After a four-month break, the most popular rap trio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Frenkie, Kontra and Indigo, pleased their fans with a new video, now for the song "Domina" from their current, acclaimed album "20/20. The video signed by Adnan Avdić is available on the YouTube service, and it is the sixth single from the release that was released in December last year. Recorded at Red Bull Studios in Los Angeles, this album combines an old school rap approach with a modern sound and is the third joint release from the popular trio.
"We planned to release that video earlier, but the same thing happened to us, both in music and in other spheres of life, so we postponed it a bit. It's one of our favorite songs from the album, and judging by the audience's reactions, it would be theirs too. We also had a great concert in Sarajevo, so we wanted to include that in the music video and in that way immortalize that event, because as a Bosnian, as a Sarajevo resident, filling the Youth Center is a big deal for me. It is a cult place in Sarajevo and the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina because of its musical history", says Kontra at the beginning of the interview with "Vijesti".
Are you satisfied with the reactions to the album in the media and with the audience?
As for the media, they usually follow everything we do, so that it all reaches people who are or might be interested, and as for the audience, this concert that I mentioned, which was the promotion of that album, best showed how things are . There were two thousand people there, maybe a little more, we filled that Youth Center and in my opinion that is the best indicator of the audience's reaction.
How much has all this corona messed up your promotion plans?
Considerably. Let's not lie, the Internet is great, but I've said it before, that basically our strongest weapon is concerts. We almost sound better on stage than on studio recordings. It depends from song to song, but it is our strongest weapon and now we are demilitarized because of corona. (laughs) In that sense, it affected us the most. We do online promotion the same as before, but we don't really do online music, but concert music, so these bans on gatherings are a big blow to us.
How much do you miss concerts, are you looking for ways to somehow get around the obstacles and organize them?
In Sarajevo, the ban on catering establishments is currently in force from 23 p.m. It's more or less the same in the rest of BiH, both because of precautionary measures and because of people's fear, which is completely understandable to me. Unfortunately, it's not concert time. I wish it was, because this is a terrible thing for us musicians who earn money from concerts, and besides, I think it's very bad for young people who see going to a concert as a certain cultural event, refinement, where they can meet similar people. There is absolutely no chance of us doing anything, except online concerts. I'm not necessarily against it, but it's different when you go out in front of people and see their reactions to the songs, it's a feeling I've been missing for the last half year and I hope I'll have the chance to experience it again soon.
Apart from what we mentioned, how did all this with corona affect your creativity, do you create?
As for me personally, in the beginning, I'm not going to lie, I didn't have any inspiration. I was just waiting to see what the outcome of all this would be, because there was a lot of uncertainty, especially when we were closed. It's the first curfew I've consciously experienced, maybe there was one in the war when I was a child, I don't remember that, but this time it was really worrying. Because when no one is allowed to be on the street after eight or nine o'clock, it really has a psychological effect on people. It hit me hard and I honestly didn't even think about music. However, lately, my creativity has awakened a little, it was getting used to gradually.
How often do you have situations like in the song "Now I'd Like To", not only with women, but people in general change their behavior as your popularity grows?
It's something quite normal that a person gets used to after a while. Even today, I know how to find myself in that situation, that some team calls me and is cordial with me when I'm current, and when I'm not, I don't exist. There are plenty of those situations.
Do you have any plans for a solo career?
I have had the album ready for several months. I also made a new music video that I hope to present together with the album soon. By the end of the year, we can expect that release and one or two videos. For now, I will throw myself into those solo studio waters, but when we do concerts, we will certainly do the three of us together as Frenkie, Kontra and Indigo.
People think the musician's life is a joke
How did all this affect financially, both the three of you and your colleagues?
I would say that all of that has crippled us financially. It hit some much harder, disrupted the plans of some, and changed the way others think about music in general. These are the people who live mostly from concerts, everything else is some kind of side income and it will be a struggle until the end of the year as far as finances are concerned for many, maybe even some of us. It's a very difficult situation, but for now we manage... It simply wakes up in a person, I won't say hunger, but some kind of desire to make money, so we manage in various ways, you use all your talents and knowledge to create some kind of business for yourself. Because, essentially, our main tool has been taken away, which are concerts, and without that we can neither expect nor plan, nor live as we lived before the corona. I saw, for example, what Nina Badrić said, about which a lot of dust was raised. A lot of people make a living from it, not only musicians, but also promoters and others. People think it's a joke to earn so much money in one night, but they don't see how much time and sacrifice and work is behind the material you present at the concert, how much you work on it. It's a lifelong job, so it's not a joke, musicians are very affected by this, and as for some forms of help, at least in BiH, I haven't seen anyone take care of it.
Bonus video:
