Reflections of the minstrelsy tradition in the Anatolian pop music The example of Ashik Mahzuni Seri

This study aimed to assess the influence of minstrel music—based on the example of Ashik Mahzuni Serif—on the musical genre called Anatolian Pop, which gradually gained popularity in Turkey in the second half of the 1960s, began with the performance of playing Western popular music samples, yet afterward, combined the Anatolian musical culture with the Western popular music background and made music productions in this manner. In line with the fundamental rights and freedoms granted by the 1961 Constitution, the Anatolian Pop music genre was born when populism, agrarianism, and labor-like movements had risen and amplified. The contemplation of the period in this context explicitly indicated that this style of music producers—as groups and individuals—were greatly influenced by the minstrels of their time and by the poets such as Karacaoğlan, Dadaloğlu, and Pir Sultan, who had previously lived and given thought to the social issues in their times. As reviewing the records and albums produced, this study, designed as qualitative research, concluded that Ashik Mahzuni Serif—in addition to many other minstrels—was one of the most significant minstrels that substantially influenced the Anatolian Pop music, which has focused on the problems of the society with the impact of the cited era while producing its music in this direction.