Macedonian hip hop
Encyclopedia
Macedonian hip hop covers the Macedonian hip hop culture and the Macedonian language
hip hop music
primarily created in the Republic of Macedonia, but also in the Macedonian diaspora.
started in the 1980s in the then Socialist Republic of Macedonia
, but experienced considerable growth after the declaration of independence of the Republic of Macedonia
. One of the first critically acclaimed acts was the rock band Super Nova from Skopje
which utilized rap music elements in some of its songs. The group recorded several rap music tracks for the music production branch of the Macedonian Radio-Television
, including Hip-hop blues, Rap, Vero and others, some including pop
, rock
, funk
, reggae
or other elements. Part of the songs were in Macedonian language
, while some were released in Serbo-Croatian
for promotion across the wider former Yugoslav market. One of those songs was the anti-war
themed Rapovanje. Its catchy rhyme "Bolje da se rapuje, nego da se ratuje" ("Better to do rapping, than to wage a war") made it very popular across the country in 1989.
Currently, one of the notable underground hip hop performers and producers in the Republic of Macedonia is Vladimir Agovski-Ago from Skopje. He became involved in the Macedonian hip-hop scene since childhood as a very young b-boy in 1986. In the following year he formed a juvenile rap act called The Masters of Rap and recorded his first studio track in 1988. In 1991 he joined the band Instant Beat, which performed around the country and made recordings in the Macedonian Radio-Television production, which were never officially released. Later, he formed another group The Most Wanted which in 1995 released the first Macedonian hardcore rap album, called "Judgment Day". After the group disbanded in 1996, he continued to work under the name Temnata strana (The Dark Side) and he founded the first Macedoninan hip-hop label, called "Dolina na senkite" abbreviated "DNS" (Valley of the Shadows) to promote his own works and other upcoming Macedonian hip hop acts as well.
The group Čista okolina was formed in 1989 by joining several previously existing juvenile rap bands, and later it rose to one of the most prominent hip hop acts in the country. Čista okolina released the album "Noviot aspekt na starata škola" (The New Aspect of the Old School
) in the spring of 1996. During its existence it also released a song together with the prominent alternative rock
group Last Expedition. One of the Čista okolina's former members Vele Solunčev later became a frontman of the mixed-style music group appropriately named Mosaique, because it combined various elements such as hip hop, jazz fusion
, alternative rock and ethno-jazz.
One of the most successful hip hop acts in the country is SAF (Sakam Afro Frizura) formed in 1993. It consists of the emcees Smilen Dimitrov and Mitko Gaštarovski aka Pikisipi, as well as the band's backing DJ and turntablist, Goce Trpkov. In 1996 they released their well-known anti-drug abuse
theme called Miss Stone. Its title is a pun
between the historical person Miss Stone, the US missionary who met Jane Sandanski in Macedonia in the 1900s, and the phrase stoned. As the group became critically acclaimed, in the following year they started a music TV show called Hiphop teza. They released their debut album titled Safizam in 2001 and played a promotional concert with the prominent US hip hop band Das EFX
as a support act.
Prominent Macedonian hip hop artists in the 2000s include: Da Džaka Nakot, Legijata, Klan Istok, Edinstvena opcija, Puka kozmetika, Green Out, Speeding Bee, Str2 and many others.
The early 1990s saw the emergence of many Macedonian pop-rap artists influenced by the then-popular MC Hammer
and Vanilla Ice
. These artists included for example the female solo singer Ena Veko, who released the LP
"Bubački i gradski dzverki", and the duo Lastovica which consisted of Robert Sazdov and Vlado Janevski
, who later became a solo pop singer and represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998
. Behind most of these successful pop-rap acts was the prominent Macedonian composer and producer Toše Pop Simonov. The group Nulta Pozitiv was formed in parallel. Gradually they went more and more mainstream and became popular across the country, especially after recording the rap track nicknamed after the famous Macedonian folk song "Otvori go Pendžerčeto" ("Open the Window"). It featured an unconventional refrain for a rap song sang by the notable folk music
singer Mirko Mitrevski. They released an album titled Transfuzija. Later emerged another pop-rap artist Kristijan Gabrovski from Prilep
nicknamed Risto Bombata after Afrika Bambaataa
. He and his backing band became very popular across the country for their mix of rap, pop-rock and pop-folk
. In the mid-1990s an offshoot of Nulta Pozitiv was the more harder-sounding group named Attack which released the famous song "Atentatot na Kiro" after the assassination-attempt on the then-President of the Republic of Macedonia
Kiro Gligorov
in 1995. Later, one of the former Nulta Pozitiv members, Darko Dimitrov
rose to a prominent Macedonian composer and producer. Among others, he also worked with the late 1990s/early 2000s pop-rap artists such as Vrčak and Ugro.
