There are certain things in life and career that you have to do to succeed - always get out of your comfort zone. Whenever it gets easy and they pat you on the back, you have to run away.
This is how Borko Vujičić, one of the members of the Belgrade rap group THC La Familia, explains the recipe for success. His colleague Stefan Gligorijević adds that patience plays a big role, but also "not to burn out in desire".
We met Borko and Stefan in Nikšić, where they performed in the "Montenegro Pub".
The two will celebrate their 2023th anniversary in 20, since the release of the demo video "Za ulica i ortake".
However, it seems to them that they have only just warmed up.
"Only now is it happening to us that a change of generations has come, that the clubs are even fuller, that people sing with more enthusiasm. Unbelievable," says Borko.
"When something doesn't work, and you want it too much, don't give up. He's a real painter, but he throws away 100 paintings before he gets to the real creation. You have to be patient, but work," Stefan told "Vijesti".
That recipe, even if it existed, says Borko, probably everyone would apply it, but it can only be perseverance.
"The thing that needs to be overcome the most, and we all suffer from it, is vanity, it just lurks in everyone. This leads to various distances, perhaps denying yourself some success and a step further," Borko points out.
To young people, that bad things do not become a lifestyle
However, the two of them hold almost nothing against young people today, because, as they say, they themselves have been through various situations.
"I can't put myself in a position to complain to someone because I know I did 10 times worse. The only thing I can say is don't make it a lifestyle. If you are "crazy" for a period, don't let it become a styleless lifestyle. "Don't go bumming around, neglect other things and don't worry about life," says Borko.
Stefan also states that he cannot blame them for anything, because they have the right to make mistakes, but that he can be disappointed. "If they make mistakes several times and don't learn from their mistakes, I can be disappointed."
"Maybe because they started using their phones and recording too much at the performances. One clip is enough for them to share. This is not an example everywhere. It happens that in the first five rows there are only flashes. You look at me through the lens. But it's a disease of the new age, it's happening to Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg. It is not enjoyed...", he adds.
Young people should also stop "decorating themselves with false feathers".
"It is part of the current trend. But in general, we live in a time where you can fake and mount a lot of things through social networks... Don't live a fake life. If it's already like that, try to really create it," says Borko.
We want to learn from young people, but also to pass on our knowledge to them
The duo from Belgrade points out that they have started gathering a young team around them, but also that they will try to be in the role of publishers as soon as possible, but not in a way to exploit new talents on the music scene, but to be a "healthy platform".
"We will teach the performers how to approach money, work in the studio and become complete. It seems to them like we are lecturing them, but I am sure that when they start working, they will understand what our job entails", explains Borko.
In their team they already have, as they say, young people - the producer Happy machine beats who worked on a third of their new album "Beogradsko najfinie", Baby Sosa from Bor, and their DJ is 20 years old.
Bore adds that they listen to young artists and new producers, and that they experienced a transition - from "hard" rapping to singing, autotune.
"There is a lot to learn, it is not as simple as it seems to someone from the outside. You need to learn to sing thirds, lower and deep," he adds.
"We listen to the kids, we don't have that complex, we want to learn, we ask them to explain to us. That keeps us alive and relevant on the stage," says Stefan.
However, they never "hooked on other people's energy".
"If you look through our career, we have never had someone stronger than us at a moment. When we worked with Cobi, who is big today, he was not a performer, he was recognized in the hip hop world as a producer. We opened some doors together. When the commercial sound started, we didn't attach ourselves to anyone," he says.
Nowadays, people fall into traps from the youngest days
Everyone is different in their own way, despite the fact that they are forced to fit into the mold, but the interlocutors believe that today, from the youngest days, people "fall into traps".
"You don't fit in because you don't have sneakers, a phone, you start falling into these traps from the youngest days. Until seven years ago, people from the closest environment told us benevolently, "That rap job is not going to bring you everything you need in life." You immediately feel that you are different, you wonder if I am some kind of black sheep, what am I doing besides loving music?", says Borko.
Everything, he adds, is a mold.
"He has to work from 7 to 5, which I respect, but that being different in our sense meant that we persevered and for a long time I can say that we succeeded because we did not give up. I can believe that I will be a pilot, but there must be some basis in all that, that talent must be recognized. And of course to separate yourself from the people who kill you in the concept"
You become your own over time, but there should also be luck, a set of situations and experiences, according to Stefan.
"Someone is like Novak Djokovic who knew from a young age that he would be the world champion, while someone can't be found his whole life," he adds.
In Montenegro, there are fewer contractors, but not the quality
"Vijesti" interlocutors believe that the music scene in Montenegro does not differ much from that in Serbia, except for the number of performers.
"Montenegro has great talents in music and rap. It has its own path and flow, it is normal that it will differ. The climate is different, the dialect is different, the way of thinking is different. Who See are seaside brothers, their understanding of the world is not like ours from the concrete jungle", believes Stefan.
"It is up to the performers to organize themselves, to raise the dust around their works, music, to animate the masses. If you don't have an animated mass, you have nothing. It's not the Internet masses," he adds.
Performers must have the courage to step into commercial waters, to make music for the club and entertainment, but they shy away from that when they are young, says Borko.
"They want to be original. They experience it as a variety show, but they still belong to the underground. They trap themselves to reach a wider mass and make music for entertainment. It seems to me that in Montenegro the performers still represent their city. I haven't heard songs that are at least similar to Jack and Johnny, for example. We have to talk like that because it's about music that is played in clubs in the summer", he adds.
Music is our legacy
The only real answer to what makes them do what they do is perhaps a cliché, "but the truth is that it's the love of music".
"I can't find any other reason. We make money from it, but there were many years when we didn't - what pushed us to do it then? There are various engines that drive you. You can be moved by anything material - if you don't have a good song, something to express and give emotion, money can't buy that", explains Bore.
The medal of everything, however, is that "everything remains".
"And when we are gone one day, when we grow old and go to the countryside, something will remain. In 100 years there was some THCF doing music. That is our legacy," says Stefan.
Humanitarian work helps them stay on the ground
Although many do not know that Borko and Stefan are humanitarianly active, they often help poor families through certain humanitarian organizations or under their own direction, and these situations, they say, are counterweights - they do not allow them to fly, no matter how successful they are.
"We don't need to talk about it much, nor is it the way we have ever presented ourselves. We miss a lot that we can't go to events like we used to because of work and family. Previously, we were on the field every weekend, and that means a lot if you stay on the ground," says Borko.
You always have to know that there is a lot of poverty around the corner, he adds.
"It's a matter of home education, something our parents instilled in us. When we have the opportunity to be a part of such a story, we agree and we are pleased," says Stefan.
Bonus video:
