Until recently, women in Montenegrin rap were more of an incident than something we are used to. But apparently the time has come to get used to it, because in the last couple of years several names appeared on the scene that attracted the attention of the audience, but none with such a boom as AV47.
Suffice it to say that Anđela Vuković, who stands behind this pseudonym, only with the song "MVP", released three years ago, approaches the figure of half a million views. There are also a number of other singles, collaborations with Serbian rappers, interviews and performances around the region, and the Podgorica rapper has already become a name that is followed in wider circles than Montenegro.
She recently found herself in the finals of the "She Raps" project, which brought together eight female rappers from the former Yugoslavia in Zagreb, who were chosen by an expert jury, mostly hip-hop veterans from the region.
"I didn't have any special expectations, because at the beginning I wasn't even sure if I wanted to and had time to apply. With the recommendation of DJ Lockda and after him DJ Thiccboia, when they explained to me a little more that it was a great opportunity to learn a lot of new things, I decided to record the application anyway. And a big thank you to them for that, because this was a wonderful experience where I met very interesting and creative women who are all so different and special, yet so similar," Vuković told "Vijesti".
The selected female rappers had the opportunity to perform in Zagreb, where they will gather again in February to perform with the legendary Croatian rap producer Koolade recorded a joint song and music video.
"The energy was incredible, it was not a moment of competition at all, but we supported each other, were there for each other and created an incredible 'cypher' (a gathering of rappers who create a song together - ed.) on which eight women from five countries of the former of Yugoslavia. I am very happy that I was a part of this story and that now we continue to tear everything together," the rapper points out.
Women in rap often face prejudice and attempts to put them in certain boxes by colleagues or the audience, and AV47 is no exception, but she says it doesn't bother her much.
"I didn't have any particularly bad experiences, especially from the audience, the 'worst' thing was some funny comments like 'go back to the kitchen' etc. The only thing that bothered me regarding some potential collaborations was once when it was suggested to me that I shouldn't rap about things from my everyday life because no one cares, but that I should make women's love songs. But of course, everyone has the right to their opinion, so I don't really care," the rapper answers in her own style.
That such suggestions are out of place is increasingly confirmed by the fact that even in the West female rappers draw attention to themselves more than ever and bring freshness to the scene, as well as in these areas. Anđela agrees that it seems the time has come for the flourishing of women's rap in Montenegro and adds that it means a lot to her.
She points out that she is very happy that she met through the "She Raps" project Eli Jane, another Montenegrin representative and one of the two winners of the competition final.
"I heard her music for the first time ten years ago. So I'm glad that my first female collaboration is with her. While we were in Croatia, the owner of the United Pop academy, where this competition was held, and also the producer under the name Beniducent suggested that he "snap" some stuff quickly, that we make a joint tape. The energy was so good that in half an hour we wrote the text and made a very powerful thing, which we then performed live at Exit and now we are organizing the recording of the video," reveals the rapper.
She said that the audience will be able to hear their joint song "Av Av" very soon.
"Through this, I want to motivate all women who want to be involved in hip-hop music to join us," says Podgorica.
Anđela previously took a break from recording songs and now plans to make up for it, so she announced a lot more material in addition to the collaboration with Eli, with whom she recently performed at the Exit festival. Among other things, she was also a guest at the forthcoming edition of the popular Serbian group THCF "Angels of the Street".
"I'm very excited and I can't wait for you to hear how many quality things were said there. It's unbelievable to me that I haven't made music for almost two years and suddenly, at the right moment, I got an invitation from them to be a guest on their album, together with a couple of other younger artists. When they invited me, I was so happy, because I've been listening to their music since elementary school, and it was an honor for me that they wanted to collaborate with me," the rapper points out.
He also says that he is working hard on his debut album.
"I have a concept in my head and now I need to slowly start organizing the recording of videos. The most important thing for me is that there is a lot of new music coming out soon, to make up for my absence", she concludes.
Everything that happened to me was completely spontaneous
Although, as she says, she has been listening to rap since she was a child, she did not always plan to be involved in this music. She got the idea to record her rhymes while she was in the United States, inspired by the drill subgenre in which she wanted to try herself. She admits that she didn't expect such good reactions and practically overnight she went from a passionate listener to an author.
"Everything that happened to me was completely spontaneous, so unplanned, I think it was simply my way. As for the reception of the audience, I was so pleasantly surprised even when I posted the first song 'DD11' on Soundcloud, how people reacted and how much they supported me and everyone started uploading the song en masse. Of course, that means a lot, my heart is full every time someone approaches me to tell me something about my music, because I know what kind of influence that music had on me and my entire life and growing up," she says.
AV47 is now a name from which great things are yet to be expected.
Bonus video:
