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Political Pop
Blindly guided political manifestations of musicians have been around for decades, but in an increasing right-minded Europe are they also a reason for worry?
Music and politics may not be the best of friends, but the two seem to consistently collide and fight for their place in contemporary culture. Kanye West famously declared that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," Bono continually engages in philanthropic work that ignores political affiliations and focuses on results, and the Dropkick Murphys blatantly push their liberal agenda, especially during the United States presidential campaigns.
On the other side of the coin, politicians themselves have also not shied away from using musical influence to engage the public. Perhaps to ensure their appearance in tabloids, Carla Bruni decided to give the pop scene another try shortly after her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, while Barack Obama proudly used the "Yes We Can" will.i.am viral music video to spread his popularity.
Rhetoric, whether it be against or for a specific regime, politician or initiative, will always find an audience, but is there ever a time when the lyrics of a band can actually trigger unrest within society? Are musicians actually responsible for triggering political trends or are they just targeting a niche that already exists?
In much of Eastern and Central Europe the era until 1989 was characterised by censorship and though its degree varied from state to state, the fact remains that artists were restricted in what they could depict in their visual or audio creations. With the symbolic crumbling of the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain was finally raised and suddenly all things taboo were no longer restricted to basements and dark alleys. The initial surge of embracing the cultural aspects that had been considered immoral or defunct, however, was short lived. As the newly independent states began to find their footing in the democratic world, some taboos were again being swept under the rug.
Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll have managed to raise a few eyebrows throughout the world, but while the trio causes an outcry from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) almost every time Lady Gaga releases a new video or The Game a new album, the approach has been much more lax and carefree in most of Europe. Lewd lyrics and scantily clad women are part of the business and it is no secret that sex sells. Placebo has been singing about recreational drug use for years and Amy Winehouse consistently appeared intoxicated at various concerts, why make a fuss about it? Bulgarians, however, seem quite torn on the issue of what is a mere expression of youth and where to draw the line of indecency. According to a Gallup International poll, chalga – or popfolk, is the second most popular genre in the country, second only to western pop, but some citizens are becoming increasingly weary as to what the music's popularity means for the youth.
Banned during communism, chalga came back with a vengeance in the early 1990s living off of the fact that it had been a subversive form of expression that had gone against the established institutions. During the course of the next two decades, the music took on a populist flavour and embraced the superficial nature of what will sell records. Azis, the genres most well-known phenomena, has never failed to provoke. With his platinum blonde hair and cross-dressing ensembles, he is both a supporter of Roma rights and the LGBT movement. All the while, however, he acknowledges that chalga is focused on what sort of image will sell.
"My female colleagues… make women dream to look like them, while men dream about such women," he recently said referring to the hair extensions, fake tans and copious amounts of make-up chalga stars going by names from Maria to Ivana are known for.
While for some the look is a far cry from classy and much closer to trashy, the real problems rest within the lyrics of songs. Instead of breaking taboos, chalga artists seem to be pushing the limits of what they include in their songs. Drugs appear as a way of temporarily escaping reality and women are often depersonified, made into nothing more than sexual objects. The concerns are thus centred around the illusion that the propagation of such ideas can create in young minds. Prostitution, drug use, violence – none of it matters as long as you're making money. The appeal is not the same for everyone and certainly many fans just see chalga as another pop tune to dance to on a Friday night, but as the music's links to populism become stronger and politicians, including the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, stage official celebrations at chalga clubs, it does seem that apart from morality concerns the bigger question may very well be the manipulation of political agenda. Borisov's party's centre-right platform may seem a far cry from Azis, but the fact that he is maintaining links with a pop genre that is generally believed to influence the country's youth should put not the music under scrutiny but the political aims behind it.