Straight Outta Bevo

The Bosnian War brought many Bosnian refugees to St. Louis in the 1990s. With an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Bosnian immigrants, St. Louis now boasts the largest Bosnian population in the United States. The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only place in the world with more Bosnian people.

Most of the Bosnian immigrants in St. Louis settled in the Bevo Mill neighborhood, which some now call Little Bosnia. Bosnian restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, and even an office for a national Bosnian-American newspaper, SabaH, are located in the Bevo neighborhood.

Bosnian-Americans in St. Louis strive to carry-on the culture and customs from their homeland, while also blending with American culture. “A lot of the young ones are trying to rap,” says a middle aged Bosnian immigrant who goes by Z. Now, there is a worldwide culture in rap music. But it is interesting that these young Bosnian-Americans that live in the Midwest, some who have lived here most of their lives, choose to rap in their native language. This sustains an integral part of Bosnian culture, especially for the Bosnian-Americans born in the U.S.

I ask Z if he has ever heard of the group Krazy Bosnians. He laughs, not relating to rap like the younger Bosnian-Americans. “Which ones? There are a lot of crazy Bosnians.”

Of course I am not talking about crazy Bosnians, but the rap group Krazy Bosnians, St. Louis’ top Bosnian rap group. With over 210,000 views of their MySpace site, the Krazy Bosnians have quite a following for mostly playing the cafes, or bars, in the Bevo neighborhood. Krazy Bosnians rap in both English and Bosnian which makes them more accessible to American listeners, as opposed to SouthSide Bosanci, who rap almost solely in Bosnian and are influenced by soccer anthems.

But whether the Bosnian rap groups from Bevo are accessible to Americans or not, it is terrific that by blending Bosnian and American culture through rap will keep Bosnian culture strong for 2nd and 3rd generation Bosnian-Americans.