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Turbo-folk

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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 his aggressive, satirical style of music as "turbo folk".[1] While primarily associated with Serbia, this style is also popular in other former Yugoslav republics.

Turbo-folk
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins1990s, FR Yugoslavia

Croatia

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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.[2]

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[3]) 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.[4][5]

Central Europe

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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.[6]

Criticism

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Graffiti against Ceca's music in Imotski, Croatia: "Turn off all the 'Cecas'/Light up the candles/Vukovar will never/Be forgotten" (with stylized letter U, like a Croatian fascist and anti-Serbian movement Ustaše)

Critics of turbo-folk alleged that it was a promotional instrument of Serbia's political ideology during Milošević rule.[7] 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".[8][9] Along the same lines, British culture theorist Alexei Monroe calls the phenomenon "porno-nationalism".[10] However, turbo-folk was equally popular amongst the South Slavic peoples during the Yugoslav Wars.[9]

As long as I am the mayor, there will be no nightclub-singers of [cajke] or turbo-folk parades in a single municipal hall.

— Anto Đapić, former mayor of Osijek and leader of the Croatian Party of Rights[11]

The resilience of a turbo-folk culture and musical genre, often referred to as the "soundtrack to Serbia’s wars",[12] 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".[13] 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.[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Rambo Amadeus, eurovision.tv, 2012 Eurovision Song Contest participant profile
  2. ^ Cvoro, Urosh (2016). Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1317006060.
  3. ^ Marina Radoš, Narodnjaci, ćirilica i turbofolk: Što su to uopće cajke?
  4. ^ "Croatia Songs (Week of February 19, 2022)". Billboard. 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  5. ^ Marjanović, Hrvoje (18 February 2022). "Billboard Croatia nikad neće biti Билборд Кроејша". Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "In These Times 25/07 -- Serbia's New New Wave". Inthesetimes.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Film Criticism". Filmcriticism.allegheny.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Komentari". Nspm.rs. Retrieved 23 April 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "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)
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ Gordana Andric (15 June 2011). "Turbo-folk Keeps Pace with New Rivals". Balkaninsight.com. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Explore Taylor & Francis Online". Maney.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  14. ^ John Fiske, Television Culture, February 1988, ISBN 0-415-03934-7

References

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