Rebétika Music of Greece



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In the slum cafes and hashish dens of Piraeus and Thessaloníki during the early 1920s, a song style was heard that has been compared to American blues in function and expression. Known as rebétika, these songs originated within a community of nearly 2 million Greek refugees who had been living in Asia Minor but were forced to migrate to hastily built settlements in Greece. Rebétika songs reflected the social problems of these outcasts and ultimately formed the basis of modern Greek popular music.

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Greece

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