One of the first prominent Macedonian rap music festivals was the so called "Rap'n'Roll" fest which was held in the early 1990s in MKC, the Youth Cultural Centre in Skopje, followed by many others. Currently Macedonia hosts many hip hop festivals featuring both domestic and foreign performers. A hip hop clubbing scene also exists.
Macedonian hip hop culture doesn't stop since then. Brothers Aleksandar and Slavcho Koviloski, known by their hip hop political and social activism, and known as a long time members of hip hop groups like Braka Po Krv and Klan Istok, since the year 2005 are holding lectures in Macedonian highschools, universities ana cultural centres. Also, by the year 2008 they have been published three books about hip hop and urban culture, unique on the Balkans.
Macedonian hip hop performers also exists in the ethnic Macedonian diaspora, in countries such as the United States
and Australia
. The group Curse ov Dialect from Melbourne
features the ethnic Macedonian member nicknamed Vulk Makedonski, and often incorporates elements of traditional Macedonian music.http://www.localnoise.net.au/site-directory/interviews/curse-ov-dialect-interview/
Myspace
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Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
primarily created in the Republic of Macedonia, but also in the Macedonian diaspora.
Overview
The Macedonian hip hopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
started in the 1980s in the then Socialist Republic of Macedonia
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, but experienced considerable growth after the declaration of independence of the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. One of the first critically acclaimed acts was the rock band Super Nova from Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
which utilized rap music elements in some of its songs. The group recorded several rap music tracks for the music production branch of the Macedonian Radio-Television
Macedonian Radio-Television
Macedonian Radio Television is the public broadcasting organization of the Republic of Macedonia. It was founded in 1993 by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia...
, including Hip-hop blues, Rap, Vero and others, some including pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
or other elements. Part of the songs were in Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, while some were released in Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
for promotion across the wider former Yugoslav market. One of those songs was the anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
themed Rapovanje. Its catchy rhyme "Bolje da se rapuje, nego da se ratuje" ("Better to do rapping, than to wage a war") made it very popular across the country in 1989.
Currently, one of the notable underground hip hop performers and producers in the Republic of Macedonia is Vladimir Agovski-Ago from Skopje. He became involved in the Macedonian hip-hop scene since childhood as a very young b-boy in 1986. In the following year he formed a juvenile rap act called The Masters of Rap and recorded his first studio track in 1988. In 1991 he joined the band Instant Beat, which performed around the country and made recordings in the Macedonian Radio-Television production, which were never officially released. Later, he formed another group The Most Wanted which in 1995 released the first Macedonian hardcore rap album, called "Judgment Day". After the group disbanded in 1996, he continued to work under the name Temnata strana (The Dark Side) and he founded the first Macedoninan hip-hop label, called "Dolina na senkite" abbreviated "DNS" (Valley of the Shadows) to promote his own works and other upcoming Macedonian hip hop acts as well.
The group Čista okolina was formed in 1989 by joining several previously existing juvenile rap bands, and later it rose to one of the most prominent hip hop acts in the country. Čista okolina released the album "Noviot aspekt na starata škola" (The New Aspect of the Old School
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
) in the spring of 1996. During its existence it also released a song together with the prominent alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
group Last Expedition. One of the Čista okolina's former members Vele Solunčev later became a frontman of the mixed-style music group appropriately named Mosaique, because it combined various elements such as hip hop, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
, alternative rock and ethno-jazz.
One of the most successful hip hop acts in the country is SAF (Sakam Afro Frizura) formed in 1993. It consists of the emcees Smilen Dimitrov and Mitko Gaštarovski aka Pikisipi, as well as the band's backing DJ and turntablist, Goce Trpkov. In 1996 they released their well-known anti-drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
theme called Miss Stone. Its title is a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
between the historical person Miss Stone, the US missionary who met Jane Sandanski in Macedonia in the 1900s, and the phrase stoned. As the group became critically acclaimed, in the following year they started a music TV show called Hiphop teza. They released their debut album titled Safizam in 2001 and played a promotional concert with the prominent US hip hop band Das EFX
Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Skoob and Dray...
as a support act.
