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Pop folk is a music genre consisting of both pop music and folk music.
In Balkan music and Middle Eastern music, pop folk music refers to a mix of pop, folk, ethnic and dance music in which the dominant rhythms are oriental and those of Gypsy music. Although the genre can be seen as a general regional movement, every country defines its own national culture and superstars. Thus it is known under different names, namely Tallava (in Albania),chalga (in Bulgaria), Laïka (in Greece), manele (in Romania), turbo-folk (in Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia), to some extent arabesk (in Turkey) and Israeli Muzika Mizrachit. Some artists, however, are well known across the Balkans and the Balkan diaspora and many songs are covered in different languages for relevant markets. The gypsy punk and Hungarian csango musika are akin to these.
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Israeli immigrant communities from Arab countries have over the last 50 years created a synthetic musical style that combines Turkish, Greek, Arabic, and Israeli elements. As opposed to the New Hebrew Style, which was the conscious creation of Eastern European immigrants trying to define their new Israeli identity, the Muzika Mizrahit style is truly spontaneous and indigenous[1]. Initially met with hostility by the mainstream cultural institutions of Israel, it has now become a major force in Israeli culture.
The Muzika Mizrahit movement started in the 1950s with homegrown performers in the ethnic neighborhoods of Israel — the predominantly Yemenite "Kerem Hatemanim" neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Moroccan neighborhoods and neighborhoods of Iranian and Iraqi immigrants — who played at weddings and other events. They performed songs in Hebrew, but in a predominantly Arabic style, on traditional instruments — the Oud, the Kanun, and the darbuka. Jo Amar and Filfel al-Masry, were two early proponents of Maroccan and Egyptian extraction. In the 1960s, they added acoustic guitar and electric guitar, and their sound became more eclectic. Vocalists typically decorated their singing with trills and other oriental-style ornaments, and delivery was often nasal or guttural in character. Intonation was typically Western, however; singers did not use the quartertone scales typical of Arabic music.
Lyrics were originally texts taken from classic Hebrew literature, including liturgical texts and poems by medieval Hebrew poets. Later they added texts by Israeli poets, and began writing original lyrics as well. An example is the song "Hanale Hitbalbela" (Hannale was confused), sung by Yizhar Cohen. The lyrics are by the modern Israeli poet and lyricist Natan Alterman, to a traditional tune.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, a few of these performers began distributing their songs on cassette tapes. The tapes were an instant hit. They were sold in kiosks in the rundown shopping area around the Tel Aviv bus station, and the music became known derogatorily as "Muzikat Kassetot", cassette music, or "Bus station music". Performers during this period included Shimi Tavori, Zehava Ben[2] and Zohar Argov, whose song "HaPerah BeGani" (the Flower in my Garden) became a major hit. Argov, a controversial character who died in 1987 by suicide while in jail,[3] became known as the "King of Muzika Mizrahit"; he became a folk hero, and a movie was made of his life.[4]
Despite the obvious popularity of this music, the state radio eschewed Muzika Mizrahit almost entirely. "The educational and cultural establishment made every effort to separate the second generation of eastern immigrants from this music, by intense socialization in schools and in the media," wrote the social researcher Sami Shalom Chetrit.[5]
The penetration of Muzika Mizrahit into the Israeli establishment was the result of pressure by Sephardic composers and producers such as Avihu Medina, the overwhelming, undeniable popularity of the style, and the gradual adoption of elements of Muzika Mizrahit by mainstream artists. Yardena Arazi, one of Israel's most popular stars, made a recording in 1989 called "Dimion Mizrahi" (Eastern Imagination), and included original materials and some canonic Israeli songs. Also, some performers started developing a fusion style of Muzika Mizrahit, Israeli, Greek, rock, and other styles. These included Ehud Banai, Yehuda Poliker, and Shlomo Bar, whose group "HaBrera HaTivit" (The Natural Choice, or the Natural Selection) incorporated Sitars, tabla, and other Indian instruments to create a new, "World" style.
The acceptance of Muzika Mizrahit, over the 1990s, parallels the social struggle of Israelis of Sephardic origin to achieve social and cultural acceptance. "Today, the popular Muzika Mizrahit has begun to erase the differences from rock music, and we can see not a few artists turning into mainstream... This move to the mainstream culture includes cultural assimilation," writes literary researcher and critic Mati Shmuelof.[6]
Some of the more popular pop folk singers are:
Albania
Bulgaria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Northern Cyprus
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Israel
Macedonia
Romania
Slovenia
Serbia
Turkey
Lebanon
SwedenRelated by means, but not by results (meaning that they lack the recent oriental influence while focusing on the traditional/folk music), are some Balkan or non-Balkan styles like Polish disco polo, Romanian ethno-pop, Carpathian Ska (Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany a.o), Balkan Pop. Greek laika itself has a mixed nature, as some of its recent representatives, like Helena Paparizou or Despina Vandi, found their way to the mainstream pop scene.
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