Music of Kosovo is music that originates from Kosovo, a country in the Balkans. Kosovo's population is mainly Kosovo Albanians, also known as Kosovars, and there are various minority ethnic groups as well. Kosovan music is closely related to that of neighbouring Albania, as well as to that of countries in the former Yugoslavia.
Throughout its history, Kosovan music has played an important cultural role and also a significant part of the Kosovan national identity, drawing its artistic basis from the ancient and traditional folk music (with distinctive instrumentation of Albania), rhapsody, and classical music. In recent times, Kosovo has seen the rise of popular music.
Popular music dominates the Kosovan music market, although classical music and folk music remain vibrant. Kosovan musicians have reconstructed traditions that were suppressed while the country was under Yugoslav rule.
Mainstream music in Kosovo is based on Western trends, and popular genres include pop, rock, hip hop, electronic, and jazz.
Folk music
In the past, epic poetry in Kosovo and northern Albania was sung on a lahuta (a one-string fiddle) and then a more tuneful çiftelia was used which has two strings-one for the melody and one for drone. Cultural anthropology researches revealed the antiquity of this tradition and how was it developed in parallel with other traditional music in the Balkans, while various archaeologists discovered finds dating back to the 5th Century B.C. such as stone paintings depicting musicians with instruments, notably the portrait of "Pani" holding an aerophone similar to flute.
Traditional music
Kosovo Albanian music
It is characterized by use of çiftelia (an authentic Albanian instrument), mandolin, mandola and percussion. The most notable Albanian rock bands are: Gjurmët, Asgjë Sikur Dielli - Jazz Drummer, Ilir Bajri is a notable jazz and electronic musician.
Ledri Vula, Rita Ora, Era Istrefi, Dua Lipa, Regard , Dhurata Dora, Nora Istrefi, Majk (rapper), Genta Ismajli, Rona Nishliu, Vedat Ademi and Adelina Ismajli are some of the most popular commercial singers in Kosovo today.
Tallava is a minority music genre from Kosovo, also popular in Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, in the Albanian-speaking communities. Having originated in the Roma community in Kosovo in the 1990s, it is oriental-sounding, and perceived of as low-status. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly popular in Albania and North Macedonia. It is identified as part of the wider Pop-folk genre of the Southeastern Europe, which includes Chalga from Bulgaria, Skiladiko from Greece, Manele from Romania and Turbo-folk from Serbia.
Kosovo Serb music
Serbian
music in Kosovo today represents a minority group and is a mixture of traditional music (which is part of the wider Balkan tradition) with its own distinctive sound and various Turkish influences. Some of Serbian traditional dance kolo originated from Kosovo. Serb songs from Kosovo were an inspiration for 12th song wreath (sr. Руковет) by composer Stevan Mokranjac, who is often called “father of Serbian music”. Most of Serbian music from Kosovo was dominated by church music, with its own share of sung epic poetry. Oral epic poetry and folk songs cultivated the Kosovo Myth. Many epic poems are about events related to the Battle of Kosovo, which is important to Serbian history, tradition and national identity. Serbian national instrument Gusle was also used by their minority in Kosovo.
Jordan Nikolić, Viktorija, Sejo Kalač, Đani, Jana, Tina Ivanović, Slađa Delibašić, Rasta, Nevena Božović are some of the most popular Kosovo Serb commercial singers.
Rock music
While rock music in Kosovo has always been Western oriented, Yugoslavian influence became also evident to a minor extent but it was short-lived. One of the first popular Albanian rock bands was called Blue Star which formed in 1964 in Pristina and later it was renamed to Modestët. In the beginning of the 1970s, the rock music scene in Mitrovica, Kosovo (then Yugoslavia) comprised both Albanian and Serbian bands, though each had their own separate audience and performed in their own languages. However, there was a band called MAK which had both Albanian and Serbian musicians, and another bi-ethnic band was FAN also based in Mitrovica, but their collaboration was short-lived as well.