Turbo folk

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Turbo-Folk is a music genre that has developed primarily in Southeastern Europe and has reached broad sections of the population there. Turbo-Folk mixes traditional folk music and hits with rock , pop and techno ; electronic instruments are increasingly used. The genre of music began to evolve in the late 1970s to become popular over the 1980s. Turbo folk is popular throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia , with the center of the turbo folk movement to this day being mainly Serbia .

Turbo folk is particularly popular with the younger generation, but is also often heard by middle-aged populations.

development

The development of turbo folk from traditional Serbian folk music began in the late 1970s. Until then, folk music was mainly played with traditional musical instruments, especially the accordion . The bass was mostly the classic double bass , the drums at most a snare drum , but mostly bongos . In the mid to late 1970s, the genre of Narodna Muzika (folk music) took on a greater variety of forms - it was not uncommon for entire classical orchestras to be heard, especially in performances by the singer Šaban Šaulić . At that time, however, there were only a few other singers and interpreters who would still be worth mentioning today.

With the development of studio technology and electronic instruments, the development of Yugoslav folk music also took a step forward. Whereas in the 1970s it was more the older generation who listened to such music, a younger generation has now grown up, which has contributed to the change in folk music style. In Belgrade , a crowd of young musicians formed around Saša Popović, who is now head of music for the record label Grand Production together with Lepa Brena . Suddenly you heard rhythms from pop music, keyboards , unusual effects, new faces and poppy, sometimes even “naughty” texts that you hadn't heard in this musical genre before. The biggest star of the Yugoslav music scene was "Lepa Brena" ("The beautiful Brena"). She was accompanied by the band (previously they spoke of orchestras or ensembles) "Slatki Greh" ("The Sweet Sin"), whose frontman was Saša Popović . The group landed many hits like " Čačak ", "Mile voli disko" ("Mile loves disco "), "Hajde da se volimo" ("Let's make love"), "Luda ​​za tobom" ("Crazy about you") , “Čik pogodi” (“Guess what”). Her song “Mače moje” (“My Kitten”) was banned in 1985 because of its supposedly vulgar lyrics. In addition to the new singers, such hits were now also being sung by the older and established musicians, who quickly adapted to the new style of music by 1985. Some examples of this trend are the orchestras of Mirko Kodić, Dragan Knežević, Dragan Stojković “Bosanac” and Novica Nikolić “Patalo”.

The accordion is still in use today, but it has become one of the many ancillary instruments because most of the sounds come from keyboards . It is the same with the drums, which have given way to the drum computer . The development took various and sometimes bizarre forms: a singer with the stage name "Louis", who was dressed like a Buddhist monk and had a bald head with a long mustache, had a successful career. His song "Ne kuni me majko" ("Don't curse me, mother") was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. Suddenly a lot of people were listening who hadn't really enjoyed listening to folk music before and the industry was growing rapidly.

The term “turbo folk” only appeared in the early 1990s for a new sub-genre of folk music. In the “official” language (e.g. in the media) the music genre is often referred to as “newly composed folk music” ( novokomponovana narodna muzika ). The alternative musician and singer Rambo Amadeus , who enjoyed great popularity among the youth in the cities of the former Yugoslavia, is said to have invented the term turbo-folk. The name, initially used as a mock name for this musical style, gradually became common. At this time, some pioneers from the 1980s who brought elements of rock and pop into their music were at the zenith of their success, such as all the singers from Južni Vetar, Halid Muslimović, Lepa Brena and Zorica Brunclik. In the 1990s, new styles of music appeared, such as house and techno , which were reflected in Serbian folk music, which was then dominated by short-lived fashion trends. At that time the most influential studio musicians were the “Futa & Zlaja Band” and Perica Zdravković, who had split up with Južni Vetar, and later also “Srki Boy”. Almost all turbo folk singers recorded their albums with these musicians.

The new genre of music, which was mainly heard by young people, soon got the name “Turbo-Folk” from critics. The most famous singers of that time were: Nino, Mira Škorić, Džej Ramadanovski, Snežana Babić and Ceca Ražnatović. Later, many established musicians jumped on the bandwagon, which did more harm than good to the careers of most. At the end of the 1990s almost all typical representatives of turbo folk turned their backs on him.

There were hardly any high-quality productions at that time. On the stage and in video clips, a lot of brute eroticism and its own cool and artificial aesthetic was used.

The term Turbo Folk still exists today, but the style of music has changed. Many of the former singers are doing “Narodna muzika” (folk music), some of which are demanding, which is seen as a return. The audience no longer thought of the booming and not very innovative monotony. Turbo-Folk is now less based on techno and more on Arabic rhythms. Many composers no longer adhere unconditionally to fashion trends and are more innovative, which has resulted in a large number of variants.

