Greek rapper Nikos Vourliotis has spoken about his musical partnership with singer Giorgos Mazonakis, saying it came together naturally, unlike any other collaboration he had attempted before. He said their shared neighborhood became the reference point that connected them.
Vourliotis gave the interview on Tuesday, September 15, on the television show "Proiaan se idon." He explained that the song "Thelo na giriso sta palia" (I Want to Go Back to the Old Days), released in 2013 and performed by the pair together, was written during a tour the two were on at the time, because they needed a track they could perform together on stage.
Mazonakis died on Wednesday, September 9, at the age of 54, following a cardiac arrest.
How the collaboration came together
Vourliotis said that while he had worked hard for everything else in his career, the collaboration with Mazonakis was not something he pursued at all, it simply happened. He said the idea came from Mazonakis, who proposed they go on tour together, and that during the tour it became obvious they should eventually perform something together on stage.
That, he said, is where the need to write a song that would bring them together was born. He asked what else could possibly be common ground for two people, Mazonakis 26 at the time and himself 28, apart from the neighborhood they shared. He called it their reference point.
Growing up on the west side of Athens
Vourliotis went on to describe the racism he experienced because of where he grew up. He said the river that separated Athens from its western suburbs acted as a kind of informal apartheid, creating a division he described as very harsh, adding that he was not exaggerating.
He said that over the years things changed, society shifted and circumstances were different now, but that he and Mazonakis had lived through that period of discrimination. According to Vourliotis, many people from the neighborhood would not admit they were from Agia Varvara, and did not dare say they were from Korydallos, because the reaction would be dismissive of where they came from. He said it had happened to him personally.
Two Athens suburbs at the center of the story
Agia Varvara and Korydallos are working-class suburbs on the western side of Athens, an area historically viewed by parts of Greek society as separate and less prestigious than the city center and its northern and southern suburbs. Vourliotis and Mazonakis both grew up in that part of the city before going on to build careers in Greek music.
Mazonakis was one of Greece's best known singers, while Vourliotis built his career as a rapper. Their 2013 duet was born out of a tour the two performed together, and Vourliotis said their shared background remained the bond that defined their working relationship from then on.
