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 "turbo-folk" was coined by Montenegrin singer Rambo Amadeus, who jokingly used it to describe an aggressive, satirical style of music.[1][2] While primarily associated with Serbia, this style is also popular in other former Yugoslav nations. A widely cited 2011 article from Vice described turbo-folk as "Musik für Idioten" ("music for idiots").[3]
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.[4]
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[5]) 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.[6][7]
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 ZHAW.[8]
Critics of turbo-folk alleged that it was a promotional instrument of Serbia's political ideology during Milošević rule.[9] This liberal section of Serbian and Croatian society explicitly viewed this music as vulgar, almost pornographic kitsch, glorifying crime, moral corruption and nationalistxenophobia. 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".[10][11] Along the same lines, British culture theorist Alexei Monroe calls the phenomenon "porno-nationalism".[12] However, turbo-folk was equally popular amongst the South Slavic peoples during the Yugoslav Wars.[11]
As long as I am the mayor, there will be no nightclub-singers of [cajke] or turbo-folk parades in a single municipal hall.
The resilience of a turbo-folk culture and musical genre, often referred to as the "soundtrack to Serbia’s wars",[14] 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".[15] 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.[16]
↑ Stakić, Vladimir (11 November 1988). "Ogledalo tamne budućnosti". Борба. No.316. p.9. Uostalom, već samo njegovo umetničko ime to govori, kao i njegov termin za muzički pravac kojim se bavi — „turbo folk".[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".]
↑ Baby Balls; Prolic, Iva (2 December 2011). "Musik für idioten". Vice (in German). Retrieved 14 August 2025.
↑ Cvoro, Urosh (2016). Turbo-folk Music and Cultural Representations of National Identity in Former Yugoslavia. Taylor and Francis. ISBN978-1317006060.
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