Bajram "Kafu" Kinolli - Between Two Fires

The eighth episode of The OneBeat Podcast is the first of a two-part series that features the perspectives of OneBeat 2015 alumnus Bajram aka “Kafu” Kinolli and his wife and collaborator, Milica Milović. The two have led festivals and music residencies, including OneBeat Balkans in 2019 and 2020, in the belief that collaborative art-making is vital to counteracting racism and divisive nationalism in the Balkans. In the first part, Kafu sits down with OneBeat co-founder Jeremy Thal in what is a highly affecting reflection of his own story, growing up as a religious Sufi Muslim in a small bucolic city in Kosovo during periods of unrest and war in the 80s and 90s. 

Throughout the episode, we’ll listen to how music accompanies and inspires the best and worst of human behavior; discussing the way that violence has affected the lives of the people of the Balkans, and how music — which has been intertwined with both violence, survival, peacemaking, and even humor — can play a role in healing and uniting people in a still-fractured region.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence and explicit language. 

Produced and Edited by Jeremy Thal

Production Assistant: Nyokabi Kariũki

Mixed by Jeremy Thal

Executive Producers: Jeremy Thal, Elena Moon Park, and Kyla-Rose Smith

Featuring: 

Bajram Kinolli

A full playlist of music featured on this episode can be found here.

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.

 

OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, & produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.