| Azerbaijani pop music | |
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| Stylistic origins | Traditional pop,Mugham,classical music,Europop |
| Cultural origins | 1950s,USSR |
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| Music of Azerbaijan | ||||||
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| Genres | ||||||
| Specific forms | ||||||
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| Media and performance | ||||||
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | ||||||
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Azerbaijani pop music (Azerbaijani:Azərbaycan pop musiqisi) is apop music created inAzerbaijan. The emergence ofAzerbaijani pop music dates back to the mid-20th century. Growth of new generation of musicians in the 1970s positively influenced Azerbaijan pop music's "golden age". Performers of traditional pop music such asMirza Babayev,Flora Karimova andShovkat Alakbarova achieved great success at that time. Contemporary Azerbaijani pop music has its roots in traditional Azerbaijani folk music.
As a result of globalisation, Azerbaijani pop music has been heavily influenced by both dance and electronic forms of pop music of the 1980s, as well as by genres of the 2000s such aselectropop,dance-pop andsynth-pop. In 2011, the songRunning Scared (Ell & Nikki song), performed by the duoEll & Nikki, was Azerbaijan's first-ever victory on European song contestEurovision.
The early 1960s were probably the era when Azerbaijani pop music was most dependent on the group format, with pop acts, like rock bands, playing guitars and drums, with the occasional addition of keyboards or orchestration. Classical pop-folk music enjoyed mainstream popularity during this era, with artists such asAnatollu Ganiyev,Muslim Magomayev andShahlar Guliyev.[1]
The Azerbaijani pop music experienced during the late 1970s a golden age of productivity characterized by the rise of a new generation of musicians. The classical pop artists such asRashid Behbudov,Mirza Babayev,Flora Karimova,Shovkat Alakbarova,Ogtay Aghayev, andGulagha Mammadov experienced their greatest success at the start of the decade and maintained their popularity throughout the entire music history.[2][3][4]
Akif Islamzade often considered one of the most successful and influential Azerbaijani male pop artists of the early 1980s.[5]
Baku chanson, a subgenre ofRussian chanson, picked up popularity for the mid 1980s. Artists such asEyyub Yaqubov brought Baku chanson to popularity in 1992.[6][7] However, many artists were uncomfortable with their success, and were equally suspicious of the chanson label.
In the early 1990s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers with only tangential influences from regional music such asNiyameddin Musayev andBaloghlan Ashrafov, a trend that has continued since.[8]
In the 1990s, while the singles charts were dominated byboy bands andgirl groups likeKarvan andW Trio,[9] artists likeAygun Kazimova,Faig Aghayev,Samir Bagirov,Zulfiyya Khanbabayeva andBrilliant Dadasheva also enjoyed their greatest level of mainstream success to date, and the rise ofWorld music helped revitalise the popularity offolk music.[10]
Duringfirst Nagorno-Karabakh War, in stark contrast to the upbeat dance based music of the scene was the emergencemilitary bard that emerged as part of the independent or alternative folk scenes of the 1990s, following the lead of artists such asShamistan Alizamanli andMubariz Taghiyev.[11][12]
The Azerbaijani pop singerRöya breakthrough at the early 2000s led to her major international success in many Turkic speaking countries, especially theIranian Azerbaijan andTurkey in addition to the music scene of Azerbaijan.[13][14]
At the beginning of the new millennium, while talent show contestants were one of the major forces in pop music, as country made its debut appearance at the 2008Eurovision Song Contest. The country'sentry gained the third place in 2009 and fifth the following year.[15]Ell and Nikki won the first place at theEurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared", entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in2012, in Baku.[16][17]
On contrary, many music critics argued that the surge ofYeni Ulduz (Pop Idol) type competitions and reality shows onAzerbaijani TV has only added to the pop industry's shallow image, and is cited as the reason why underground and reactionary music is becoming more popular.[18][19]
Influenced byglobalization of the world music,electropop,dance-pop,synthpop andelectrohop, along with other forms ofdance,electronica andpop music that started in the 1980s, have become the dominant form of music in the Azerbaijan in the early 2010s.
Despite the commercial dominance of hip-hop and pop during this period, rapperMiri Yusif found success with his reggae and soul fusion album "Karma", peaked at number 1 in the Azerbaijani Albums Chart in 2010.Also in 2018 the most viewed azerbaijani song belongs to Miri Yusif " Ad günü " (ft. Dilara Kazimova ) . Azerbaijan pop music industry keep growing up with Youtube mashups.[20][21][22]
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| Sabina Babayeva · Safura Alizadeh · Flora Karimova | ||||
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| Muslim Magomayev · Eldar Gasimov | ||||