News Snippets: Nineties Nostalgia

Posted by Steffan Matrak from Moscow, Russia and Hatice Soylu from Istanbul, Turkey

A run-through of the latest news snippets to talk about Tarkan, sees nineties nostalgia continuing to be a major preoccupation of the millennial majority in Turkey.

Social media platform Onedio is a huge proponent of this, often releasing articles on how things were better in the nineties, and comparing that decade with today.

In its most recent contribution, Onedio includes Turkish pop's megastar in its list as one of the reasons the nineties were so much nicer.

"Don't we all travel back to the past when a song from the nineties plays? Lyrics were laden with meaning in a time that was more meaningful ... Now lyrics are more base and far removed from real feelings," the article states.

Interestingly, however, the article chooses to go with a picture of Tarkan's first music video to "Kıl Oldum Abi" (I Can't Stand Her Man, 1992), which was criticised back then for being lyrically base itself - filled with slang and being what is popularly known as a "diss track" today.

Although nostalgia is a powerful connection to a time when things at least seemed more innocent and simple, and every generation goes through it, it appears that the millennial generation is having a tougher time letting go of what they felt growing up in the ‘90s.

For America it might be because it was the last time the economy was doing pretty well and the last time they weren't worrying about terrorism. But the same isn't true for Turkey - the country was poor and terrorism fears high. Its music industry was booming however, with a creative freedom some believe is sorely lacking due to the rise of Islamism in Turkey today.

And proof that '90s fodder is the hottest thing right now in Turkey as elsewhere in the world, is the release of a tribute album to respected singer/songwriter Nazan Öncel, who has penned hits for Tarkan in the past.

Music columnist for the Milliyet, "Mayk" (Mike) Şişman has given wide space to jot down his thoughts on the tribute to Öncel's hit tracklist, which hit the music shelves a few days ago.

While he pinpoints the star songs from the album, the columnist notes that all of the songs are from the nineties, except for Tarkan's cover. His Öncel penned feature was a previous 2005 release by Tarkan's long time friend and singer Sibel Can.

Şişman suggests that this album is a first in a series as Öncel's works in the 2000s have been overlooked, and a lot of expected names are missing from the contribution list. But for this offering, the music critic says that Tarkan's choice was perfect for his brand of vocals and that it could be this summer's hit.

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Finally, while an NTV report regurgitated from last month on how celebrities change over the years has once again reminded its readers of an 18-year-old photo that resurfaced this January with Tarkan and his ex-vocalist Murat Boz on a yacht, a recent interview with female author and TV presenter Yelda Kırçuval reveals how she got Tarkan to appear for a lifetime independent award last year.

Kırçuval has been organising the award ceremony for the Mimar Sinan School of Fine Arts for six years, and in 2017 Tarkan made a "surprise visit" to pick up his lifetime achievement award in person.

In the interview, Kırçuval says that she is a huge Tarkan fan, but that she also went to school with the megastar and knew he would hit it big even back then.

"He honoured us with his presence to pick up his "honorary award" ... I went to the same high school as Tarkan and it was so obvious even back in those years that he was going to be an international star," she says.

"Everyone was in awe of his style, manner, voice and energy that shone as bright as a star. Me too, of course... I felt proud and really lucky after all these years to stand beside him at such an occasion. He is a shining inspiration to our youth and young artists ... It's an experience I will never forget."

The Mimar Sinan awards are held every year by the school named after the 16th-century Ottoman, who is among the most prolific - and best - architects of religious buildings the world has known.

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