The other day, I asked one Roma youth I work with to show me her favorite Roma songs. She, with great excitement, started sharing with me the names of most of the popular Roma singers in Bulgaria. Its all pretty much Kuchek which is a style of Roma music that is related to Turkish Kuchek. Its a departure from the traditional Balkan cocek (cho-chek) in the lack of presence of brass instruments. Never the less, this is considered Bulgarian Kuchek by most Roma and Bulgarians in Bulgaria.
Čoček - Kuchek Mix
[ click it http://balkanhour2romanigirlpicks.muxtape.com/ ]
It was a fun experience and some of the sound quality is poor (stripped from the radio or put up with voice overs for advertising). I, unfortunately, wasn't able to download and play the music fast enough for her. She is an excitable young girl that talks faster than most normal people can think with a huge heart. With every song, she immediately broke out dancing. I'm giving you this muxtape so that those interested in Balkan music and Roma cocek or kuchek can understand better what normal teenage roma girls find interesting from their Roma cultural ethnos. I also want you to understand that the term cocek is very vague and encompasses many different types of music (most people aware of Serbian cocek/kuchek probably haven't heard this style before). And, I'm afraid, because I said just Roma music, she just gave me what she considers Roma music. But rest assured, she can sing to the latest Bulgarian and Western pop, hip-hop and rap music too.
Anyway, enjoy it and picture a 16-year-old singing along to theses lyrics while dancing kuchek (if you don't know how to dance it, I'll leave it for another day)
Čoček - Kuchek Mix
[ click it http://balkanhour2romanigirlpicks.muxtape.com/ ]It was a fun experience and some of the sound quality is poor (stripped from the radio or put up with voice overs for advertising). I, unfortunately, wasn't able to download and play the music fast enough for her. She is an excitable young girl that talks faster than most normal people can think with a huge heart. With every song, she immediately broke out dancing. I'm giving you this muxtape so that those interested in Balkan music and Roma cocek or kuchek can understand better what normal teenage roma girls find interesting from their Roma cultural ethnos. I also want you to understand that the term cocek is very vague and encompasses many different types of music (most people aware of Serbian cocek/kuchek probably haven't heard this style before). And, I'm afraid, because I said just Roma music, she just gave me what she considers Roma music. But rest assured, she can sing to the latest Bulgarian and Western pop, hip-hop and rap music too.
Anyway, enjoy it and picture a 16-year-old singing along to theses lyrics while dancing kuchek (if you don't know how to dance it, I'll leave it for another day)
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