DJ Roxtar on political satire: after the Macinka clip, thousands of hate comments

Czech DJ and musician Dominik Turza, known by his stage name DJ Roxtar, has become one of the most talked-about figures on Czech social media in recent months thanks to short music videos in which he takes sharp jabs at Czech politics. He spoke about his rise to fame on the Mediální cirkus podcast.

Turza has spent nearly 20 years mixing music, but only found viral fame this year. The turning point came with a January clip reacting to the row between President Petr Pavel and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (of the Motorists party) over late-night messages sent to the president's advisers. That video racked up more than a million views and brought its creator tens of thousands of new followers.

From therapy to viral hits

"I got back from holiday, saw the story, and got furious. I went to the studio, grabbed my computer and told myself: I need to make a song, I need to get this out of my system," the musician recalls of creating his first political clip. He says songwriting has become a kind of therapy for him — he "filters" strong emotions triggered by public events through his music, and feels better afterwards.

Among his other notable tracks are a congratulatory song for Finance Minister Alena Schillerová of the ANO movement, a clip about a car crash involving Motorists MP Filip Turek, and a remix of a video of Andrej Babiš, who was filmed in August singing while hiking up Lysá hora with ANO's leadership. Roxtar is now working on a new song about Schillerová, tentatively titled "390 Billion Reasons" — a reference to the budget deficit figure, which he notes has yet to be finally confirmed.

Hate, fear and support from fellow musicians

The artist admits he hesitated for a long time before commenting on politics through his songs, fearing he might alienate part of his audience. The opposite happened: after the Macinka clip, he was hit with a wave of backlash — hundreds, even thousands, of extremely rude comments. He reads and likes such messages so their authors know they've been seen. By his own estimate, around 60% of reactions are friendly and about 30% are openly hostile — mostly in comments under the videos rather than in private messages.

Despite the pressure, fellow artists are increasingly voicing their support. Turza says many musicians admit they'd like to speak out about politics themselves but can't afford to, whether for professional reasons or out of fear of losing fans. He points out that he isn't tied to any particular fan base, which frees him to poke fun at whichever party happens to be in power.

AI in the vocals, and no deals with politicians

DJ Roxtar is upfront about his process: he writes the lyrics himself, but when it comes to performing, he uses artificial intelligence to modulate and "enhance" his own voice. This has drawn criticism from some peers — one well-known singer accused him of "destroying culture" and taking work away from musicians. He counters that technology will only squeeze out mid-tier performers, while genuinely talented artists will always remain in demand.

On principle, the musician refuses to work directly with political parties, even though he's been approached to help with campaigning ahead of recent elections. The one exception he'd make for free is backing President Petr Pavel, should he decide to run for re-election. As for Schillerová, to whom he's already dedicated several songs, he jokingly invites her to collaborate on content.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz