Sarcastic Rap Experiments from Belgrade

Podcast
by Shonegrad O'Connor

Wikluh Sky is part of the hip hop trio Bad Copy from Belgrade, Serbia. In the Norient podcast he talks about making art in Serbia, their video «Esi mi dobar» – a sarcastic experiment in his words – and about what would happen when Hans Zimmer would call him and offer him a job. A podcast from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds, written by Dragana Despotović, and produced by Nebojša Despotović aka Shonegrad O'Connor.


Bad Copy: «Esi mi dobar»

What looks exotic to you is bitter reality for us. In a shanty town in Serbia kids play with big guns for the camera. Three rappers enjoy doing nothing and show off with drugs and alcohol. This video is a persiflage on postwar Serbia where the true gangsters are not getting caught and no one seems to care.


An Army of Idiots

A text by Sky Wikluh, member of Bad Copy

«My name is Wikluh Sky. I’m a member of the very famous hip hop group Bad Copy, and I am also a producer and a composer. I am an artist par excellence, a writer, and a director, too. I do all kinds of stupid shit people don’t want to do.

Serbia encourages you to do very wrong things in art and music. It’s a tough place for a musician who doesn’t want to make something completely void of taste, skill, and knowledge. All successful music here is based on stupidity. So, it’s me against an army of idiots. I’m surrounded by wrong information, and a terrible amount of lies. An investor from the Emirates is currently constructing a giant tower in one of our rivers. The prime minister puts a whole lot of money into it. We really don’t need this «Arabian Dick» (that’s what we call it). We need to take care of people that live seriously bad lives. Never mind. You cannot battle this stupidity.

With Bad Copy we have socially conscious lyrics about how badly Serbia treats minorities, for example. But usually we just talk about what concerns us personally. They forbid us to drink beer after ten o’clock in the evening! Bad Copy is like therapy for us, but it is also about criticizing ourselves. Look how stupid we are! So we keep representing ourselves very intelligently in very idiotic ways. And, yes! If film composer Hans Zimmer called me and said, ‹Hey guy, you want a job in LA, I’m going to give you a three thousand square feet terrace and a pool›, I would say, ‹Hell yeah, I’m coming.›»

This quote was recorded by Dragana Despotovic on 17.3.2015 in Belgrade, Serbia. It was published first in the second Norient book «Seismographic Sounds».

Biography

Shonegrad O'Connor is one of the founders of Trash-hop movement in Serbia (consisting of more than 10 people), a member of Duboka Ilegala music collective and one of the founding uncles of the Righteous Church. Mr. O’Connor is a music recycler, wannabe composer/singer and a graphics person, although he is only partly real. His existence is not necessarily determined by reality, since his home is a small crack in time, located roughly at the end of the 20th century. He has failed in many things in life so far (being born in Serbia is just one of them) and continues to do so, with pride and joy. His life moto is: «You always miss what you don’t have.»

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Seismographic Sounds
Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World
€50.00
The second Norient book «Seismographic Sounds: Visions of a New World» introduces you to a contemporary world of distinct music and music videos. Written by 250 scholars, journalists, bloggers and musicians from 50 countries.

Published on April 26, 2017

Last updated on August 11, 2020

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