Manele
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Manele (singular: manea) is a music style from the Balkans, mainly derived from Turkish, Greek, Arab or Serbian[citation needed] love songs. It originates in Romania, but is also present and widespread in Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, parts of Turkey and with expatriates and emigrants originally from these regions. The genre is closely related to Bulgarian chalga (manele brought by Romanian visitors to Bulgaria is referred to as "Romanian chalga"), Serbian turbofolk and Greek laïkó, all being a mixture of local folk, Turkish and Gypsy influences over a pop tune.
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[edit] History
Early references to the terms manea and manele appear in Romanian texts from the late 18th and early 19th century, during the period of Turkish suzerainty over the Romanian principalities, as a genre of dance music brought by Phanariotes from Istanbul.[1] Some of these classical manele have been adapted during the ages.[citation needed]
Modern manele have little if any connections with the original term. They originate in the 1980s and early 1990s as underground translations and imitations of Turkish and Arabic songs. One of the earliest known manele bands was Azur from Brăila, in the late 1980s.[2] A well known Romanian manele singer, Adrian Copilul Minune traces it to a genre known as "turceasca" (Turkish), saying that it "always existed".[3]
It developed in other parts of the country, such as Oltenia and Banat, from Serbian musical influences. The genre has been rocked by accusations of plagiarism a number of times, with manele singers illegally adapting popular songs from Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. The accusations increased especially after the hit "De ce mă minţi" ("Why are you lying to me?") proved to be a mere cover of Despina Vandi's song "M'agapas"/"Ah kardoula mou". Further plagiarism accusations surrounded a well known manele singer's "Supărat"("Upset") song which was proven by third parties to be plagiarized from a Croatian song (Umoran by Jasmin Stavros).[1] Although this song was not technically a manea, it furthered the controversy surrounding this music genre.
[edit] Characteristics
Manele is a mixture of "oriental" (Turkish/Middle Eastern) influences and Balkan music, with a very strong influence from Roma music. The bulk of manele singers are in fact, ethnic Romas.
[edit] Subject matter
Manele are criticized for their lyrical content, which often consists of boasts about the singer's supposed sex appeal, intellect, wealth, social status, and superiority over so-called "enemies". Many singers use bad grammar, repetitive and simplistic rhymes suitable for chanting and are sometimes vulgar and/or misogynist.
Manele composers and players also use the term "oriental music" for their creation, and consider their music a sub-genre of traditional, folk Roma music. However, traditional Roma musicians reject this categorization, and consider manele a distinct and inferior genre[citation needed]. They reject modern influences and the idea of mixing genres, although they accept remixes of their songs.
Traditional Roma music is usually played on classical instruments by a live band (taraf) of lăutari and has classical lyrics, while manele is usually sung by only one performer using modern instruments (generally synthesizers) as backup. Most manele are recorded in small recording studios, owned by the singer himself or by a group of singers, since major recording labels refuse to contract them. However, there are some exceptions: for example, Stana Izbaşa and Nicu Paleru sing live, often with traditional instruments.
[edit] Manele fashion
Manelists have created a distinct image on the Romanian music scene, by showing their own fashion style. Many of the manelists use luxurious and casual, even underground styles combined altoghether to form the specific manele fashion. Typical manele apparel includes flashy jewelry and expensive clothing brands (such as Versace, Armani or Dolce & Gabbana) or certain sport brands (especially Nike). Such brands are an important part of manele culture, and they are even featured sometimes in lyrics.
[edit] Public opinion
Manele are a strongly disputed genre in Romania, with many representatives of Romanian upper-middle and intellectual class opposing this musical movement (and its popularization) mostly because of its usage of faulty grammar, overly simplistic or childish lyrics and subject matter and/or encouragement of demeaning behaviours towards other people, as well as an antisocial overall message. The fact that manele lyrics are considered by many to be rude and of poor taste, coupled with widespread racist feelings against Roma ethnics,[4] who account for the bulk of manele performers, has led to increasing hostility between fans and opponents. This has generated frequent conflicts between the two, usually in the form of internet flame wars.
