The slimster has never been enthused by the overblown spectacle that is Eurovision. Quite frankly, the quality of the songs has never impressed. No major act, other than ABBA, to this codger’s knowledge, has emerged from among the winners. Judging music, after all, is a dubious thing, all about personal taste. But it is interesting to follow the Estonian national competition to determine the country’s representative at the competition. There have been some quite dandy efforts over the years. This year’s Eesti Laul winners have produced a number that is quite worthy, deserving a listening.
First off though, the lean one has never been a rap fan. (Although, after a failed attempt at becoming a bluesman slyness suggested a genre – not gender – change. Emulating 50 Cent the stage name would have been Dritsek Kopeck. The cost of a regional minibus ride in Tallinn during the end of the occupation). The North American version, replete with driving repetitive beat and crotch-grabbing, never mind the foul-mouthed and misogynistic lyrics is enough to send one to a monastery for silent contemplation. But hip-hop? Usually tongue-in-cheek, and sometimes rather fun.
5MIINUST, who describe themselves as hip-hoppers, not rappers has for some time cast a spell over audiences, precisely because of their imaginative approach and more important singing in Estonian are very different. For this year’s Eesti Laul they teamed up with Puuluup, wooden magnifying glass, (splendid palindrome, our people are good at such word play), a folk duo playing unusual instruments. Their collaboration, (Nendest) narkootikumitest ei tea me (küll) midagi – We don’t (yet) know anything about (these) drugs - is energetic, addictively so. The lyrics are a blast and so is their choreography, as enthusiastically performed on the video of the winning performance.
So enjoyable that the splinter rummaged through the memory banks. Hip hop is truly not the genre of choice, but there are indeed good Estonian hip-hoppers slash rappers. Chalice is probably the name that comes to mind first for most, it was he that popularized the genre and meie inimesed (our, could be us people, depending on your interpretation) is justifiably among the top songs in the genre. Then there is nublu, small “n”, the name is taken from children’s author Jaan Rannap’s book about a tiny firefighter’s mascot dog, and humourously also the brand name of an Estonian smoke detector. Great choice of moniker, some great tunes on YouTube for you to discover.
A recent favourite is reket (Tom-Olaf Urb, son and nephew of musical royalty Vennad Urbid, whose album Imeline aas, marvelous meadow, is in this scrawny scribe’s opinion one of the best Estonian albums of the occupation years. It defies categorization, when pressed one might call it new age folk before new age even existed.). reket, also small “r”, a play on words, is a genuine poet. One must listen to the lyrics/text, as hip-hoppers often do not sing but rattle off streams of sentences, especially on Külm ja raske (cold and heavy). Veel üks also would make my hip hop top ten for sure.
The gracile guy has a fondness for musicians who identify with their roots. Mississippi John Hurt is one of the finest country-blues singers of all time. Namesake bluesman Alabama Slim. Gospel great Sister Clara Hudmon used the clever stage name “Georgia Peach”. In the department of arcane the Chicago blues inspired John Belushi’s Blues Brothers sobriquet Joliet Jake. There are many more.
Which leads to two of the more curious and not so well known Estonian hip-hoppers. Taking the name from Räpina parish (or town), the quite idyllic region of Northeastern Võro we have a punning duo who perform as Räpina Jack. Not far from the concept of räppin, eh? One word game played was with the album Räpane jakk, filthy jacket. Again an advisory to pay attention to the wit and humour in their (his?) work.
Of all the hip hop, esto räp that has entered the auditory pathways recently, drummed on the otic timpani only one song had vulgarity. English, not Estonian. Räpina Jack’s Suitsupakk. (Deck of smokes in Canada). Because what else rhymes with pakk? Yes, while the offensive rappers in North America drop the f-bomb regularly Estonians do not use profanity in their mother tongue. Russian, sure. Which is why as Dritset Kopeck an inkstained wretch might have been successful. He knows how to be polite in Russian – to a degree – and how to cuss and curse. Some colourful Slavic epithets should be in everyone’s vocabulary, doncha think?
The Eurovision semi-finals begin May 7th. The final will be held in Malmö, Sweden on May 11th. The slimster is holding his thumb (we don’t cross our fingers) for our entry. When you combine sly wit with fun, marry old instruments with new music, all in our wonderful poetic language, this song is already a winner. Yup, for the first time this century this old goat actually cares about Eurovision. Thanks to a sense of humour and an energetic, throbbing soundtrack.