Turbo folk can be heard almost exclusively in the countries of the former Yugoslavia . There it was often used in advertising (for example for Nike and Coca-Cola ) and as a background melody in feature films. The crowd of singers is large, but the quality of the music is often poor. Many singers end their careers after the first album because there is not enough demand.

Turbo-Folk has been politically linked to the nationalisms of the former Yugoslavia since the beginning of the 1990s, but since the middle of the decade a steady de-politicization can be recognized, which simplifies the international marketing of the artists in Southeastern Europe. The development split between folk music (Narodna Muzika) and turbo-folk. Many singers have stayed with the popular variant and today (2006) mainly find their supporters among older people.

distribution

The music is also heard in Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro . Severina Vučković and the Bosnian-Serbian singer Mile Kitić are among the most famous performers from these countries . In Croatia, too, the term is almost only used as a foreign name, since there, too, hardly any interpreter would describe their music as turbo-folk . There is also a scene in Slovenia , but it is more at home in the south of the country.

The greatest merit of this genre, which is also popular far beyond the borders of the former Yugoslavia ( Romania , Turkey , Greece , Bulgaria ), goes to the formation "Južni Vetar", which is an invention of the musician Miodrag M. Ilić and has been from 1982 to celebrates great success today. The term “Južni Vetar” - although only the name of a band - is now understood as an independent musical genre in Southeastern Europe, especially in Bosnia. The greatest names in Yugoslav folk music owe their enormous success to Miodrag M. Ilić. These include: Mile Kitić , Kemal Malovčić , Sinan Sakić , Dragana Mirković , Šemsa Suljaković , Indira Radić , Ivan Kukolj Kuki and many more. The "headquarters" of Južni Vetar is located in the middle of Belgrade - the famous MMI studio. The classical line-up was: Miodrag M. Ilić (bass), Perica Zdravković (accordion, keyboards), Sava Bojić (guitars). From 1991 to 1999 Branislav Vasić (accordion, keys) was a member of Južni Vetar instead of P. Zdravković and Sava Bojić , which is generally regarded as the weakest phase. Since 2000 Sava Bojić has returned to the band, which has led to a return to the old style. The style of music is composed of Serbian folk music, oriental sounds and rhythms with a pinch of rock. Južni Vetar has sold well over 15 million records to date and has its own TV station and its own record company called "JuVekomerc".

Another big name in this scene is Lepa Brena , who was the first to introduce disco elements into folk music in the early 1980s, in connection with the then still very unusual sexy image and with titles such as B. "Mile voli Disko" ("Mile loves the disco").

The most famous turbo folk singers give concerts all over the world wherever ex-Yugoslav diaspora members can be found. The most popular American cities for events and concerts are Chicago and Los Angeles, and in Europe Zurich , Vienna and Stuttgart .

The record companies Hayat Production from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Grand Production from Serbia have a large part of the turbo-folk interpreters and musicians from the former Yugoslavia under contract. There are also numerous small publishers.

“Yugoslavian” turbo-folk is also known in other European countries (mostly in Romania, Bulgaria and Italy), as it is more comprehensible to outsiders than Greek and Turkish folk music, despite the sometimes strong oriental flair, and gives it a less melodious melancholy is own.

Musical stylistic devices

In terms of vocals, turbo-folk makes use of the oriental-inspired lengthening and modulating of the most emotional passages in the piece. Western ears often experience this as wailing or even wailing. As a rule, a 4/4 time, 2/4 or less often a 7/8 time is used rhythmically. The drums are often emphasized on the second and fourth beat. The third beat is often offset, creating a rousing and loose rhythm. Influences from the Latin American rumba can also be recognized. Another essential part of the songs is rhythmically strongly influenced by techno or house of the 1990s and 2000s, with a hard, consistent 4/4 time. The instrumentation in the interludes essentially uses the accordion, brass, strings and woodwinds. The sound generation is often heavily reworked on the synthesizer. It also uses purely synthetic sounds based on early modern synthesizers in the 1980s. Typical was the use of the Yamaha DX7 in the early compositions. The synthetic sounds are often modulated and played in a bound manner (glide / portamento). The use of many trills is characteristic . The accordion is often played in two voices with the upper or lower third. The combination of two voices and trills is very difficult and demanding, even for experienced players. Therefore, the thirds are often generated automatically by the synthesizer. In some pieces the scale is modified to create an oriental melody. Despite the oriental influence, quarter-tone spaces are not used. The chord progressions are comparable to those of western pop and rock music.

The mixture of folk, western pop-rock as well as Arabic and South American elements has an overall effect as emotional and at the same time cheerfully stirring. This combination also makes it possible to use it at dance events and in discos.

literature

  • Sonja Vogel: Turbofolk. Soundtrack on the disintegration of Yugoslavia . Ventil Verlag, Mainz 2017, ISBN 978-3-95575-073-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eric D. Gordy. 1999. The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives . University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, pp. 103-164