Editing Turbo-folk

{{Short description|Music genre from Serbia}}

{{Citation style|date=October 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Turbo-folk
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Serbian folk music]]|[[techno]]}}
| cultural_origins  = 1990s, [[FR Yugoslavia]]
| derivatives       =
| subgenrelist      =
| subgenres         =
| regional_scenes   =
| other_topics      = 
}}

'''Turbo-folk''' is a subgenre of contemporary [[South Slavs|South Slavic]] pop music that initially developed in [[Serbia]] during the 1990s as a fusion of [[techno]] and [[folk music|folk]]. The term was an invention of the [[Montenegro|Montenegrin]] singer [[Rambo Amadeus]], who jokingly described the aggressive, satirical style of music as "turbo folk".<ref>[https://eurovision.tv/participant/rambo-amadeus Rambo Amadeus], ''eurovision.tv'', [[2012 Eurovision Song Contest]] participant profile</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Ogledalo tamne budućnosti |last=Stakić |first=Vladimir |date=1988-11-11 |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp%7Cissue:UB_00064_19881111%7Carticle:article866%7Cpage:9%7C |work=Борба |pages=9 |issue=316 |quote=Uostalom, već samo njegovo umetničko ime to govori, kao i njegov termin za muzički pravac kojim se bavi — „turbo folk“. |trans-quote=Besides, this is already shown by his artistic alias, as well as by his name for the musical style that he works in – "turbo folk".}}</ref> 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 (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]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cvoro |first1=Urosh |title=Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1317006060}}</ref>

Upon introduction of [[Croatia Songs|''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 "{{Lang|hr|cajka}}" (plural: ''cajke'') by its critics in Croatia<ref>Marina Radoš, [https://www.index.hr/magazin/clanak/narodnjaci-cirilica-i-turbofolk-sto-su-to-uopce-cajke/2440998.aspx Narodnjaci, ćirilica i turbofolk: Što su to uopće cajke?]</ref>) dominated the music taste of the [[people of Croatia]], as the only Croatian artists featured on the chart were [[Eni Jurišić]], [[Matija Cvek]], [[:hr:30zona|30zona]], [[:hr:Kuku$ Klan|Kuku$ Klan]], [[Jelena Rozga]] and [[Grše]], and the only Western artists featured on the chart were [[Glass Animals]] and [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|date=2022-02-15|title=Croatia Songs (Week of February 19, 2022)|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/croatia-songs-hotw/2022-02-19/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217114748/https://www.billboard.com/charts/croatia-songs-hotw/2022-02-19/|archive-date=2022-02-17|access-date=17 February 2022|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Marjanović|first=Hrvoje|date=2022-02-18|title=Billboard Croatia nikad neće biti Билборд Кроејша|url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=2340703|access-date=2022-02-20|website=[[Index.hr]]|language=hr}}</ref>

== 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 [[Zurich University of Applied Sciences/ZHAW|ZHAW]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Shadows of the past : violent conflict and its repercussions for second-generation Bosnians in the diaspora |url=https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/23217?pk_vid=afcc797701003c4a172241141544700b |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies | date=2023 |volume=49 |issue=7 |pages=1786–1802| doi=10.1080/1369183X.2021.1973392 | last1=Müller-Suleymanova | first1=Dilyara | hdl=11475/23217 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Criticism==
[[File:Grafit protiv turbofolka,Imotski01848.JPG|thumb|Graffiti against [[Ceca (singer)|Ceca]]'s music in [[Imotski]], [[Croatia]]: "Turn off all the "Cecas"/Light up the candles/[[Vukovar massacre|Vukovar]] will never/Be forgotten" (written with [[Ustaše#Symbols|stylized U's]] of a style belonging to the [[Croatian nationalist]] and fascist organisation [[Ustaše]])]] 

