Life in the New: Filip Jašić - Marius Svaleng Andresen

Filip Jašić on the roof of a building in Blok 62, Novi Beograd

“I know the names of more dogs than people here.”

Filip Jašić is flanked by monumental buildings in Blok 62. He stands calmly with a cigarette in his hand. He has just petted a dog and greeted its two-legged owner.

“You can feel a sense of community, especially with other people walking their dogs. You know, ’cause there’s a lot of them.”

A well-groomed Bichon Frisé walks by, seconds later, a short-haired Maltese. Zeus and Kali, the rapper’s Yorkshire Terriers, often serve as an icebreaker, helping him meet neighbors and people in his area for the first time. He likes Novi Beograd “because it’s flat,” has nature, and neighbors say hi to each other. A cloud of cigarette smoke leaves his mouth. You won’t find a picture of him without his trademark rectangular sunglasses obscuring his face.

Filip has worked as a graphic designer for the past ten years, yet his true passion is music; he has been rapping for 20 years. The rapper first set foot in a studio in 2003 and claims the nineties’ most influential and important rap collective, Wu-Tang Clan, practically raised him. “I learned English listening to those songs,” he explains.

They also influenced his choice of artist name: Filip’s second self, LMR, initially stood for “Crazy Young Rapper,” a moniker inspired by the late Wu-Tang Clan member ODB, short for Ol’ Dirty Bastard. That was before Filip’s abbreviation transitioned to “Crazy Old Rapper” as he grew older. And while Wu-Tang had the New York projects as the backdrop for their music, Filip has always relied on the blokovi – the blocks of Novi Beograd.

“I see a lot of rappers coming to my neighborhood to do videos. They use it as scenery, but it’s my whole life – I’m really from here. There’s got to be one guy remaining from here and representing it to the fullest. Only I can show the whole picture.”

Filip recording a music video on the roof of a residential building in Novi Beograd — *Filip shoots a music video with his beloved Blok 62 in the background*

Filip has namedropped the blocks and incorporated Novi Beograd into most of his songs since his first recordings in 2003. In 2007, he released his first album with his rap group Verbalno Teroristička Organizacija.

“We did a big concert and gave out CDs to the crowd. USB sticks weren’t around, the Internet wasn’t a big thing, and YouTube had barely gotten to Serbia”.

Since then, he has done little to adapt to the lyrical trends that have come and gone, another trick he attributes to Wu-Tang. In 2021, he released his first full-length solo album, Amano Mori. He doesn’t uncritically jump on the next-to-be fad to stay relevant, and he always keeps his neighborhood close to his heart.

Filip showing his tattoo on a roof in Blok 45, Novi Beograd — *The tattoo “62” is a tribute to Blok 62*

“It’s not that bad here. I mean, you got to fight for a better day, a better life, for better people,” he says, “and when the shit hits the fan, we all get together to fight for what’s right, you know?”

Typically for Filip, the bloks are a part of the scenery in his music videos, with Novi Beograd concrete and his squad as far as the eye can see.

Filip looks past the towering buildings outside of his home and up at the sky, pensive.

“The shape of the buildings will forever be a symbol of staircases. Life is like staircases. You can always decide to go down, but you should always try to reach the top. Whenever I look at these buildings, I remember to keep pushing up. I have to keep pushing up.”