While this year’s Eurovision gave rise to the new face of European Decline, Conchita Wurst, the story of Poland’s entry that might be just as interesting—and far more inspiring.
But inspiring might not be quite the word to use for the song “My Slowianie” (English translation: We Slavs). It’s a Polish rap song with all of the potential meaning that conjures up. The song itself is an ode to the beauty and rapacity of Slavic women and the English version bears the title “Slavic Girls.”
The music video is quite the piece of media. It begins with the producer of the song, Donatan, awaking with four Polish girls dressed in urban garb in a traditional, rural house. They are then taken in by two elderly farmers who then get an unexplained and unnamed Polish farm goddess (not literally, she looks like one though) to dress them in a traditional Slavic outfits, them to churn butter, and adopt a typical rural lifestyle.
Ok, there’s also an incredible amount of cleavage in the video and at one point the female butter churners gobble down a thick, white substance. It could be called soft-core porn if it wasn’t so over-the-top and hilariously goofy.
There’s also the singer of the song, with the stage name of Cleo, who portrays herself as a feisty Slavic female with a blackish singing voice and dance moves you rarely see dressed in a Eastern Europe folk costume.
Which is what comes to the intriguing part of the song: is this the Kali-Yuga appropriating traditional European culture or traditional European culture appropriating the Kali-Yuga?
This is a (slightly) serious question. Sure, the song can be seen just as pure entertainment and a sign that Poland has a remarkable sense of humor for what chooses to represent itself.
But the fact that the creator of the song (the rap producer Donaten) is an advocate of pan-Slavism and has expressed interest in paganism gives this composition more weight than just a boob fest wrapped in Polka gear.
While it would be preferable if the artist did not resort to Negro cultural forms to express European identity, it still does not overcome the fact that this song makes traditional white femininity cool and sexy. Yes, the butter churning is cheesy and there might just be a little too much tit action for good taste, but those don’t hold back the overall gist of the work.
Even Cleo’s aggressive, black inspired dancing and singing does not offend and rather makes whiteness edgy and unapologetic. White identity is too often construed as the definition of uncool and unhip. Here the hot, Slavic girls turn that notion on its head and express their own sense of cultural identity in a context that made them the fan favorites during this year’s Eurovision.
We have to start expressing White identity in a fashion that is cool and appealing to a broad spectrum of people. I’m not saying that “My Slowianie” should be the example for future projects, but it does point towards a future where it may be possible.
And here’s the music video in all of its busty, butter churning, Polka-infused madness:
