Made in the Balkans: A Contribution to Understanding Balkan Trap/ Trap-Folk as a Musical Genre and Cultural Phenomenon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v20i2.9Keywords:
Balkan trap/trap-folk, popular music, anthropology of music, Balkanism, musical discourse, SerbiaAbstract
Balkan trap/trap-folk is a hybrid, glocal genre that encompasses a wide range of global and local musical practices, characterized by continuous transformations and commercialization. It emerged after 2010, following the rise of global trap and its associated technologies into the mainstream. In the local context, the foundations for the development of trap were laid through its genre predecessors, shifts in music production, and the growing influence of Balkanist discourse in popular music. Through qualitative source analysis and musical discourse analysis, this paper aims to contribute to the scholarly understanding of Balkan trap/trap-folk by a) defining the genre; b) reconstructing its historical trajectory; and c) mapping its dominant topoi and discursive formations, with particular emphasis on pre-existing discourses (which dominate the genre), as well as processes of globalization, hybridization, and gender representation.
Downloads
References
Adaso, Henry. 2019. “The History and Origin of Trap Music“. Liveaboutdotcom, April 26, 2019. https://www.liveabout.com/history-of-trap-music-2857302
Agawu, Kofi. 2009. Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ajduk, Marija. 2025. “‘Popularity’ in the YouTube era: an anthropological analysis of music trending on Serbian YouTube and IDJTV“. In The Routledge Handbook of Popular Music and Politics of the Balkans, edited by Catherine Baker, 550–564. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003328162-43
Alcalde, Bruno. 2017. “Patterns of Hybridity: An Analytical Framework for Pluralist Music“. PhD diss., University of Oxford.
Alcalde, Bruno. 2022. “Mixture Strategies: An Analytical Framework for Musical Hybridity“. MTO: A Journal of the Society for Music Theory 28 (1): 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.30535/mto.28.1.1
Aleshinskaya, Evgeniya. 2013. “Key Components of Musical Discourse Analysis“. Research in Language 11 (4): 423–444. https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2013-0007
Anđelković, Biljana. 2015. „Hegemoni maskulinitet u muškim zatvorima u Srbiji“. Antropologija 15 (1): 49–70.
Atanasovski, Srđan. 2015. “Recycled Music for Banal Nation: The Case of Serbia 1999-2010“. In Relocating Popular Music, edited by Ewa Mazierska and Georgina Gregory, 84–103. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Baker, Catherine. 2007. “The concept of turbofolk in Croatia: inclusion/exclusion in the construction of national musical identity“. In Nation in formation: inclusion and exclusion in central and eastern Europe, edited by Catherine Baker, Christopher J. Gerry, Barbara Madaj, Liz Mellish and Jana Nahodilová, 139–158. London: SSEES Publications.
Baker, Catherine. 2025. “Introduction: Thinking Politically with Popular Music of the Balkans“. In The Routledge Handbook of Popular Music and Politics of the Balkans, edited by Catherine Baker, 1–27. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003328162-1
Bakić-Hayden, Milica. 2006. Varijacije na temu Balkan. Beograd: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju i I. P. „Filip Višnjić“.
Banet-Waiser, Sarah. 2018. “Postfeminism and Popular Feminism“. Feminist Media Histories 4 (2): 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1525/fmh.2018.4.2.152
Banović, Branko. 2011. „Ne/mogućnost istraživanja tradicionalnog crnogorskog maskuliniteta“. Antropologija 1 (11): 161–180.
Barros-Grela, Eduardo. 2022. “Yes, Indeed. Trap and Politics”, in Mixing Pop and Politics. Political Dimensions of Popular Music in the 21st Century, edited by Catherine Hoad, Geoff Stahl and Oli Wilson, 73–83. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429284526-7
Besora, Max. 2020. “Extremely Short History of Trap Music“. CCCBLAB – Cultural Research and Innovation, February 11, 2020. https://lab.cccb.org/en/extremely-short-history-of-trap-music
Bradby, Barbara. 2003. “Discourse analysis“. In Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, edited by John Shepherd, David Horn, Dave Laing, Paul Oliver and Peter Wicke, 67–70. London, New York: Continuum.
