Novokompovana narodna muzika

Novokompovana narodna muzika (Serbian Cyrillic: новокомпована народна музика, lit. "newly-composed folk music"), also known as "novokompovana", is a genre of music that came about around the 60's in Yugoslavia. It is generally used to label folk music produced from the 1960's onward. In the West and in academic circles, it is often conflated with turbo-folk due to its similarities with the genre in the 90's.

Characteristics

This genre of music is characterized by the use traditional instruments such as the accordion, frula, and violin in combination with newer instruments like synthesizers and other electronic-based instruments. This music retains traditional folk motifs and idioms with the signature "verse-chorus-verse" song structure typical in pop music. It is best described as a combination of East and West. Themes of love and/or their homeland are common, though the former would become dominant on the radio. Performances were usually in clubs and weddings. While the original label that published this music was the Zagreb-based Jugoton, other companies such as Belgrade's PGP RTB (now PGP RTS) and RTV Ljubljana would be established to publish novokompovana locally.

Although its origins were technically as early as the Tito-Stalin split in 1948, the genre would not become mainstream until the 60's with the rise of television and radio. While novokompovana in itself was popular, Lepa Lukić's "Od izvorna dva putića" is commonly attributed for its mainstream success. Over time, the genre would evolve from retaining its roots to incorporating elements of pop. In the 80's, oriental styles usually seen in Bosnian, Macedonian, and southern Serb music were incorporated as around this time, Bosnians were the most prevalent in the industry. The two biggest stars in the 80's within the genre were the "two Halids": Halid Besić and Halid Muslimović who themselves were folk singers from Bosnia. Južni vetar, a popular band at the time, is also attributed for this style change as the would experiment with oriental tones in their music. Their founding member, Miodrag Ilić is from south Serbia and the band would feature artists from Bosnia and Serbia such as Šemša Suljaković, Mile Kitić and Kemal Malovčić.

Differences between novokompovana and turbo-folk

In the 90's when the civil war broke out, turbo-folk would emerge onto the music scene. While some academic papers state that the subgenre the successor to novokompovana, their musical directions are different. Turbo-folk incorporates elements of techno, hip-hop, rap, and dance music in contrast to novokompovana which contains elements of pop, yet retains its traditional style. Based off of academic papers, there seems to be a misconception that all novokompovana simply disappeared and all songs created in the 90's onwards were turbo-folk. While turbo-folk became dominant in the industry and subsequently replaced it, novokompovana would continue to exist albeit with no direct mention. Common subgenres that retain the style of novokompovana and are used instead are "tradicional", "krajiška muzika", "izvorna muzika", or simply "narodna muzika". While both genres had their fair share of raunchy music, novokompovana would be more covert whereas turbo-folk was more overt about it.

Two of the biggest independent companies established in the 90's during the war, SuperTon and Nina trejd, were created by prolific members in the folk genre with Cvetin Todorović of SuperTon being a prolific folk composer and Željko Grujić of Nina Trejd being a part of the prominent folk group "Tomeđa". These independent companies do not fit in with the turbo folk label as it does not account for the traditional style heard from the works of Branko Markinković - Lalić, Slavko Mitrović Cale, and Ljubo Kešelj whose works tend to have a noticeable lack of pop and dance influence. While SuperTon would embrace the elements of techno, accordion will still accompany the syths in contrast to turbo-folk which would phase them out completely. Other independently created labels such as Bijeljina-based Renome, Tomi Ton, and Master Music Productions would also feature artists that incorporated elements of rock and pop within their work, but retained the style of novokompovana.

Misidentification of war music as "turbo-folk"

While few sources will say that war music and turbo-folk were separate, they are often conflated. In "Music Wars: Blood and Song at the End of Yugoslavia", its author establishes a difference between turbo-folk and war music. At the end of the paper, the war music showcased is labeled as "turbo-folk". Contemporary articles often say that turbo-folk is nationalist on the grounds of either trying to make music sound more Serbian, or point out that one of the more prominent stars of turbo-folk, Ceca, was married/widowed to Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović. Ceca has stated that while she is a nationalist, she separates her work from her views and does not consider herself an artist within the genre. While these sources say that they glorify gangsters, they do not provide specifics such as official statements, lyrics, and interviews to support this claim. Furthermore turbo-folk itself was actively being suppressed by the government with attempts to prevent the genre from airing on radio in 1995 and a Kitsch-tax implemented to prevent it from airing on TV and radio 2000 which contradicts these statements. Consequently, sources about war music produced in the 90's will refer to it as "turbo-folk".