I will try to explain this phenomenon on the best way I can. I suppose that Steemers from territory of former Yugoslavia will know what I am talking about.
Let's say that you came in Croatia as a tourist and you want to have some fun in one of the night clubs. So, you came in front of this highlighted club and you see a lot of barely dressed girls outside, a lot of expensive cars, very young people dressed in branded clothes... and you hear the music and that music is something between electronic pop - dance rhythm and very old folk music with different kinds of folk pipe instruments and accordion. You hear a singer, male or female, but he/she has a strange vibration in voice and it reminds on sobbing.
So, you got inside the club and then you see very colorful scene of very drunk young girls and boys dancing on very funny and strange way. You can see a very big man crying and breaking glasses on his own head. It seems that the song has deep influence on his emotions.
The rhythm is strong, fast with a lot of bass but you can't miss the vibrating voice of a singer. Maybe, at first, you will like the sound but if you could only understand what do this people sing about, you would be shamed for coming there.
What is Turbo Folk?
Folk is the people.
Turbo is turbine - driven force induction device.
Turbo Folk (cajke, narodnjaci) is a modern music derived from old Balkano folk music. It originally comes from Serbia, but it has really strong influence in Croatia and it is the most popular music here that young people listen. But Turbo Folk is not only music. It is a mainstream lifestyle in the countries of former Yugoslavia. It is heavily involved with criminal, money and cocaine.
As a music, Turbo Folk is mashup of oriental music which can remind you on Turkish or Arabian music with western electronic rhythms and beats. The lyrics are very simple and stupid. They often sing about love, cheating and criminal. But those lines are written on very simple and catchy way and they try to touch simple people in their souls. If you know the language, you can always predict the next line in the song. Lady singers which sing Turbo Folk music often go to aesthetic surgeries and they have really big silicone boobs and lips. And all those young girls that listen Turbo Folk want to be just like them. The music videos remind on r'n'b videos because of almost fully naked singers and dancers.
As a lifestyle, Turbo Folk is really expensive. The drinks in the clubs are expensive, the girls are expensive, they won't look at you if you came with Hyundai and in the jeans. Cocaine is very important part of Turbo Folk lifestyle. Money and guns also. It is not unusual to be in the middle of gunfight in some Turbo Folk club. Once, in town of Slunj, a young man was very drunk deeply touched with a song, so he went home and came back with a chainsaw. He tried to hurt others, but police came and prevented the massacre.