Critics of turbo-folk alleged that it was a promotional instrument of Serbia's political ideology during [[ Milošević]] rule.<ref name=Hockenos2001>{{cite web|url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/07/hockenos2507.html|title=In These Times 25/07 -- Serbia's New New Wave|website=Inthesetimes.com|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> This liberal section of Serbian and Croatian society explicitly viewed this music as vulgar, almost pornographic [[kitsch]], glorifying crime, moral corruption and [[nationalism|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]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmcriticism.allegheny.edu/archives30_3.htm|title=Film Criticism|website=Filmcriticism.allegheny.edu|access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="cirjak">{{cite web|url=http://www.nspm.rs/Intervjui/2005_cirjak_turbofolk.htm|title=Komentari|website=Nspm.rs|access-date=23 April 2017}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Along the same lines, British culture theorist Alexei Monroe calls the phenomenon "porno-nationalism".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ce-review.org/00/24/monroe24.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816040649/http://www.ce-review.org/00/24/monroe24.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=16 August 2000|title=Central Europe Review - Balkan Hardcore|website=Ce-review.org|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> However, turbo-folk was equally popular amongst the [[South Slavs|South Slavic]] peoples during the [[Yugoslav Wars]].<ref name="cirjak" />

{{Blockquote|As long as I am the mayor, there will be no nightclub-singers of [{{lang|hr|cajke}}] or turbo-folk parades in a single municipal hall.|[[Anto Đapić]], former mayor of [[Osijek]] and leader of the [[Croatian Party of Rights]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/66293/01/Baker_-_turbofolk_2007.pdf|title=Catherine Baker, "The concept of turbofolk in Croatia: inclusion/exclusion in the construction of national musical identity"|website=Eprints.soton.ac.uk|access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref>}}

The resilience of a turbo-folk culture and musical genre, often referred to as the ''"soundtrack to Serbia’s wars"'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Turbo-folk Keeps Pace with New Rivals|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/turbo-folk-keeps-pace-with-new-rivals|website=Balkaninsight.com|access-date=21 July 2013|author=Gordana Andric|date=15 June 2011}}</ref> was and to a certain extent still is, actively promoted and exploited by pro-government commercial TV stations, most notably on [[Pink TV (Serbia)|Pink]] and [[RTV Palma|Palma]] TV-channels, which devote significant amount of their broadcasting schedule to turbo-folk shows and [[music video]]s.

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 [[nationalism|nationalist]]" regime of [[Slobodan Milošević]], "fully controlled by regime media managers".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maney.co.uk/contents/slv/16-1#a1|title=Explore Taylor & Francis Online|website=Maney.co.uk|access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> 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 [[ideology|ideological]] positions.<ref>John Fiske, ''Television Culture'', February 1988, {{ISBN|0-415-03934-7}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Music of Serbia]]
*[[Chalga]]
*[[Manele]]
*[[Arabesk music]]
*[[Disco polo]]
*[[Laïkó]]
*[[Rabiz (music genre)|Rabiz]]
*[[Hardbass]]
*[[Dangdut]]
*[[Eurodance]]{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | last =Collin | first =Matthew | author-link =Matthew Collin | title =This Is Serbia Calling | publisher =[[Serpent's Tail]] | year =2004 | orig-year =2001 | edition = 2nd | location =London | pages =78–84 | isbn =1-85242-776-0 }}
*{{cite book | last =Gordy | first =Eric | author-link =Eric Gordy | title =The Culture of Power in Serbia | publisher =[[Penn State Press]] | year =1999 | chapter =The Destruction of Musical Alternatives | isbn =978-0-271-01958-1 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/cultureofpowerin00gord }}
*{{cite book|author=Uroš Čvoro|title=Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tyurCwAAQBAJ|year=2016|orig-year=2014|publisher=Ashgate; Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-00606-0}}
* Sabina Mihelj, [https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/retrieve/11127/license.txt "The Media and the Symbolic Geographies of Europe: The Case of Yugoslavia"], 2007.
* [[William Uricchio]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=CSLCAJrvqawC&pg=PA170 ''We Europeans?: media, representations, identities''], Intellect Books, 2008, p.&nbsp;168-9

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120120034713/http://balkania-fanzine.com/blog/ Balkania Fanzine] - Turbo-Folk and Balkan Music Video Culture Blog
* [http://ceca.rs/turbofolk-politics/ Report about turbo-folk, ceca and politics]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228062330/http://www.vest-dana.com/ Muzika u vestima dana]

{{Music of Serbia}}
{{Folk music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turbo-Folk}}
[[Category:Turbo-folk| ]]
[[Category:Serbian styles of music]]
[[Category:Music of Serbia]]
[[Category:Folk music genres]]