MAGNIFICO - PORTRAIT

magnifico 1Magnifico is a singer, songwriter and actor from Slovenia. His real name is Robert Pesut. After abandoning his studies, he founded his first band U Redu in 1988 and recorded two albums with them. After the band broke up, he began his solo career in 1997.
 
Magnifico sings in Slovenian, Serbian, Romani, Italian and English. His pieces are decidedly self-mocking. He employs southern European and Balkan clichés in a humorous way and with a sly wink, poking fun at them. Aside from its entertainment factor, Magnifico’s art deals critically with the social problems of his homeland. Stereotypes, prejudices, machoism, xenophobia and homophobia are the topics of his lyrics which in the past have led to heavy controversy.
 
Magnifico, who has his roots in both Slovenia and Serbia, is not someone who can be clearly defined. That is reflected in his music. He mixes the most diverse musical genres and styles: Balkan brass, dancefloor and hip-hop beats, surf guitar, American folk, ex-Yugoslavian rock, gypsy singing and reggae melodies. And the whole is always punctuated with elements of country. The result is a sound that only Magnifico can make. Thanks to this unmistakeable distinctiveness, he can’t be pigeonholed in his home country and he stands out like no other artist.
 
In 2002, he wrote the song “Samo Ljubezen” (Only Love) with which the transsexual trio Sestre represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest. The staging of the song became a political issue, unleashing wide-spread and extremely vehement discussions in Slovenian society.
 
Magnifico made his breakthrough outside the Balkans with the single “Hir Ai Kam Hir Ai Go” and its accompanying video. The single made it into the Italian charts, bringing him international attention. He became known in Germany primarily through his appearance at the Balkan festival “Mi Plešmo” in Dortmund in 2008. In 2010, the album “Magnifico” was released on German world music label Piranha. The album is a compilation, offering a choice selection of his previous work.
 
Apart from his music, Magnifico can be seen on the big screen from time to time. He played the starring role in the movie “Stereotip” and also wrote the soundtrack. In “Porno Film”, he mimes a Serbian Mafia boss; in “Poker”, a player.
 
 
Discography:
 
Od srca do srca (1994)
Kdo je čefur (1996)
Stereotip (Soundtrack, 1997)
Sexy boy (1998)
Magnifico komplet (2001)
Export import (2005)
Grande Finale (2007)
Srecno (2008)
Magnification (2010)
Montevideo (Soundtrack, 2013)
 
 
Web:
 
 
 
 

 

Text: Robert Lippuner / Gypsy Music Network
Translation: Jamie Davies

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