Brooke Bray, Haley. 2019. “Balkan Trap Music: A Look Into the Slavic Underground“. Old Beats, New Verses: 21 Newly Composed Essays on Turbo-folk, September 5, 2019. https://scalar.usc.edu/works/turbofolk/balkan-trap-music-a-look-into-the-slavic-underground
Carrier, James G. 1992. “Occidentalism: The World Turned Upside-down“. American Ethnologist 19 (2): 195–212. http://www.jstor.org/stable/645033
Connell, Robert and James Messerschmidt. 2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept“. Gender and Society 19 (6): 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639
Conti, Uliano. 2020. “Urban Youth in Transformation: Considerations for a Sociology of Trap Subculture“. Italian Sociological Review 10 (2): 257–270. http://dx.doi.org/10.13136/isr.v10i2.339
Cvitanović, Marin. 2009. „(Re)konstrukcija balkanskih identiteta kroz popularnu glazbu“. Migracijske i etničke teme 25 (4): 317–335.
Ćirjaković, Zoran. 2012. „Muški snovi, neoliberalne fantazije i zvuk oklevetane modernosti: Turbo-folk u raljama subalternosti, preduzetništva, drugosti i zločina“. Sarajevske sveske 39/40: 89–114.
Čolović, Ivan. 2014. Rastanak s identitetom. Beograd: Biblioteka XX vek.
Čvoro, Uroš. 2014. Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
Dragićević-Šešić, Milena. 1994. Neofolk kultura: publika i njene zvezde. Sremski Karlovci: Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stanojevića.
Dragojlo, Saša. 2019. „Trep cajke: kapitalistički realizam“. Bilten 14. jun 2019. https://www.bilten.org/?p=28232
Dragomirović, Milica. 2022. „Trep na Exitu: Prljavi jug na Petrovaradinskoj tvrđavi“. Exit 4. februar 2022. https://www.exitfest.org/trep-na-exitu-prljavi-jug-na-petrovaradinskoj-tvrdavi
Dumančić, Marko and Krešimir Krolo. 2016. “Dehexing Postwar West Balkan Masculinities: The Case of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, 1998 to 2015“. Men and Masculinities 20 (2): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X15625314
Dumnić, Marija. 2012. “This Is the Balkans: Constructing Positive Stereotypes about the Balkans and Autobalkanism“. In Musical Practices in the Balkans: Ethnomusicological Perspectives–Proceedings of the International Conference Held from November 23 to 25, 2011, edited by Dejan Despić, Jelena Jovanović and Danka Lajić Mihajlović, 345–356. Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts: Institute of Musicology – Department of Fine Arts and Music.
Dumnić Vilotijević, Marija. 2020. “The Balkans of the Balkans: The Meaning of Autobalkanism in Regional Popular Music“. Arts 9: 70–82. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts9020070
Đorđević, Ivan. 2010. „Identitetske politike u ritmu ’lakih nota’: recepcija neofolk muzike u Sloveniji“. Traditiones 39 (1): 137–153. https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2010390112
Đurić, Dubravka. 2015. „Postfeminizam i popularna kultura“. Tvrđa - časopis za teoriju, kulturu i vizualne umjetnosti 1 (2): 270–277.
Đurković, Miša. 2001. „Ideologizacija turbo folka“. Kultura 102: 19–33.
Đurković, Miša. 2004. „Ideološki i politički sukobi oko popularne muzike u Srbiji“. Filozofija i društvo XXV: 271–284.
Fuko, Mišel. 2007. Poredak diskursa. Loznica: Karpos.
Gligorijević, Jelena. 2021. “Nation Branding in Two Major Serbian Music Festivals, Exit and Guča“. Journal of Popular Music Studies 33 (1): 94–120. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2021.33.1.94
Gordy, Erik. 1999. The Culture of Power in Serbia. Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Hemphill, George. 1943. “The Discourse of Music“. The Kenyon Review 5 (3): 413–432. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4332425
Herbert, David G. and Mikolaj Rykowski. 2018. “An Overture to Music Glocalization“. In Music Glocalization: Heritage and Innovation in a Digital Age, edited by David G. Herbert and Mikolaj Rykowski, xxiii–xlviii. Cambrigde: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.
