This month in Latgale marks an unprecedented and perhaps even unique joint music and poetry project – 20th century Latgalian poetry meets 21st century Latvian hip-hop on one platform and in one cultural space. That is, the poetry of Seimans Putāns is played in the creative decoration of Ługa, Anša, Gustavo and other hip-hop masters.
The Latgalian rapper goes on for an unprecedented concert
This Saturday, November 9, the concert “Putāns. Toreiz und Tagad”, in which the rebellious spirit of the Latvian poet Seimans Putāns in the 20th century will be represented in a contemporary hip-hop decoration, with the participation of art such as Ługa, ansis and Gustavo. The actor Jānis Skutelis will be responsible for directing the event and reciting poetic variations, who has chosen the nickname Dekšārietis for the concert in honor of his Latgalian roots. “In short, the concert show will be held three times. “Putāns toreiz” is the first time – with a traditional recital of poetry. The second one is “Putāns tagad” – with poetry in the hip-hop genre. On the other hand, it is the third one that is created by connecting the first two. I believe that the results can be different for different viewers”, says Jānis Skutelis or On the right.
“I can proudly say that with our joint efforts, we have breathed new life into the poetry of Seimans Putāns, creating completely new compositions. I am proud of Latgali, which has its own pearl. A poet with his own opinion on things, who fought and who could encourage the people around him. True and true. Button is a legend and will remain so! Through the unique voices of the artists, what Putāns created many years ago will come through. Not to mention the team members that were created while working on this project. Pearls of Latgale and popular artists – Ansis, Gustavo, Jānis Skutelis – who were very responsive and joined us in this adventure!” is happy the creative director of the recording and the concert, the rapper Ūga (Daiga Barkāne).
Rebel poetry will be reinvented on the basis of hip-hop narrative
The guests of the concert will experience contemporary interpretations of the poetry of Seimans Putans (1892-1969) both in the original Latvian language and in Latvian retellings.
From history. Seimans Putāns was a poet, writer, teacher and press officer. Worked as a railway worker, engaged in agriculture. He was born in 1892 in a family of nine poor peasant children in Lipiniškos, Upper Daugava region.
Published in most Latvian newspapers in the 1920s and 1930s. The first poems were written around 1905, but in 1907 there were unsuccessful attempts to publish them in Franz Trasun’s newspaper “Auseklis”. The first publication took place in 1912 with the poem “Komēta” (Drywa newspaper). During his life, he published under more than 10 (!) pseudonyms in magazines like “Drywa”, “Taisneiba”, “Zīdūnis”, “Reits”, “Latgolas škola”, “Jauno strame”, “Latgolas doors”, etc. . in 1960 a selection of poetry “Tovā vōrdā” was published, which is considered the last publication in Latvian (together with “Kolhoznīku Kalendar 1960”), after that In 1960, there was an unofficial print ban – hit in Latgalian. Putan’s poems are also in many anthologies, anthologies, yearbooks and anthologies.
At the concert, Putān’s poems will be adapted to a hip-hop beat or accompaniment. “The poetry of the poet Latgale Putān, surrounded by legends and always going against the system, will be restarted in a new sound – clear, inspiring and direct. The rebellious spirit of the past will join the present.”
When two centuries and two cultures meet
If the concert shows “Putāns. The creative director of the program Now and then The Latvian rapper and producer “Ausmeņa Records” Łga, and then his colleague Nikita Grapp (“Ausmeņa Records”) created the musical accompaniment. Domestic hip-hop heavyweights, rappers Ansis and Gustavo, participate in the creation of the performances and take the stage. A number of urban music artists of the younger generation, who love Latgale, were invited to the concerts, which bring a real feeling and sound.
“It must be recognized that this is an exceptional project in every aspect. 100-year-old poetry from Latgale and poet Rēzekne Seimans Putānas will meet today’s powerful poets, hip-hop artists Ługa, Ansi, Gustavo. It is an unusual practice for hip-hop artists to interpret poetry and turn it into rap tracks. The meeting of these artists in one recording and on the stage “Gors” in Rēzekne is also a unique first. There is a hidden code in the performance of the concert – Putans now and then, poetry then and now. From a contemporary point of view, you can even say – hip-hop here and now,” he says the producer of the concert, Marħers Zeitmanis.
ansis and Gustavo see the roots of modern rap in the poetry of Latvian Putanas
The album “Caur bolsim as eju” was also released this week, which contains collected 17 compositions based on the work of Seimans Putan. The author of the music is the already mentioned Nikita Grapps, the album features musicians such as Ługa, ansis, Gustavo, Jānis Skutelis, Bruolāns, Amanda Lapa-Slobožanina, Laura Svikshas, Vasilijeva, Jana Dudare, Broks, Marija Zeitmanes, Rudolfs Zeitmanis and Arnolds Zeitmanis or DJ Stream.
As a warm-up for the next release of the album (and the performance of the concert that was approaching, of course), several singles have already been released in which rappers interpreted the work of the Latgalian poet in a modern way: “Kosmiskuo šalts” (performed by Ansis), “Kovchegs” (performed by Ługa), “What the muse said” (collaboration between Anša and Gustavo) and “Tabakys dyums” (performed by Ługa).
“Putāns was sent to me practically as a rapper,” explained Ansis (Ansis Kolmanis). “When I get to know his poems, I seem to notice why – the presence and personal experiences of the author, relationships with creativity and self-expression, sometimes direct clarity, social commentary with good feeling, value system and self-analysis, the desire to understand and live with the world, often to feel for its terrible flaws. Also, there is something more lyrical in the lyrics of the poems – the way the scenes are created. When we tried to put the poet’s words on the beat, there was no doubt – rap that rap!”
“In my musical career, it is an experience for the first time to be involved in a project where I have to recite poetry from a foreign language by changing it into a rap form,” Gustavo admits. “Until now, I had created several compositions with the poetry of my grandfather, the poet Gustavs Kraujas. As far as I know, the previously published songs with my grandfather’s poetry were also one of the project “Putāns. Then and now” to the sources of inspiration for the beginners. I am happy both for the product and for the creative process itself, which was very organic and smooth, also because the song “What the muse said” created in conjunction with the rap virtuoso Ansi. This is our second collaboration where we continue to experiment with the form of songs and cross-genre references generally, it must be said that the table “Caur bolsim as eju” with the poetry of Putān is a unique project that is very organic uniting representatives from different regions, generations and different subgenres of hip-hop.”
The century-old poem is reworked in a new Latgalian script
Along with the album “Caur bolsim as eju” is the poetry collection “Seimans Putāns. Kūpuotī roksti”, which was presented last weekend at the Museum of Cultural History of Latgale in Rēzekne. The idea for the book came to Marħers Zeitmans a couple of years ago, who pays tribute to his great-grandfather , the poet Seimans Putāns. The content of the book was developed by Renāte Vancāne, who works daily at the Latgale Cultural History Museum.
“My challenge was to compile Putān’s poetry written more than a century ago in the new Latgalian script, which was approved in 2007. What is accepted in modern conventions differ from Button’s writing. I thought at first that Putāns was not the poet I would read cover to cover. Now it has happened that I have read Putan’s poetry collection at least ten times and I can even write some poems by heart. The characteristic of Putan’s poetry is that it is musical. He himself has said that his poetry is songs, so it is good that his poetry has also turned into music in this project,” Renate Vancāne believes.
It should be noted that there are also QR codes for some poems in the book, with the help of which the reader can listen to the songs created by Nikita Grapp and included in the album. Will “Putāna Samhain” continue in Latgale and other parts of Latvia – it is still too early to say.
2024-11-10 07:04:00
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