Manele (from Romanian, fem. sg. manea; pl. manele, the plural form being more common) is a genre of pop folk music from Romania. The manele can be divided into "classical manele" and "modern manele". The "classical manele" are a Turkish-derived genre performed by Romani musicians called lăutari in a lăutărească manner, while the "modern manele" are a mixture of Turkish, Greek, Arabic, Bulgarian and Serbian elements, generally using modern (electronic) instruments and beats. Similar music styles are also present in other Balkan areas, such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia, Greece and Turkey and with expatriates and emigrants originally from these regions. Related genres are Bulgarian Chalga (manele brought by Romanian visitors to Bulgaria is referred to as "Romanian chalga"), Greek modern Skiladiko and Serbian Turbo-folk, each one being a mixture of local folk Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian influences over a pop tune. History Early references to the terms manea and manele appear in Romanian texts from the late 18th and early 19th century, during the period of Turkish suzerainty over the Romanian principalities, as a genre of dance music brought by Roma from Istanbul. This dance had no text. Some of these classical manele have been adapted during the ages. In the 1960s a type of lăutarească manea appeared, by adding texts to the geampara, a type of lăutaresc genre of Turkish origin. The modern manele originated in the 1980s and early 1990s as translations and imitations of Turkish and Arabic songs. A well known Romanian manele singer, Adrian Copilul Minune traces it to a genre known as "turceasca" (Turkish), . The genre has been rocked by accusations of plagiarism a number of times, with manele singers adapting popular songs from Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, without giving due credit. The accusations increased especially after the hit "De ce mă minţi" ("Why are you lying to me?") proved to be a mere cover of Despina Vandi's song "M'agapas"/"Ah kardoula mou". Further plagiarism accusations surrounded a well known manele singer's track called "Supărat"("Upset") which was proven by third parties to be plagiarized from a Croatian song (Umoran by Jasmin Stavros). Although this song was not technically a manea, it furthered the controversy surrounding this music genre and Romania's image. Most radio and television channels or media boycott manele music. Characteristics Manele is a mixture of "oriental" Romanian folk and contemporary pop music with bases on Balkan influences The lyrics usually refer