Beatz & Rhymes has always been a special story when it comes to the Montenegrin music scene. A line-up that can hardly be compared with others from this area, known for its trip hop base, but following in the footsteps of its colleagues from the west such as Thievery Corporation and Morcheeba, combines various genres - from reggae, D'n'B, through jazz to of rap - into its own specific sound melange.
The band led by Bojan Đuković, who is a vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist, in addition to being a producer and songwriter, released a new album "Dare To Struggle" at the end of last year, which included five new tracks, one of which has now been screened. . It is "In a Minute", on which the singer Doria is a guest. The video can be viewed on the YouTube service, and Đuković realized it with the help of Mladen Vujović. Support also came from PAM (Music Author's Rights), which allocated funds for the realization of the project through an annual competition.
"I decided to film that song, first of all, to present the aesthetic and visual experience of the song, but also of course Doria, who perfectly fit into the whole story and brought additional freshness. The album was released a couple of months ago, and you yourself know that if you don't screen the song, it's like you didn't even release it, and I chose 'In a Minute' because of its strangeness and slightly different sound compared to what could be heard from Beatz before. & Rhymes. We made the video with a very modest budget, but there is no need, because my aesthetics also coincide with a partisan approach in which the actors stand out for the creativity of ideas, and not for the quality of equipment and the like", explains Đuković in an interview with "Vijesti".
Đuković is a professor at the music school "Vasa Pavić" and it was there that he met Doria, where he had the opportunity to hear her perform jazz standards, and it was at one of her concerts that they agreed to collaborate.
"The inspiration for the text came spontaneously, and I refined the music a couple of times from the initial idea to finally arrive at the ambient vibe on the guitar that I liked the most and that remained. The drums were recorded by my friend from the USA, Erik Teichmann," said the musician.
Although the music of Beatz & Rhymes caresses the listeners gently like a spring breeze, the lyrics of the songs always make one think about the position of man in today's time, and such is "In a Minute", which talks about the importance of critical thinking and the fight against media manipulation.
"The first part talks about transience and disappearance, while the second stanza mentions peace, love, happiness and somewhat alludes to the hippie movement of the sixties. Jim Morrison said 'He who controls the media controls the minds', that's what I meant in the text when he mentioned mind manipulation. A manipulated person is not able to develop critical self-awareness, but is an instrument in someone else's hands. What is offered as an alternative to the mass consumerist culture, is there a rebellion, especially among the youth, or is their goal to become part of the quasi-elite? A man has to find his way regardless of the circumstances surrounding him, and when you look for your way you become lonely and insecure, especially in a small environment like ours", explains Đuković.
His words act as the essence of the message carried by the album "Dare to Struggle", translated as "Dare to fight", in which one song says that those who don't dare to fight, don't even deserve to win.
"The name of the album was derived from the slogan of the African-American activist Fred Hampton, who was a symbol of resistance and appeared in Beatz & Rhymes songs before. His saying 'if you're not ready to work hard for something, then you don't even deserve to win' served as a refrain in the song of the same name", added Đuković.
He reveals that he plans to screen a few more tracks from the last album, and since Beatz & Rhymes will celebrate 10 years of existence in December, he is preparing some more surprises, among which should be a bigger concert with more guests. In addition, the tireless Đuković plans to release several more singles by the end of the year.
He is also preparing two EPs with the alt rock group Sundrown
Although he still has a lot of work to do with Beatz & Rhymes after he just released an album, it doesn't seem like it's going to be enough to rein in Đuković's creative energy. He recently formed the alternative rock band Sundrown, with guitarist Mladen Vujović. It seems that he cannot escape from cooperation with the members of the Podgorica rock group Qtera, of which Vujović was once a member, as well as Braco Subotic, who was part of the Beatz & Rhymes group at the beginning.
"It happened completely unplanned and spontaneously, but since more and more things happen to me for a reason, I also believe that this was also something that had to happen. We play as a trio, we're a compact group and that's a plus because of various things, and as for the sound, it doesn't lose its fullness. We formed the band at the end of August 2023 and have already achieved a lot in a short period of time. We had our first concert ten days ago in Podgorica, it passed in a positive atmosphere and already in the middle of this month we will start recording songs", announced the musician and added that Sundrown already has about 10 original songs, which he will release on two EPs.
A manipulated person is not able to develop critical self-awareness, but is an instrument in someone else's hands. What is offered as an alternative to the mass consumerist culture, is there a rebellion, especially among the youth, or is their goal to become part of the quasi-elite? A person has to find his own way regardless of the circumstances surrounding him, and when you search for your own way, you become lonely and insecure, especially in a small environment like ours," Đuković explains.
Beatz & Rhymes will celebrate 10 years of existence in December, so on that occasion they are announcing some more surprises, among which should be a bigger concert with more guests.
Bonus video:
