: A powerful collaboration with Volkan Konak that speaks to the exhaustion of a life of labor.
: A high-energy horon track that captures the spirited dance culture of the Black Sea.
He started primary school at eight, but the call of the mountains was louder than the classroom. By age sixteen, his days were spent navigating steep Black Sea trails to support his family. Yet, these rugged slopes became his first stage. The echoing valleys carried his early versions of the folk songs that would eventually define a career spanning decades.
: A philosophical anthem about the universal nature of struggle.
The life of Mehmet Akyıldız is a story of grit and melody rooted in the mountains of Araklı, Trabzon. Long before he was a voice on the radio, he was a young boy working as a katırcı (mule driver), balancing the weight of the world on his shoulders while huming tunes to the rhythm of the mules' footsteps.