Croatian rapper Grše told "Vijesti": If it wasn't for Trep, the rapper would have died

Grgo Šipek, better known as Grše, has been on the scene for a long time, and before he started doing hip-hop, he played drums and did not listen to the mentioned genre.

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Grše, Photo: Nenad Pejović
Grše, Photo: Nenad Pejović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The hits that marked this summer, especially for rap fans, are certainly the tracks "Forza" and "Fantazia" by one of the most popular rappers of the younger generation from the Balkans. Grgo Šipek is the real name of Croatian hip-hopper Gršet, who has been slowly but surely winning over audiences around the region for five years.

He inherited his love for music from his brother, who has a hard rock band, so Grše learned to play the drums as a child. However, his love for hip-hop prevailed in his teenage days when, at the end of high school, he decided to found the band "Treći chin" with his friend Mateo Đonlić Đon, which was the beginning of Gršet's musical career.

His independent career was also marked by the successful debut "Tilurium", which he released in 2019, and the songs on it attracted a lot of attention. In the same year, he opened the publishing house Blockstar Digital, based in Split.

With the second album "Platinum", which was released in 2021, Grše established himself as one of the leading musicians of the new generation on the domestic hip-hop scene.

This summer was very busy for the rapper. Performances where he gives the audience every atom of strength, as well as frequent trips, can be exhausting, he admits, but the atmosphere at the concert and the audience's reaction are always an additional motivation for him to continue to be always better and more energetic. This was also the case this summer in Tjentište when he performed at the OK fest, where he got out of the van straight onto the stage and created a great atmosphere in the camp by extending the performance to the delight of the audience. After the concert, there was a photo session with fans where, regardless of the fact that he was exhausted, he posed with a smile.

"I still find it surprising and unreal when the audience comes to take a photo with me after the performance. It's all part of the work I do, and I'm really happy when after the performance they want to have a photo with me and share that moment together. Certainly, thanks to them, I am where I am and I should repay them for that," Grše believes.

It is the rappers of the younger generation, to which he belongs, who opt for a more commercial sound, while their lyrics are full of violence and bad messages. However, Grše still tries to avoid all that with adopted songs, and this distinguishes him from most of his younger colleagues. Although the musical background is always happy and makes you dance, when it comes to the lyrics, Grše is not ready to compromise, but as he says in an interview with Vijesti, he prefers that the audience love him for who he is.

"I've been on the scene for a long time and I've really been in all segments of music, I've been in a lot of genres. My previous phase was like that with the let's say 'violent texts'. However, as I grew up, I also matured emotionally and my music changed as well. Again, that part of the story is also a part of me, but I try to come to that other side with each new song and to spread love and positive energy and the harmony of life, which is the most important thing", notes Grše and adds that among his audience there are those who love rap, to what he calls "hardcore rap fans".

They're wrong
photo: Nenad Pejović

He tries to make the audience feel rebellion through his lyrics, but also to show that even through hip-hop you can talk about more beautiful topics.

"As I already said, my music has changed a lot lately, especially since I became a parent myself. A lot of those clicks have worked in my head since I had a child. Every day I try to change myself, my music, and direct it to another path", Grše is honest.

Precisely because the majority of young people listen to hip-hop, he believes that it is important what kind of messages he and his colleagues send through the songs.

"It's a very specific topic because everything is in the palm of your hand today. I'm not saying that what they're talking about in the songs is right, but maybe it's not the rappers who are influencing children wrongly. From all sides, everything is in the palm of their hands, I mean it negatively. Rappers swear, but swearing is also done on the street, so rap has always been a part of talking about what surrounds us. Only hip-hop mentioned it. I honestly don't know what answer I would give to that, but sometimes my conscience makes me feel like it's my fault, if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm a bad influence, but at the end of the day, no one has an answer to that. As a kid I listened to AC/DC, I grew up on rock and roll, and back then no one told me why I was listening to it. And this is precisely the genre where the lyrics are vulgar - sex, drugs, rock and roll. I think that we have changed a lot as a society and that every little thing is looked at. People should relax and enjoy life. At the end of the day, education comes from the home and the way parents raise their children, that's how they will be. They don't have to change anything that happens outside. Everything starts from home. Those who do their work properly at home should not be afraid of anything," advises Grše.

They're wrong
They're wrongphoto: Nenad Pejović

Last year, half a century since the birth of hip-hop was celebrated around the world, and Grše believes that this genre has evolved a lot in our country as well.

"The real hip-hop scene has changed a lot, the hardcore rap has died down a bit in recent years, the rap came and took over everything. Some people find it wrong, but that's just the way it is, it's the evolution of the genre. If there were no eyelashes, hip-hop would die and that's for sure. So it's good for rappers that trap appeared. By the way, I didn't listen to hip-hop at all until I was 19. In fact, I started writing and working late, and it's all still new to me, I'm still studying it," admits Grše, and reveals how he got into rap:

"I come from a rocker's family, I've been playing drums since I was little. There was a guy in the neighborhood who did rap, I came home from school one day and asked him to make a song. He then replied that we could meet and make it together, I sat down the same evening and made the first song. Back then, I didn't even know what rap was, I didn't even listen to it at all. He liked it, so did I, and that's how the light story started. It was also fate when I think about it, because if it wasn't for that message after school and his consent, I wouldn't have been involved in music", is an honest rapper who, as a drummer, had a sense of rhythm, so that also meant a lot to him when rapping.

"The drum is perhaps the best prerequisite for rap, really. In this way, hearing is developed very well for hip-hop. Even Tsunami, who is also one of the popular rappers, is also a drummer, so he is good for hearing and rhythmicity," concludes Grše.

The influence of Italy on the music of the Mediterranean

Italy and Croatia are quite historically connected, and as a coastal citizen, Grša does not hide his fascination with this country even through his songs, and there is almost no one in which this country is not mentioned, parts, words...

"There are a lot of influences here from Italy - from architecture to food and life. It is the same as in Italy. It took me a long time to find that formula, because we can't use that Turkism that is Serbia-Bosnia, they simply don't kiss each other. We were looking for that formula to spread it a little for the wider masses, and that was the combination. After all, we are the two foundations of the Mediterranean and that kisses each other. Perfect, and the audience accepted that too. At the end of the day, the music of Oliver and Džiboni is heavily influenced by Italy," says Grše.

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