2024-07-26 08:17:12
In the United States, rapper Otakar Petřina, known as Marpo, recorded his new album called Cowboys & Dreamers. On the record, which will be released this Friday, and which combines the sound of hard guitars with rap, country and electronic music, he collaborated again with producer Marcus Tran.
“The devil on my shoulder is telling me to give up,” Marpo sings on the track Devil on the Shoulder. It features American rapper and singer JJ Lawhorn. Photo: Jiří Staněk | Video: Universal Music
Singer and rapper JJ Lawhorn is a guest in the single Đábel na rameni, and the American rapper Struggle Jennings features in another already published track, Welcome to Nashville. With his ninth studio album in a row, Marpo wants to continue the generation of Michal Tučný, Pavel Bobek or Robert Křestťan and renew interest in country music in the country.
He will christen the record on August 17th in Ledárny Braník in Prague, where he will perform as part of Prague Open Air concerts. “It will be interesting to have a guest play pedal steel guitar with us, so people can come and see typical country music and they might enjoy it,” believes Marpo.
The record loosely follows on from previous albums Backwoods Bred from 2021 and the older Dead Man Walking, on which Marpo first combined rap with country and blues.
“It’s not a complete continuation, I think it’s developing somewhere else. I’d like to do a country project. I’ll be forty next year and I won’t be banging my head on stage until I’m fifty years old. I want to continue in some more modern form the generation of Tučný, Bobko and a Christian,” thinks Marpo.
They recorded the songs with producer Tran at the Blackbird studio in Nashville, USA. “For the first time in our life, we came with a semi-finished product, some of the lyrics were not finished, which I was a little afraid of, but I wanted to leave it to the atmosphere of Nashville. And it really inspired us. It was incredible to observe local musicians. I recorded the drums, Marcus the guitars and bass and then came a band with violin, pedal steel, accordion and banjo. It was a dream come true to record in Nashville with local musicians,” says Marpo.
In stupid moments, music helps me, says Marpo. | Photo: Jiří Staněk
He considers his often personal texts to be a kind of therapy. “What works best is what I experience. For example, everyone experiences a divorce, so the song Dvere can also appeal to dads who don’t live with their children. Music helps me in bad moments, especially country music, which is positive,” he points out.
In the fall, Marpo is going to the USA again, where he and Tran will play at a so-called showcase, or an event for local promoters and producers. Another EP should be created on that occasion. “I would like to send one of the upcoming songs to Mr. Křestťan, if he would like to sing in it,” he says, referring to Robert Křestťan, the 65-year-old star of Czech country and bluegrass.
Marpo comes from a musical family. The mother is a promoter, the father, Ota Petřina, was a recognized composer and guitarist working with Petra Janů, Václav Neckár and others. Marpo released his first album Původ umění in 2005. At that time, he won rap battles over colleagues such as James Cole or Čistychov. A year later, he followed up the debut with the album Marpokalypsa, where he collaborated with American rappers for the first time.
He also had foreign guests and production on the following two recordings, Rapstar and Knockout, which were not so successful, so in 2008 he accepted an offer to drum in the band Chinaski, replacing the late Pavel Grohman. After leaving in 2017, he began to devote himself fully to his own project TroubleGang.
A year later, the rapper filled Prague’s O2 arena for the first time. In his grandly conceived show at the time, fires exploded, spotlights flashed dazzlingly, and rap energy mixed with rock energy. “In the sounds of American country, Marpo found a link with his rap statement,” wrote music critic Honza Vedral at the time.
Video: Welcome To Nashville single from Marpa’s new record
The single Welcome To Nashville from Marpa’s new record features rapper Struggle Jennings. Photo: Jiří Staněk | Video: Universal Music