Of the two groups, the most famous in Latvia will be “Puuluup” – the duo has performed at the “Porta” festival, their witty video clips have been awarded prizes at the Riga IIF Baltic Music Video Show. It could be said that “Puuluup” are modern singers who perform their music with folk instruments, but they are also close to the recitative – hip-hop-specific vocal parts. They will know how to create a jester atmosphere even at the most modern pop music festival.
The group “5miinust” has had little business with Latvia – they are currently the most popular hip-hop group in Estonia, in the general category – creative and witty rappers who hide behind stage names, similar to what “Singapore Satin” does. Latvian producer JJ Lush was involved in the creation of last year’s successful single “Kõrvetab”. The two groups appreciated each other at the Estonian Music Awards ceremony and became friends. The Eurovision song was made and later, to have a reason for everyone to meet again, they decided to write an album together.
“Puuluup” and “5miinust” the overall Eurovision song initially seems to have an absurd theme (if the language is not known). However, if you take a closer look at the text, if only in translation, it is rich with various pop culture references, and they can be no less intoxicating than various substances. The groups have come up with a dance that moves the audience both in front of the phone and TV screens and in real life.
On the other hand, the joint album “Kannatused ehk külakiigel pole stopperit” (there is no stopwatch for suffering or village swings) has 13 compositions (songs and skits), including the Eurovision song. For those who do not understand the Estonian language, the songs will most likely be like folk music compositions – energetic and rhythmic to live by dancing along to. All in all, such a clever synthesis of styles is an album that pushes the boundaries of hip-hop, both in terms of language and production, breaking ideas of what something should sound like. Hip-hop and folk music influences inevitably meet at various summer events in Latvia, and probably also in Estonia.
To view this resource, we need your consent to cookies.
I agree to “Third Party” cookiesManage cookies
“It is more difficult to make the Estonian language more rhythmic, because there are not many consonants in the language. That’s why words have to be twisted, bent and played with in every other way, for example with the structure of verses,” explains the “5miinust” rapper and adds that Finnish sentences are longer in terms of the length of the language. Although the Eurovision song has an English translation, it is more for subtitles – the musicians do not plan to sing in another language. “Maybe we should make a Dutch version of this hazy version. Our song had reached number 14 on Spotify in the Netherlands.”
Speaking about Latvia in Eurovision, “5miinust” appreciates Don’s voice and motivation, and also asks who is better known in Latvia – Don or Renārs Kaupers? I answered that it is probably still Cowper, because he has been working longer. “We met Renars Kauper once – in Lithuania. That time our flight to Vilnius was canceled due to bad weather conditions. So we organized a bus for ourselves. It was not the best idea. We arrived in Vilnius at 7 in the morning, but our sound check it was already 11,” “5miinust” shares the memory. They are also well remembered for “Instruments” and how they performed the song “Life Jacket Under Your Seat” in panda masks. On the other hand, “Puuluup”, who collaborated with Sniedzi Prauliņa in the performance of “Porta”, asked about the potential participation of “Tautumeita” in Eurovision.
What do the groups think about the bookmakers’ predictions? “Now that we are in the predicted eighth place, we think all the best about the bookmakers than when we were promised the 28th place. Everything depends on what basis these predictions are made – whether they are polling fans or watching performances. After 10 places, everyone is equal, and a lot depends on the performance itself. We are happy that only the audience will vote in the semi-finals.”
“Puuluup”: It would be great if we were together with Latvia and Lithuania in the final.
“5miinust”: Yes, just the three of us! No one else. (“Atmostas Baltija” is sung, we all laugh together.)
More
CONTEXT:
37 countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.
31 countries will compete in two semi-finals – on May 7 and 9, and in the final – on May 11 – 26 countries will fight for places.
From each semi-final, 10 countries will advance to the Eurovision final, bringing 20 countries to join Eurovision 2024 winner Sweden and the ‘big five’ of Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France.
The one who will represent Latvia in Eurovision is decided every year by the jury and the audience in the “Supernova” competition of Latvian Television. This year, Don became the winner with the song “Hollow”, it will be performed in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 9.
