When it comes to music, I'm sure everyone has some guilty pleasures they may not even want to admit to. Do you? I know I do! By this I mean something that does not fall into your typical taste of music. It may even be of poor quality, or have some other cringy attributes to it. However, that alone is not reason enough not to listen to it occasionally (preferably with headphones to make sure no one else can hear it), because in the end, it's still good, in some weird way.
A Truly Horrible Mix:
For me the prime example for this kind of music is what the Hungarian duo MC Hawer & Tekknő have thrown together: a combination of poorly written rap bars, run of the mill techno-pop, and traditional party folk songs. I know, reading my own description almost makes me want to close this page without checking it out... unless my curiosity gets the best of me, of how bad this mix can actually be. Well, this is what the #TTT challenge is ideal for. Give it a go and let's see if you'll want to turn it off right away... or maybe you will see the hidden quality of them, and understand the reason why I have been keeping the tracks for two decades, and actually played them occasionally over the years.
Not Quite Like Dáridó - It's Even Worse!
In one of my posts from a long time ago, I discussed the concept of Dáridó or Wedding Rock, popularized in the 80's by groups like 3+2. They took highly popular celebrative folk songs, typically played at weddings, and interpreted them with electric guitars and old-school synthesizers to give them a modern touch. As the post goes on, a decade and a half later, the same idea was applied to hip-hop and electronic music, which was the latest trend at that time. The result was something like this:
Supercringe
Okay, so the techno beats are generic and repetitive, and the rhymes and verses of the rap feel sloppy. Even the underlying humor in them sounds so forced that I can't help the occasional jolt of embarrassment... so be glad you don't understand Hungarian! By the way, who says techno and hip-hop are even compatible? Hopefully the images on the cover clear up any doubts that this is not meant to be taken seriously. However, there is one aspect that I quite enjoy: the traditional party tunes, or rather the defiling thereof.
Respect for the Art Form
Back when I was growing up and the genre of Wedding Rock had captivated the provincial youngsters, I found myself in discussions with older folks about the kinds of instruments - and even styles and rhythms - that are considered appropriate (or not) for playing traditional folk songs. Though I have always had great respect for our cultural heritage, I never thought a version of a song became "fake" just because of the electric instruments they were played on. By the time rap and techno entered the scene I was not quite so sure about it any more. However, I also felt a great deal of admiration for the majority of their fans simply blasting this horrible music from their cars, from lakeside pubs, or their high-rise balconies, without caring the least about style, tradition... let alone the musical taste of anyone else around.
A Right Occasion for This Music?
Okay, I probably could not bear the idea of forcing this music on anyone, even at a decent volume. But there have been times when I thought this was the perfect soundtrack. For example, when I was clearing out an RV in the Californian desert a few years ago. Working with various types of garbage, trying to get as many metal pieces sorted out as I could, I realized that I simply needed some Tekknő beats with MC Hawer lyrics, combined with old Hungarian village flair. Since the place was quite remote, I was not worried about traumatizing the neighbors (in other words inviting some gun violence on me, or something of that sort).
What Do You Guys Think?
Like I said, #ThreeTuneTuesday is ideal to give you all a small glimpse of this group and their style of music. If you really want to, I'm sure you can take a (maybe not so deep) dive and explore their other tracks. Or, you can remember their names in order to never open a file with their music again. In either case, I would be interested in what you think. As for the #TTT challenge, take a look at this post by @ablaze who came up with it. And to see my other music related posts, please visit my Monday Music post collection.