September 18, 2023, 9:45 am
In addition to the global pop and jazz sounds that can be found in all major cities of comparable size, you can also find some specific features in Budapest that are only available here: For example, a worldwide music scene based on the so-called Tanchas movement. Originally this just meant rural dancing with food and drink. Later, under communism, this became an ideologically determined acoustic search for roots with which people wanted to secure their own traditions.
The Hungarian capital serves as a melting pot and a magnet for all types of pop culture formats. Hip hop of the trap variety is particularly big at the moment, with smug lyrics that occasionally take a few digs at head of state Viktor Orbán – but without pursuing an explicit political agenda. But there is also mainstream pop in all its facets and, less pleasantly, a right-wing rock movement called Nemzeti Rock, which dreams of a Greater Hungary and questions the Trianon Treaties after the First World War. This may perhaps suit Orbán ideologically, but scene expert András Rónai doesn’t believe he’s particularly interested in his own country’s music scene: “He dreams of world-historical significance. He doesn’t care about pop.”
service
Radiokolleg Podcast
Series
layout
Eszter Hollosi
Thomas Mießgang