🇷🇸 Discovering Serbia's Artists: Marija Šerifović / Konstrakta / Željko Joksimović

Serbia offers a diverse range of music, from folk festivals and ethnic traditions to the worldfamous Guča Trumpet Festival in southern Serbia. While the Exit Festival was once a major summer highlight, it is unfortunately no longer held due to political reasons. However, the club scene remains vibrant, featuring every genre imaginable. I recommend starting with ethnic music, as it is quite unique and carries a distinct signature even within the Balkans.In Serbian music, we often try to enrich songs with as many diverse tones, layers, and details as possible as a way of expressing our rich history and culture, always aiming for a fuller and higher-quality sound. Unfortunately, only a smaller number of people usually those who truly work with music or have a trained ear really pay attention to those nuances, while for others it can all sound like just noise .Everything has depth if you are also looking for Eurovision-style artists from Serbia whose vocals and musicality are worth hearing, you should definitely listen to Jelena Tomašević, who has also sung a lot of traditional ethno-inspired music, especially the song “Oro,” as well as Breskvica with the song “Gnezdo orlovo,” and Zorja, who is known for her very strong and emotional vocal technique. Another beautiful example is Madam Piano with the song “Eternal Love,” which I especially recommend because it is in English. And yes, the Serbian rock band Van Gogh, known for the song “Ludo luda,” won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Adriatic Act in 2007. They later won the same regional MTV award again in 2014.For rock & roll from former Yugoslavia and especially focusing only on Serbian bands, without including bands from the other former Yugoslav republics some of the most important and influential names are EKV, Kerber, Bajaga i Instruktori, Električni Orgazam, Riblja Čorba, Smak, YU Grupa, Partibrejkers, Van Gogh, Disciplina Kičme, Piloti, Galija, Neverne Bebe, Idoli and Block Out.For rap, there is also Bad Copy especially the song “My English Is Very Nice.” They are more comedic than serious, but in a clever way, mixing humor with classic Balkan-style rap. It is actually a good example of how Serbian rap can sound entertaining even to foreigners, while still keeping local humor and identity. There are many different artists and styles overall. Some performers became extremely popular not only in Serbia but across the Balkans and even internationally. One recent global example is Teya Dora with the viral song “Džanum,” which became hugely popular worldwide through short videos and social media. Serbia really has a very developed and diverse music culture in many directions from rock, rap, ethno, and traditional music to modern experimental sounds. There are many different artists and styles overall. Some performers became extremely popular not only in Serbia but across the Balkans and even internationally. One recent global example is Teya Dora with the viral song “Džanum,” which became hugely popular worldwide through short videos and social media. Serbia really has a very developed and diverse music culture in many directions from rock, rap, ethno, and traditional music to modern experimental sounds. For Celtic folk rock with a Serbian twist, there is also Orthodox Celts(English). They became well known for mixing Irish folk and Celtic music with Serbian rock energy and Balkan spirit. Their music is a really unique example of how different cultures and traditional sounds can blend naturally into the Serbian music scene while still sounding authentic and powerful.

Please check out Ekatarina Velika 🤍

Maria and Zeljko are literally the most known and popular singer veterans in all the Balkans, not just Serbia. They do not need to put out a lot of new songs any more, they do producing or some other, they are veterans. But yeah, balkan standards a bit more to the ground so no big global hype :)