional instrument of Serbia's political ideology during Milošević rule. This liberal section of Serbian and Croatian society explicitly viewed this music as vulgar, almost pornographic kitsch, glorifying crime, moral corruption and nationalist xenophobia. In addition to making a connection between turbofolk and "war profiteering, crime & weapons cult, rule of force and violence", in her book Smrtonosni sjaj (Deadly Splendor) Belgrade media theorist Ivana Kronja refers to its look as "aggressive, sadistic and pornographically eroticised iconography". Along the same lines, British culture theorist Alexei Monroe calls the phenomenon "porno-nationalism". However, turbo-folk was equally popular amongst the South Slavic peoples during the Yugoslav Wars.
As long as I am the mayor, there will be no nightclub-singers of or turbo-folk parades in a single municipal hall.
— Anto Đapić, former mayor of Osijek and leader of the Croatian Party of Rights
The resilience of a turbo-folk culture and musical genre, often referred to as the "soundtrack to Serbia’s wars", was and to a certain extent still is, actively promoted and exploited by pro-government commercial TV stations, most notably on Pink and Palma TV-channels, which devote significant amount of their broadcasting schedule to turbo-folk shows and music videos.
Others, however, feel that this neglects the specific social and political context that brought about turbo-folk, which was, they say, entirely different from the context of contemporary western popular culture. In their opinion, turbo-folk served as a dominant paradigm of the "militant nationalist" regime of Slobodan Milošević, "fully controlled by regime media managers". John Fiske feels that during that period, turbo-folk and its close counterpart, Serbian Eurodance, had the monopoly over the officially permitted popular culture, while, according to him, in contrast, Western mass media culture of the time provided a variety of music genre, youth styles, and consequently ideological positions.
See also
Notes
- Rambo Amadeus, eurovision.tv, 2012 Eurovision Song Contest participant profile
- Cvoro, Urosh (2016). Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1317006060.
- Marina Radoš, Narodnjaci, ćirilica i turbofolk: Što su to uopće cajke?
- "Croatia Songs (Week of February 19, 2022)". Billboard. 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- Marjanović, Hrvoje (18 February 2022). "Billboard Croatia nikad neće biti Билборд Кроејша". Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- Müller-Suleymanova, Dilyara (2023). "Shadows of the past : violent conflict and its repercussions for second-generation Bosnians in the diaspora". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 49 (7): 1786–1802. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2021.1973392. hdl:11475/23217.
- "In These Times 25/07 -- Serbia's New New Wave". Inthesetimes.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- "Film Criticism". Filmcriticism.allegheny.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ "Komentari". Nspm.rs. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- "Central Europe Review - Balkan Hardcore". Ce-review.org. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - "Catherine Baker, "The concept of turbofolk in Croatia: inclusion/exclusion in the construction of national musical identity"" (PDF). Eprints.soton.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- Gordana Andric (15 June 2011). "Turbo-folk Keeps Pace with New Rivals". Balkaninsight.com. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- "Explore Taylor & Francis Online". Maney.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- John Fiske, Television Culture, February 1988, ISBN 0-415-03934-7
References
- Collin, Matthew (2004) . This Is Serbia Calling (2nd ed.). London: Serpent's Tail. pp. 78–84. ISBN 1-85242-776-0.
- Gordy, Eric (1999). "The Destruction of Musical Alternatives". The Culture of Power in Serbia. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01958-1.
- Uroš Čvoro (2016) . Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia. Ashgate; Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-00606-0.
- Sabina Mihelj, "The Media and the Symbolic Geographies of Europe: The Case of Yugoslavia", 2007.
- William Uricchio, We Europeans?: media, representations, identities, Intellect Books, 2008, p. 168-9
External links
- Balkania Fanzine - Turbo-Folk and Balkan Music Video Culture Blog
- Report about turbo-folk, ceca and politics
- Muzika u vestima dana
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