Monteniggers

Monteniggers were a hip-hop group from Kotor in Montenegro, active under that name from 1994 to 1999. The trio were Igor Lazić, who rapped as Lucky Boy, Nebojša Saveljić, known as Nebo or Sky, and Duško Nikolić, known as Ducka. In a few short years they became one of the best-loved rap acts in the former Yugoslavia.

The story began in the late 1980s. Lazić had come home from a year at sea as a merchant navy cadet with a bag of new American records, and with friends from Kotor he started a rap group, first called Brake Boys and then AE:Tell me. Their first demos, among them "Đekna", were recorded at Radio Kotor on a two-track tape machine, and soon local stations across Montenegro were playing them. Saveljić, who lived in Titograd but spent his weekends in Kotor, joined after his own time at sea. After a club show in Budva the band was invited to Belgrade, but by then Nikolić had fallen ill and could no longer perform, although he kept writing lyrics.

In the summer of 1996 Monteniggers caught the public's attention at the music festival in Budva with "Mala plava", and the same year the Belgrade label Komuna released their debut album, Tajna marenda. "Ducka Diesel" from it was voted song of the year in 1996, and videos followed for "Psycho" and "Bljump". Nikolić died of leukaemia soon after the album came out, and his two friends dedicated "Voljeli bi da si tu" to him.

In June 1997 they shot the video for "So i tekila", whose catchy chorus made it their best-known song. The second album, Allboom, followed on Komuna in 1998, with the videos "Aj aj (pa se kroz grad zajebaj)" and "Tako ti je kako ti je".

At the height of their popularity, on 31 October 1999, Nebojša Saveljić was killed in a car crash on the road from Podgorica to Cetinje, and with him the band came to an end. Igor Lazić later went on as a solo artist and house DJ under the name Niggor. In memory of his friend he founded Sky Forever, a campaign against drunk driving and road accidents in Montenegro, and recorded the song "Ne brže od života" with Vlado Georgiev. In 2012 he called his fellow townsmen in Who See the heirs of Monteniggers. Both albums are on YouTube today, gathered here in one playlist.