Boris Jelic is moving outside of hip-hop’s traditional borders!
Coming to the table with his own music genre which he calls ”Gay Hip-Hop”, Sweden’s music rebel, Boris Jelic is truly an artist who is never afraid to speak his mind. He’s being booked in the biggest clubs all around Europe and is just about ready to drop his new album “Do or Die” in July. Jelic’s methods are novel, and the tenor of his crude, youthful intensity sounds unmatched, as he blends hip-hop rhymes, electronic soundscapes and a rock star-like pulse.
At a time when the genre is consistently in flux, Jelic is another one of the new breed of artists who does not stick to the fixed markers of its archetypal vocabulary, making music that challenges sonically while moving outside of hip-hop’s traditional borders.
There’s the crude sense of humor, used to relieve the built-up tension of so much dense, complex wordplay. There’s the habit of handling emotional duress via confrontational swagger, lashing out at enemies real and imagined.
There’s the prideful insistence on antisocial behavior, against the bigotry of establishment thinking. The focal point of Boris Jelic’s rebellious métier, works within a familiar tradition of sublimated rage, oscillating wildly between ironic and genuine treatment of these emotions.
The single “Sell Me Something” testify to the artist’s freethinking mind and hedonistic tendencies. “I don’t care what it is, I want to get my mind off things. I want you to save me, you got the medicine I need. Sell me something (I don’t care what it is. Sell me something (You name the price)…” makes a clear statement on substance use and dependence, as he continues: “I can never get enough, my body’s slowly breaking down. What I use to be, is now the man that I fear.”
On “Freedom” Jelic puts forth his freethinking mind and strong will: “You know that I’m a rebel always fighting for my rights. I’ve got an army of me, and we do care about equality.” The song leans on a big banging electro beat, fired up by blaring synths and a thumping bassline.
It is a phenomenal representation of a creative mind bursting with artistic talent and self-determination. It’s a track that truly shows Jelic’s growth, and his clear spectrum of maturity and emotional depth. It also proves that he is able to speak to a generation that can appreciate his raw confrontational style.
The key to liking these songs is taking Boris Jelic seriously. It’s tempting to not do this; it may be too uncomfortable to accept Jelic’s provocation at face value, as well as the progressive thinking of his mindset. To take Boris Jelic seriously is to see his brilliant mind and steadfast willpower in searching for a liberated and just world.