Hercfeld, Majkl. 2004. Kulturna intimnost. Beograd: XX vek.
Holt, Brianna. 2019. “A Quick Guide to Trap Music“. One37pm, August 1, 2019. https://www.one37pm.com/music/trap-music-artists-history-impact-evolution
Imamović, Emir. 2019. „Trap folkeri poput prethodnika shvatili što ljudi vole i gdje žive”. 24 sata, 3. septembar 2019. https://www.24sata.hr/show/trap-folkeri-poput-prethodnika-shvatili-sto-ljudi-vole-i-gdje-zive-646776
Jevremović, Uroš. 2017. „Trep muzika – hibridni nastavak trepa“. Kultiviši se, 18. mart 2017. https://kultivisise.rs/trap-muzika-hibridni-nastavak-repa/
Kaluža, Jernej. 2018. “Reality of Trap: Trap Music and its Emancipatory Potential“. IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication & Film 5 (1): 23–41.
Kaluža, Jernej. 2020. “Trap, Trash and Theory“. Maska 35 (200): 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1386/maska_00011_1
Kreho, Dinko. 2022. „Trep u svim žanrovima“. Kulturpunkt.hr, 29. avgust 2022. https://kulturpunkt.hr/tema/trap-u-svim-zanrovima
Kronja, Ivana. 2001. Smrtonosni sjaj: masovna psihologija i estetika turbo-folka. Beograd: Tehnokratia.
Kronja, Ivana. 2006. „Urbani životni stilovi i medijska reprezentacija gradskog života i omladinske kulutre: potkultura ’Silikonske doline’ i filmska trilogija Radivoja Raše Andrića“. Zbornik radova Fakulteta dramskih umetnosti 10: 89–109.
Kulenović, Nina i Ana Banić-Grubišić. 2019. „`Cepaće se neki narodnjaci!`: nova čitanja turbo-folka“. Etnoantropološki problemi 14 (1): 47–78. https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v14i1.2
Maksimović, Vladan. 2015. „Kako je trep ušao u Srbiju“. Before After, 27. januar 2015. https://www.beforeafter.rs/muzika/kako-je-trep-usao-u-srbiju/
Malešević, Miroslava. 2011. Ima li nacija na planeti Ribok? Ogledi o politikama identiteta. Beograd: Srpski genealoški centar.
MasterClass. 2021. “Guide to Trap Music: History and Characteristics of Trap Music“. MasterClass June 7, 2021. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/trap-music-guide
Mevorah, Vera. 2016. „Turbo-folk – balkanizam, orijentalizam i drugost“. Kultura 151: 261–278. https://doi.org/10.5937/kultura1651261M
Milevoj, Matea. 2018. „Otišli smo na trap cajke: Što stoji iza novog glazbenog vala koji spaja hip-hop i turbofolk?“. Muzika.hr, 10. avgust 2018. https://www.muzika.hr/trap-cajke-hype-beats/
Mrvoš, Dragana i Barbara Frey. 2024. „Komodifikacija i kulturna industrija: razumevanje trep folka i `gaserskog` stila u Srbiji i postjugoslovenskom prostoru“. Kritika: časopis za filozofiju i teoriju društva 5 (1): 3–23. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11371220
Musić, Goran i Predrag Vukčević. 2019. „Diesel Power: hip-hop u Srbiji od zadovoljstva povlašćenih do masovne omladinske kulture“. Kultura 162: 166–197. https://doi.org/10.5937/kultura1962166M
Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. 1990. Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Naumović, Slobodan. 2009. Upotreba tradicije u političkom i javnom životu Srbije na kraju dvadesetog i početkom dvadeset prvog veka. Beograd: Institut za društvenu teoriju i filozofiju, I.P. „Filip Višnjić“ a.d.
