The journey of Vuk Starinac

Vuk Starinac is a Belgrade-based producer, beatmaker, and bassist, known for blending soulful live instrumentation with modern hip-hop and R&B textures. After years of shaping the sound of others, he now steps into the spotlight as a solo artist, creating music that is both deeply personal and genre-fluid.

In collaboration with Enakinski, Vuk is redefining his artistic vision — merging sound and style into a bold new creative direction that reflects his evolution and sets the stage for what’s next.

Project:

Creative Direction / Artist idenitity management / Photography

Backstory

Vuk Starinac’s story begins in Svilajnac, a small Serbian town where music was more than just a passion — it was a lifeline. Growing up surrounded by limited opportunities but endless imagination, Vuk found his voice through rhythm and melody. A natural musician and a self-taught producer, he developed a sound that blended live instrumentation with the raw energy of hip-hop.

In 2015, Vuk moved to Belgrade, chasing the pulse of a bigger scene. In the city’s underground hip-hop circles, he quickly made a name for himself — a bassist, a beatmaker, a collaborator whose touch elevated every track he worked on. For a while, his name echoed through smoky clubs and studio sessions across town.

But like many artists, Vuk’s journey wasn’t a straight line. In recent years, he drifted away from the scene, his voice growing quiet amid the noise of everyday life.

That silence ended when Enakinski stepped in.

I reimagined who Vuk could be — not just as a producer, but as a visionary artist. With bold photography, carefully crafted visual storytelling, and striking album covers for four unique releases, I built a new creative world around his music. This wasn’t about a simple comeback — it was about reinvention, about bringing Vuk back to the map with a sound and image as distinctive as his journey. Independent artists often underestimate how much creative direction can help shape their name and amplify their work. With Vuk, I recognized that spark — and initiated a collaboration.

Today, Vuk stands at the intersection of past and future: a small-town soul with a big-city sound, ready to share his story with the world.

Photography

The concept and execution of the photography were based on capturing Vuk’s surroundings, more specifically Belgrade’s Vračar district. It’s a blend of architectural rawness and the beauty found in the ugly — like marketplaces — serving as symbols of the current state of today’s indie music scene.

Album >dolazim

The first project of our collaboration was an instrumental album titled “>dolazim” The album features 11 tracks from Vuk’s workshop and a multitude of grooves that make your head nod. Two vocalists contributed to the project: SA.RA appears on “Ćutim Sa Tobom”, while Lilien features on “Mjau.”

The creative approach for the album was about merging the raw urban and Balkan environment with Vuk’s softer side and his love for people and nature. My idea was to place all elements of the project into a European, museum-like narrative and atmosphere — one that breaks through the boundaries of music coming from Serbia.

The yellow square template

The yellow square and the color I defined on the album “>dolazim” remains the leading visual element for the rest of the social media content for Vuk’s stories on Instagram. All the stories are closely related to the creation of the album.

Covers & artwork

With the foundation of Vuk’s raw creative direction, three musical singles followed — drawing from the same aesthetic source, yet unique enough to convey the emotions they capture.

Both the music and the artwork shift through feelings of lostness, the state of modern corporate confusion, politics, society, and love.

Click a cover below for Spotify direct link.