Prominent Macedonian hip hop artists in the 2000s include: Da Džaka Nakot, Legijata, Klan Istok, Edinstvena opcija, Puka kozmetika, Green Out, Speeding Bee, Str2 and many others.
The early 1990s saw the emergence of many Macedonian pop-rap artists influenced by the then-popular MC Hammer
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
and Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...
. These artists included for example the female solo singer Ena Veko, who released the LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
"Bubački i gradski dzverki", and the duo Lastovica which consisted of Robert Sazdov and Vlado Janevski
Vlado Janevski
Vladimir Vlado Janevski is a popular Macedonian singer. He was Macedonia's first Eurovision contestant, finishing 19th in Birmingham at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Ne Zori, Zoro".-Biography:...
, who later became a solo pop singer and represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The presenters were Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson...
. Behind most of these successful pop-rap acts was the prominent Macedonian composer and producer Toše Pop Simonov. The group Nulta Pozitiv was formed in parallel. Gradually they went more and more mainstream and became popular across the country, especially after recording the rap track nicknamed after the famous Macedonian folk song "Otvori go Pendžerčeto" ("Open the Window"). It featured an unconventional refrain for a rap song sang by the notable folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer Mirko Mitrevski. They released an album titled Transfuzija. Later emerged another pop-rap artist Kristijan Gabrovski from Prilep
Prilep
Prilep is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.-Name:...
nicknamed Risto Bombata after Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
. He and his backing band became very popular across the country for their mix of rap, pop-rock and pop-folk
Pop-folk
Pop-folk is the umbrella term for the popular musical genres originating in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that are characteristic by the fusion of commercial folk music and "nightclub" music. The term is used alternatively for Turbo-folk and Chalga and is mostly used in Bulgaria...
. In the mid-1990s an offshoot of Nulta Pozitiv was the more harder-sounding group named Attack which released the famous song "Atentatot na Kiro" after the assassination-attempt on the then-President of the Republic of Macedonia
President of the Republic of Macedonia
The President of the Republic of Macedonia is the head of state of the Republic of Macedonia. The institution of the Presidency of the modern Republic of Macedonia began after the Macedonian declaration of independence on 8 September 1991. Its first president was Kiro Gligorov, the oldest president...
Kiro Gligorov
Kiro Gligorov
Kiro Gligorov , born May 3, 1917) was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Macedonia. His son Vladimir Gligorov is the refounder of the Serbian Democratic Party.- Biography :...
in 1995. Later, one of the former Nulta Pozitiv members, Darko Dimitrov
Darko Dimitrov
Darko Dimitrov ) is a Macedonian record producer, songwriter, arranger and record executive. Highly acclaimed for revitalising the Macedonian mainstream pop music scene, which also influenced the surrounding Balkan countries, he also received international recognition for working with many popular...
rose to a prominent Macedonian composer and producer. Among others, he also worked with the late 1990s/early 2000s pop-rap artists such as Vrčak and Ugro.
One of the first prominent Macedonian rap music festivals was the so called "Rap'n'Roll" fest which was held in the early 1990s in MKC, the Youth Cultural Centre in Skopje, followed by many others. Currently Macedonia hosts many hip hop festivals featuring both domestic and foreign performers. A hip hop clubbing scene also exists.
Macedonian hip hop culture doesn't stop since then. Brothers Aleksandar and Slavcho Koviloski, known by their hip hop political and social activism, and known as a long time members of hip hop groups like Braka Po Krv and Klan Istok, since the year 2005 are holding lectures in Macedonian highschools, universities ana cultural centres. Also, by the year 2008 they have been published three books about hip hop and urban culture, unique on the Balkans.
Macedonian hip hop performers also exists in the ethnic Macedonian diaspora, in countries such as the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The group Curse ov Dialect from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
features the ethnic Macedonian member nicknamed Vulk Makedonski, and often incorporates elements of traditional Macedonian music.http://www.localnoise.net.au/site-directory/interviews/curse-ov-dialect-interview/
External links
Websites- Rap.com.mk - Macedonian Rap Portal
- HipHop.mk - Macedonia Hip Hop Portal
- Hiphopmacedonia.com - Urban Hip Hop Institute Macedonia
- Coolzrock Old School Hip-Hop Portal
Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
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