Nenić, Iva. 2015. “World music in the Balkans and the politics of (un)belonging“. In BEYOND THE EAST–WEST DIVIDE: Balkan music and its poles of attraction, edited by Ivana Medić and Katarina Tomašević, 259–272. Belgrade: Institute of Musicology, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) Department of Fine Arts and Music SASA.
Nikačević, Galeb. 2018. „Relja i Coby – Bassivity: dvadeset godina borbe za mesto pod suncem“. Vice 12. jul 2018. https://www.vice.com/sr/article/relja-i-coby-bassivity-dvadeset-godina-borbe-za-mesto-pod-suncem/
Papović, Jovana and Astrea Pejović. 2016. “Revival without Nostalgia: The ‘Dizel’ Movement, Serbian 1990s Cultural Trauma and Globalised Youth Cultures“. In Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context, edited by Matthias Schwartz and Heike Winkel, 81–93. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385130_5
Perrotta, Guilio. 2022. “Psychopathologic evidence in the Italian ‘Trap Music’ population”. Ann Psychiatry Treatm 6 (1): 62–68. https://doi.org/10.17352/apt.000046
Pointer, Ashley. 2021. “Trap Music: Where It Came from and Where It’s Going“. Berklee Online, September 29, 2021. https://online.berklee.edu/takenote/trap-music-where-it-came-from-and-where-its-going/#:~:text=Trap%20is%20characterized%20by%20busy,melodic%20accompaniment%20expressed%20with%20synthesizers
Provenzano, Catherine. 2019. “Making Voices: The Gendering of Pitch Correction and The Auto-Tune Effect in Contemporary Pop Music“. Journal of Popular Music Studies 31 (2): 63–84. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2019.312008
Radović, Srđan. 2010. „Juče na Balkanu, danas u vašem stanu. Nekoliko zapažanja o neofolk muzici među publikom u Sloveniji“. Traditiones 39 (1): 123–135. https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2010390111
Ramírez Paredes, Juan Rogelio. 2006. „Música y sociedad: la preferencia musical como base de la identidad social“. Sociológica 21: 243–270.
Ristivojević, Marija. 2014. “(Re)defining Tradition: The Example of the World Music Phenomenon“. Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology 9 (1):69–82. https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.v9i1.4
Ruud, Even. 1997. “Music and Identity“. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 6 (1): 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/08098139709477889
Simić, Marina. 2006. „Exit u Evropu. Popularna muzika i politike identiteta u savremenoj Srbiji“. Kultura 116/117: 98–122.
Stradnichenko, Elena. 2018. „Dizelaši“. In The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality, Volume 1: Towards Understanding of Social and Cultural Complexity, edited by Alena Ledeneva, Anna Bailey, Sheelagh Barron, Costanza Curro and Elizabeth Teague, 306–308. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20krxh9
Todorova, Marija. 1999. Imaginarni Balkan. Beograd: Biblioteka XX vek.
van Leeuwen, Theo. 2012. “The critical analysis of musical discourse“. Critical Discourse Studies 9 (4): 319–328. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2012.713204
Vukojević, Bojana. 2024. „Stavovi studenata u Republici Srpskoj prema trep muzici: od dominantnih narativa ka aktuelnim muzičkim preferencijama“. Sociološki pregled LVIII (1): 48–83. https://doi.org/10.5937/socpreg58-48223
Weiss, Sarah. 2014. “Listening to the World but Hearing Ourselves: Hybridity and Perceptions of Authenticity in World Music“. Ethnomusicology 58 (3): 506–525. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.3.0506
Wodak, Ruth. 2001. “What CDA is about: a summary of its history, important concepts and its developments“. In Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer, 1–13. London: SAGE Publications.
Wodak, Ruth, Rudolf de Cillia, Martin Reisigl and Karin Liebhart. 2009. The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Žagar, Igor. 2010. “Topoi in Critical Discourse Analysis“. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 6 (1): 3–27. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10016-010-0002-1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
ERIH PLUS - European Reference Index for the Humanities
World Cat
AnthroSerbia