In the media, manele have been repeatedly called by journalists and academics (such as the late literary critic George Pruteanu) "pseudo-music",[1] "pure stupidity, inculture and blah-blah" or even "society's bed-wetter".[5] C. Tepercea, a National Audio-visual Board member who did a study on the genre for the board considered it "the genre for the simple minded" in an interview.[6] Even proposals to ban this type of music have been voiced.[1]
Roma-Romanian classical musician and politician Mădălin Voicu distinguishes between the original genre and today's interpreters, calling their work "kitsch and bad taste", "bad merchandise, easy to sing, and only sold to fools at a high price", but considers them to be "harmless", "simple music and something easy to dance on", "a representation of the lack of musical culture in society" and "a fad that is poised to vanish in the future".[7]
On a different note, the phenomenon has been compared by at least two Romanian bloggers with the commercialization of hip-hop and with reggaeton, drawing a parallel between manele and these musical styles.[8][9] Similarities noted include common subject matter, overly simplistic lyrics and encouragement of selfish and antisocial behavior towards one's own gain. However, although both have more traditional forms and roots (old-school hip-hop and its jazz, funk and soul roots / lautareasca music and its ancient traditions), there is no "alternative" version of manele and its balkan siblings (chalga, turbofolk etc.)
Romanian-American professor Cezar Giosan further compares the genre in an article in Dilema Veche with the early stages of rock-and-roll (and Elvis), early rap and reggaeton, music starting out from the outcast classes of society, being shunned by the higher classes for the simple reason of its origin, only to explode into mainstream later on.[10] The same professor considers the genre as being a form of originality coming from below, with the singers having an amazing (albeit rough and uneducated) talent in music, with the lyrics being just a reflection of basic, simple human needs.[10] In a similar vein, Sorin Adam Matei, an Associate Professor of Communication at Purdue University, USA affirmed in an opinion piece for Evenimentul Zilei that manele are a creole genre, a simple, but lively music, spawned by the meeting of many cultures, that has a chance to succeed as a cultural style if it is polished and "cleaned up".[11] Both consider that manele is a valuable representation of Romanian popular culture, and would like it encouraged.
On Romanian television stations, manele performers and music are particularly seen on specialized manele television stations, such as Taraf TV. While mainstream radio stations do not air manele, a lot of smaller stations do, especially in Romania's capital, Bucharest. On New Year's Eve 2006, several Romanian television stations featured programs that included manele singers of both sexes.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d M. Manega, Cui ii e frica de manele? ("Who's afraid of manele") Jurnalul Naţional
- ^ D. Cobuz, Azur, interzisa de Securitate ("Azur, shut down by Securitate"), Jurnalul Naţional
- ^ D. Cobuz with A. Simionescu, Meşterul Manele ("The Manele Master"), Jurnalul Naţional; in the same interview, Adrian Minune also claimed having featured in "hundreds of albums" and having composed "many, thousands..." of songs.
- ^ Gypsies feel the lash of everyone's hatred - Racist attacks and discrimination increase across Europe
- ^ D. Andronie, Este pişoarca societăţii ("It's society's bed-wetter"), Jurnalul Naţional
- ^ D. Andronie with C. Tepercea, Fariseism şi manelism ("Phariseeism and manelism"), Jurnalul Naţional
- ^ C. Iancu, Marfă ieftină, dar scumpă ("Cheap, but pricey commodity"), Jurnalul Naţional.
- ^ Manele vs. hip-hop, Jujub bird's blog
- ^ Despre Hip-hop, Curat|Murdar (Internet Archive version)
- ^ a b C. Giosan, Maneaua, Dilema Veche
- ^ Sorin Adam Matei, România din Caraibe, Evenimentul Zilei.
[edit] See also
- Chalga, in Bulgaria
- Turbo-folk, in Serbia
- Arabesque-pop music, in Middle East
- Funk Carioca, in Brazil
- Proibidao, in Brazil
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