Roma Women, Armed With Lyrics
BELGRADE, Serbia — The members of Pretty Loud, possibly the world’s first all-Roma female hiphop group, don’t write saccharine love songs.
Their lyrics focus instead on the pains Roma women experience: marrying and having children too young, feeling like second-class citizens and not finishing high school.
“Don’t force me, Dad, I’m too young for marriage,” the six members, who hail from Serbia and are in their midteens to late 20s, sing in one song. “Please understand me, or should I be quiet?” they rap in another. “No one hears when I use my Roma girl’s voice.”
Persecuted for centuries, many Roma people in Europe — the continent’s largest ethnic minority — live in segregated communities with limited access to amenities and health care.
“They are taught when they grow up that they will get married, cook and raise kids, but we want to change this,” Silvia Sinani, 24, said of Roma girls, adding that such expectations made it hard to finish their educations. One of the band’s goals is to show there is another way. “We want every girl to decide for herself,” Ms. Sinani said.
The women are hoping their visibility — already rewriting social conventions in their community in Belgrade, the Serbian capital — can help women and girls elsewhere find their own voices. Formed in 2014, Pretty Loud has sung on stages across Europe.
“It is a different way of fighting,” Zivka Ferhatovic, 20, said of her ac-* tivism. “We fight through the music and songs.”
She added that the group wanted its fusion of traditional Roma music and Balkan hip-hop to confront the everyday realities of many Roma women — be it domestic abuse, sexism or racial discrimination.
Pretty Loud began as a project of GRUBB, a group running programs for Roma youth in Serbia. The members were initially reluctant to write songs and perform. But others involved with GRUBB helped them to focus on their experiences.
Now, their songs signal a hope to represent Roma women in a modern world free of racism and sexism. “Little girls, they come to me and say: ‘Bravo, I want to be like you one day,’ ” Ms. Sinani said.
Even outside their circles, they are amassing supporters. “Their energy breaks through the walls and spreads love,” said Joana Knezevic, a Serbian actress who watched a recent Pretty Loud performance.
A Serbian band takes a stand on issues of racism and sexism.
“They are women who have something to say.”
Members of Pretty Loud are trying to live the messages they preach. Some work at GRUBB while holding other jobs; others, like Elma and Selma Dalipi, 15-year-old twins, are still finishing high school.
“We’ve had numerous offers for marriage, but we never accepted any,” said Zivka Ferhatovic of her and her sister, Dijana, 19. Their determination to finish school is supported by their grandparents.
After one performance, the cheers made Dijana Ferhatovic’s chest tighten, she said. “We’re really doing something,” she added, though she called it a small step.
Her sister disagreed. “How can you say it’s small?” Zivka Ferhatovic said.