Guntars Račs concludes that hip-hop in Latvia has rapidly entered an area that previously one could have doubted that it would be so easily reached – it is about performing live.
“I’m old-school about how to be on stage: I need drums and other instruments and paraphernalia on it, but here a hip-hop artist comes out alone (or with a DJ) and the audience is excited . However it works, it must be admitted that it is quite economical.
Hip-hop artists often swear, but the audience expects and enjoys it.
The share of this audience has definitely increased, because we see that these artists organize concerts in large halls, go on concert tours, are indispensable participants of summer festivals,” observed the musician.
Today’s hip-hop greats like Ozol and Gustavo once had to prove themselves, and when they did, both rappers are still popular today. But nothing stands still.
“We are waiting for new stars to rise,” explains Guntars Rachs. “Perhaps it is difficult to call Finkis a typical hip-hop artist, but we must admit that he has prepared several masterful pieces. Undeniably, in the most pop and popular of them – “Rocket Science” – Patricia also plays a role. It’s great to see that rapper ansis recently won the “Golden Microphone” award of Latvian Music Records in the “Hip-hop album” category with the beatmaker project “Netīrās cilpas”.
Guntars Rach summarizes: “At this time, we are all experiencing together how hip-hop mixes all genres of music, and here we can hear both pop and rock – hip-hop is able to use it all to its advantage. Radio would certainly be a kind of stepping stone for young people to introduce themselves and maybe even reach millions of listeners outside of Latvia.”
