Meykhana
| Music of Azerbaijan | |
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| General topics | |
| Genres | |
| Specific forms | |
| Traditional music | |
| Subgenres | |
| Media and performance | |
| Music festivals | |
| Music media | Medeniyyet TV |
| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | March of Azerbaijan |
Meykhana (Azerbaijani: Meyxana) is a distinctive Azerbaijani literary and folk rap tradition, consisting of an unaccompanied song performed by one or more people improvising on a particular subject. Meykhana is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat.
Meykhana is often compared to hip hop music, also known as national rap among Azerbaijani residents, as it also includes performers that is spoken lyrically, in rhyme and verse, generally to an instrumental or synthesized beat. Performers also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Meykhana masters may write, memorize, or improvise their lyrics and perform their works a cappella or to a beat.
The name of this genre comes from the traditional Persian meykhane (tavern, pub), which itself originated from the Persian words mey (wine) and khane (house). The professional performers of meykhana are known as the Söz Ustadı (Word Masters) in Azeri, also called as the meykhana masters.
Since medieval times, meyhanes were places where poets would gather exchanging verses in an extemporaneous fashion, sometimes joking and disparaging one another. At the end of the contest, the audience determined which poet had improvised the most elegant and clever verses and declared him the winner. These contests may be compared with modern poetry improvisation contests or even with rap battles.
Meykhana was performed among the youth of Baku settlements in the pre-Revolutionary time. Although during the Soviet period meykhana was banned, the poetry of Aliagha Vahid was often rhymed as a contemporary meykhana. This could be related to the meykhana's popularity among the residents of Baku and Absheron regions.
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Wikipedia