Latvian rappers are attracting the attention of world’s influential corporations
The name of the album “21” of the rappers association “Kreisais krasts” “symbolizes the years of its creative activity and reflects the musical growth of the members of the group, preserving better traditions of rap creation and performance.” However, these traditions are very old – according to one of the official versions, rap and hip-hop as a culture is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. With us, this style, born in the early 70s in the Bronx district of New York, has gained huge popularity in recent years, so it is not even a big surprise that the “KK” album was released under the influential umbrella of the “Warner Music Baltics” concern (it should be reminded that the album of the “Singapore Satin” group has just been released released by the no less powerful “Universal Music”) and the presentation event was graced by the presence of the head of the “Warner” representative office in the Baltics.
A day before the album’s release on music streaming services, “KK” invited fans and close members to an exclusive listening of the album and a public screening of the video for the song “Esam krät” in the Old Riga club “Pandemonium” owned by musician Mikas Galvanovskis, formerly “Pulkvedī”, with which the association has many beautiful memories. . During the event, rappers supplemented the songs of the album with stories and experiences about the process of creating the album. “Back in 2002, this day would have seemed like a dream to me. At that time, I hoped that we would play music for as long as possible. Today, the third album and 21 years spent on stage is the answer to my hopes and dreams. I am proud to be able to share the stage with such talented musicians all these years,” said Pionieris, one of the founders of “KK”.
From absolute amateurism to big stages
“Kreisais Kkrasts” is the longest-standing and largest organized hip-hop association in Latvia. It initially united representatives of the hip-hop culture of Pārdaugava. After the creation of the association in 2002, the “Left Bank” movement developed rapidly, and inscriptions with the letters “KK” soon appeared on the streets of Pārdaugava. It was the beginning of many producers, rappers, graffiti artists and other artists who are now well known in Latvia. In August 2019, the association’s debut album “Tilts” was released, which was celebrated with a tour and an ambitious concert “Hanzas peronė”, and in September 2020, the second album “Krasta FM” was released.
The original founders of the association are Juris Šteinfelds (Pioneris) and Valters Zvaigznīte (Mazais Z). The first one of them admitted with regret that “Little Z is not with us” at the festive evening, and to the laughter of the gathering, immediately hastened to add that everything is fine, Walter is alive. Two decades ago, at the end of the rehearsals, many young people were already “off”, but to get them in a vertical position on the stage was a great achievement, while in the recordings we had to cooperate with often dubious individuals from the area, but now we can work together with respected musicians to perform professionally and on big stages – all this came out as a comparison in the stories of memories.
Over time, the composition of the association has changed, but currently there are more than 20 rappers in the ranks of “KK”, including Ansis, Pionieris, Dairis, Punkts uz I, Kaizers, Buuu, Deniss, EV, Ivans Baigais, Eiksho, JeeKaa, R2RS, Cepums, etc. The only lady of the association Būu or Ilze Fārte (from London) also sent their video greetings for the festive event, as well as the current number one in Latvian hip-hop, ansis – his speech was particularly inspiring.
As a short guide to Latvian hip-hop
Both veterans of the group and Latvian rap culture (Pionieris, Punkts uz I, ansis, Kaizers, JeeKaa, Eiksho) and young talents (Būū, EV, Henny and Cīgu Pärdevės) who joined “KK” later, participated in the creation of the album “21”. but with no less valuable investment. The long-time member of “krasta” Punkts uz I, real name Ingus Šust, has taken over the production management. Several Latvian beatmakers participated in the creation of the album, including Beatowski, Silins Beats and trakamelodija, but the song “RocKKstar” features Latvian rock legend Ainars Virga with his voice and guitar. By the way, his participation is quite easy to explain, because the already mentioned Henny is the same guitarist of the band “Līvi” Henrijs Mucenieks, the son of “Līvi” keyboardist Guntars Mucenieks.
A total of 15 tracks, with the already mentioned energetic joint song “Esam žret” and the previously heard “Augstāk par zemi” in the forefront. “The album reflects our entire journey and growth in music from [apvienības] beginnings until now. Its sound is multi-colored and in my opinion it has the perfect balance between heavy hardcore pieces and radio friendly melodic songs. Every performer has contributed to the album and has kept his own style, so it will be interesting for the listener to listen to this magical combination,” Punkts uz I says with satisfaction about the work done.
2023-11-20 03:15:25
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