laïkó

Laïkó, also written laiko, is a Greek popular music tradition that refers to songs and styles created for urban, everyday life. The term comes from the Greek word for “people,” and the genre is considered the mainstream voice of modern Greek popular music. Its development began in the early 20th century in urban centers such as Athens and Piraeus, and it was broadened by the influx of Asia Minor refugees after the 1920s, who contributed new melodies and emotional repertoires.

Musically, laïkó is characterized by lyrics about love, work, nostalgia, and social life, delivered in a directo and often emotive vocal style. Instrumentation typically centers on the bouzouki, along with guitar, baglamas, mandolin, and occasionally accordion or piano. Rhythms range from brisk to moderate tempos, with harmonic progressions rooted in traditional Greek modal and folk-inflected scales. The genre encompasses a spectrum from easily accessible popular songs to more refined, artistically ambitious forms.

Subgenres include laiko tragoudi, the broad popular song tradition that remains the backbone of the style, and entechnó laiko (art laiko), which emerged in the 1960s–1970s as composers and singers integrated sophisticated orchestration and poetic lyricism. Notable figures in laïkó history include Vassilis Tsitsanis, a central composer and performer in the mid-20th century, and Stelios Kazantzidis, whose long career helped define the sound and emotional range of the genre. Laïkó remains a core element of Greek musical identity and continues to influence contemporary Greek pop music.