We’re continuing with the next artist who replied to our request for the Q&A session from the Dora 2025 line-up. Ladies and gentlemen, it is Fenksta!
Hello Fenksta, thank you for accepting our invitation. Welcome! Firstly, I must ask you how you came up with your stage name? It’s unique, does it have any specific meaning?
It was literally my best friend making it up on the spot back in high school. Since Croatia wasn’t used to Hip Hop aside from Tram 11 basically, it was always associated with gangsta rap, playing basketball, smoking weed – what you’d see from rappers in the US. So at some point, one of my classmates just called me “gangsta” in a playful mocking way, as male friends do, and then my best friend jumped in: “No, he’s Fenksta”. Nobody had any idea what it meant, and we just accepted it. Fast forward two years, when I was deciding on a stage name, I remembered that moment and thought it was a great pick because it didn’t mean anything.
You surprisingly made it to the Dora line-up from the back-up list as another artist withdrew. What was your reaction when you got the news from HRT that you’d now be on the show?
Yeah, I was actually a 2nd reserve, so two acts had to drop out for me to get in. If anyone could’ve seen the smile I’ve had during that phone call. I was giggling like a teenage schoolgirl with a crush on someone. And even now as we’re on-site at the rehearsals, having the accreditation around my neck with the words “Eurovision” and “Artist”. It’s a literal dream come true.
Can you tell us more about your song “Extra”? What is the idea behind it and what are your impressions of the reception the song received in these past few weeks?
Some Hip Hop artists tend to have the lyrics first, some tend to have the beat first – I’m the latter. So it’ll depend on the vibe of the instrumental where I might go with the song, or if I have a rough idea of the topic, I’ll try to pick a beat that fits that mood. I made the beat for “Extra” about 10 years ago for a beat-making contest on a Facebook group, but I’ve been using it for local beat battles in Zagreb ever since because I just know it’s a crowd-pleaser. Once that was decided, I just went through my notes on my phone and the sentence that stood out the most, and fit with the vibe of the song was “F*** blending in”. I saw a tweet that said the song has IDGAF lyrics and that’s exactly how I feel. Basically, the song talks about people just being copies of each other, nobody is original anymore, whether it be music or how people look. I’ve seen the same Lion King t-shirt on at least 200+ people in Zagreb and it pissed me off hahaha. It’s also society pressuring us into life choices – college, jobs, relationships. No! I’ll go my own way, and you should too.
Shout out to you, I found that you appeared on the Undaground Choppers 6 list, where you took 82nd place of the 100 fastest rappers in the world, congrats! Your rapping speed was estimated to be 13 syllables per second! How did you get to that speed and how come your song “Extra” is more laid-back rather than super fast?
Thanks, but that was in 2017-18 and it’s outdated now. My speed might even be slower now because they found a new formula, but the plan is to get to 14 now and be the fastest in the Balkans. As I said, for “Extra” it was about the vibe and wanted to give people THAT vibe. The Croatian public has expected me to go fast only because they saw that I CAN go fast based on one performance on Supertalent hahaha. I’m not sure there’s a specific way to practice that. I just liked fast rap and every time some high-profile rapper releases such a song, I try to rap it. So it’s about sitting at home with the lyrics and trying it out, but also because Croatian is the way it is, I think this might limit us from getting to a higher speed since we have so many consonants.
You also appeared in the Croatian version of Supertalent. How did that experience help you in your preparations for Dora?
The only way I can imagine that it helped me is to be picked for Dora. Other than that, there aren’t any similarities since one is a talent show and one is a worldwide high-production competition.
Speaking of preparations, can you tell us anything about your performance and staging concepts at this point, do you feel ready for such a big stage?
Yes, the stage is huge in the literal sense as well. I thought to myself it would be boring to just have me on stage and rap, cause it’s not a concert, it’s a performance and the staging is crucial for Eurovision, so I got myself a few dancers. There will be 5 of us on stage, the colors of the performance do have a specific meaning too, I will not be static, and there’s a surprise in the works too, but you’ll have to watch the semi to see it 🙂 We are working out the last kinks, trying to see what works and what doesn’t, cause the space is new for us, so we have to adapt, also to the high production tempo.
Reddit loves you for sure. Many Eurovision fans know you from that platform as you are a Eurovision fan yourself. This must be a dream come true, right? Tell us, who are your Eurovision favorites from Croatia and other countries and why?
Yeah, it’s insane and unreal. I love it. I guess you mean the songs from this year. Some of my favorites sadly didn’t make it in their national finals, but I have the need to mention them. Kristy Spiteri with “Heaven Sent” in Malta, Rocco Hunt with “Mille Vote Ancora” in Italy, Kantera with “LaLaRatataKeke LaLaRataKabum” again in Malta, FIЇNKAwith “Kultura” in Ukraine, Citi Zēni with “Ramtai” in Latvia, Tudor Bumbac with “Pace Noi Vrem” in Moldova, Nomi Tales with “Funniest Thing” in Sweden, KiKi with “O-Ou!” in Slovenia. Of those that did make it, I listen to Erika Vikman and Tommy Cash the most, I like Shkodra Elektronike, Mariana Conte is fun. As for Croatia, EXTRA goes on top, of course, but right behind me – I like “AaAaA”, “Poison Cake”, “The Soul of my Soul”, “Bye Bye Bye”; “Južina”, “Lies Lay Cold”. I like most things really hahahahh.
When you are not producing music, what do you do in your free time? Is there anything you’d like to share with our readers that they might find intriguing or exciting?
That depends on the day, but my interests are so vast, we can do almost anything and it can be fun. I like video games, I like movies and TV shows, I like puzzles, I like hiking, football, pickleball, laser tag, trampoline parks, and obviously karaoke hahahah. I am also a concert addict, so most of my money goes to that. Last year alone I saw these Eurovision acts live: Manntra, Emmelie de Forest, Emlija Kokić, Albina Grčić, Marko Bošnjak, Samira Efendi, Alessandra Mele, Bambie Thug, Käärijä, EoT, Baby Lasagna like 4-5 times, Marcela Oroši. So yeah, I have a list for that too hahah.
As we are closing our interview, do you have any final words of wisdom for the Eurovision fans and readers at ESCUnited?
Enjoy the show, if you can – vote 3 in the second semi. Just don’t let people convince you of their BS, find your own way to happiness, and be EXTRA !!!
Thank you so much Fenksta and we wish you the best of luck in Dora 2025!
If #YOU want to support Fenksta on Dora 2025 stage, make sure you tune in to the Dora second semi-final show on February 28th and vote! Share your thoughts with us on Discord, or on our forum page!
