Pretty Loud is a

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

rap group based in

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

, Serbia, advocating for women's empowerment in the Romani community. The group formed in 2014, when the all-female members started singing together as part of the

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

educational and social program GRUBB (Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats). GRUBB's goal is to help young Roma take their futures into their own hands, to stay in school and get an education. According to one of Pretty Loud's members, "We want to stop the early marriages ..we want the girls themselves, and not their parents, to decide whether they want to marry or not. We want every woman to have the right to be heard, to have her dreams and to be able to fulfil them, to be equal". The group's music blends traditional

Romani music Romani music (often referred to as Gypsy or Gipsy music, which is often considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Romani people, an ethnic-minority group concentrated in parts of Europe. Historically nomadic, though now largely settled, ...

with contemporary rap and they sing in

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

and English. The group has previously collaborated with the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

, and in 2020 they participated in the

Women of the World Festival WOW – Women of the World Festival (WOW, WOW Festival) is a network of arts festivals that celebrate the achievements of women and girls as well as highlighting the obstacles that face them, and is part of a global feminist movement. The WOW F ...

in London. During this festival they performed in the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

. Members of the group teach music and dance workshops held by GRUBB.

History

The group was started in 2014 in the Serbian capital,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, as part of the GRUBB organisation and the members involved used the band in school appearances to spread their positive message, along with holding workshops for children to teach them dance, music, and acting. The idea for the band arose at artistic workshops held by GRUBB, where Pretty Loud members were part of the GRUBB Show and decided to start their own all-girl group. Two of the first members were Zlata Ristic and Silvia Sinani, who encouraged the group toward using

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

as the best way to openly discuss the issues in their communities and to help fight discrimination and improve education levels within the Roma community. Band member Silvia Sinani recalled the band's name arose from the notion that Roma women are not typically very loud. The members of Pretty Loud include a 19-year-old law student, a young single mother, schoolgirls and young professionals, all who live in challenging environments within Roma settlements.

Awards and recognition

In 2021 they won the "Bring the Noize" award from the BeFem feminist cultural center in Belgrade for advancing struggle of Roma women. In their interview for Croatian portal VoxFemiae, they stated that although they were recognised in their community and had street credibility, they still experience discrimination. In an interview for Kosovo 2.0 they mention that learning English is important for them to expand their performance options internationally. For the Turkish national news agency that called them the first Roma female band, they stated that they were hopeful that others would follow up on their work and that they would make it easier for next bands to develop.

References

{{reflist

External links

Coverage by Al Jazeera Balkans TV

Facebook pageGRUBB
Musical groups established in 2014 Musical groups from Belgrade Serbian girl groups Serbian hip hop groups Serbian Romani musical groups 2014 establishments in Serbia Romani-language musical groups from Serbia Romani rappers