| Edo Maajka | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Edin Osmić |
| Also known as | MC Berbo, Glavonja, Edo Mati, Maajkara |
| Born | December 22, 1978 Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslavia |
| Genres | Bosnian hip-hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, songwriter |
| Years active | 1992 - present |
| Labels | Fmjam, Menart |
| Associated acts | Frenkie, HZA, Disciplinska Komisija, Fmjam |
Edin Osmić (born December 22, 1978) better known by his stage name Edo Maajka, is a famous Bosnian rapper born in Brčko,Bosnia and Herzegovina. Edin's stage name "Edo Maajka" means "Edo the Mother".
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Beginnings
Edin was born and raised in Brčko where he finished his elementary schooling. In 1992 when the Bosnian war started, Edo left his homeland Bosnia and went to Croatia. He settled in Zagreb and started attending secondary mechanical engineering school.[1] After the war, Edo returned to Bosnia to study criminal law in Tuzla, but he never graduated.[1]
Edin took an interest in hip-hop when he was still in high school and began battling at the age of 15. He also recorded a few of his demos on his own, creating his own backing by beatboxing. He went to Tuzla and became a member of the hardcore rap group Diskord, later named Odbrana (Defence) . The group became one of the best in the city of Tuzla and all of Bosnia. Their demo single "Odbrana '99" (Defence '99) was the hit of the year on the "Radio Hit" station in Brčko.
Edo's love is hip hop and rap and he first gained exposure on the radio station "Kameleon", which featured his first freestyle rap. He is still a big part of the station's "Fmjam" show. "FM Jam" gathered young talents to create the Bosnian rap group "Disciplinska Komisija" (Disciplinary Commission), which Edo is a member of.
After a year of studying, Edo quit his education due to financial problems and went back to Zagreb to meet his friend Shot (from the group Elemental), where they recorded his first single "Minimalni rizik" (Minimum Risk) and, a month later, "Mahir i Alma". The songs were top hits on the Zagreb "Radio 101" station's show "Blackout" and the response was enthusiastic. The demo "Mahir i Alma" became Kameleon's hit of 2001.
"Edo Maajka"
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Edo chose "Menart" as his label, no other label would take him, and his first album "Slušaj Mater" (Listen to Your Mother) was released in spring of 2002. The eponymous song became a hit in Bosnia and the rest of former Yugoslavia. In 2003 Edo became the most popular rapper in the ex-Yugoslavian countries. He also received several awards including Zlatna Koogla, Davorin, Porin and Crni Mačak. He established his reputation as the best and most famous rapper in the region, releasing more singles and being featured on songs by other artists, such as "Teško je ful biti kul" by Hladno Pivo. Edo had a successful tour with The Beat Fleet and finished the year 2003 with the hit single "Prikaze" (Spectres).
Soon after, in April 2004, Edo published his new album "No Sikiriki". Edo and Lexsaurini started a new booking agency A1 Booking Agency, resulting in the most booked concerts for a rapper in that region. Edo toured until the end of the year to promote "No Sikiriki". He spent 2005 performing in concerts and writing new songs for his third album.
Recording of songs for the new album "Stig'o Ćumur" (Coal's Arrived) started in August 2005, and the album was released in March 2006. The first single was "To mora da je ljubav" (It Must Be Love) featuring Remi from Elemental), for which he shot the music video in Sarajevo. Edo started the promotion of his new album "Stig'o Ćumur" at the end of March, the day his album was released.
Edo fourth album was released on March 25, 2008. The album's name was changed from "Sjeti Se" to "Idemo Dalje", and since the beginning of December it was changed and released under "Balkansko a Naše"
Albums
Edo's first album, "Slušaj Mater" (Listen to Your Mother), became the most famous album of the entire Balkan region and the biggest hit. The album shook up the ground of the pop music scene, which dominated at the time. This is the album that brought Edo Maajka into the mainstream with his to the point, brilliant lyrics. This album changed the whole music scene in the Balkans, and that is why Edo is currently the biggest hip hop star.
His second album, No Sikiriki, was the top album in terms of sales in the year it was released. The album had five major hits including the titular track, making it one of the most popular albums he has ever released.
Edo's third album was, Stig'o Ćumur, which had 4 singles. This album is famous for the last track "Severina", initially thought to be a diss track to the singer Severina, but it turned out to be about the problems of Bosnia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia. This misunderstanding was caused because people did not pay attention to the words he had to say about the problems. This album was thought to be Edo's last album.
Edo's fourth album, Balkansko a Naše, was a commercial success. It was advertised as going back to the old 90's hip hop in Bosnia and Croatia. The name of the album is interesting and a person not from that region (Bosnia, Croatia, etc...) cannot understand the meaning, which roughly translates to "Balkanian (or Balkanese), But Ours".
Meaning of Maajka
In Brčko, city Edo is originally from, the term maajka is slang term that can be loosely defined as somebody who has considerable reputation or respect in his peer group, to the extent that he holds some kind of authority over that group. In English this comes close to the meaning of "mother" in "mother-of-all-battles".
Increasing Popularity
Edo Maajka popularity is mostly due to his originality. He was quoted as saying "When I entered hip hop, I wanted to be something different, not American but more Bosnian/Balkan hip hop". During the time he entered the hip hop scene the Balkan region, almost every rapper had an American sounding rap name, Edo wanted something different, so Edo Maajka was born. He broke down all the doors in the Balkan region and thus expanding the hip hop scene there. His fist album shook down the pop music scene. He talks about the so called "Estrada" (pop/folk scene) in a negative way in the songs "Klise"(cliché) and "To sto se trazi"(that what is looked for). Since then hip hop has been led by Edo Maajka and is still expanding.
Edo Maajka's largest following is in Bosnia, his homeland, and he has a great number of fans in Croatia, Serbia and the rest of the former Yugoslav states. He also has fans in the diaspora of former Yugoslavia, mainly in Western Europe and North America. Edo expanded the hip-hop scene in Bosnia and the Balkans and has become the number one rapper in the Balkan region, with increasing popularity in Europe and the world. He is still a member of "Odbrana" and "Disciplinska Komisija". He often visits his homeland Bosnia and hometown Brčko.
Themes
Edo Maajka often raps about the contemporary political and social situation and the consequences of the Yugoslav wars, representing the Bosnian point of view, but also about the problems of the three main ethnic groups in Bosnia. For example, on "On je mlađi" he raps about the son of a Croatian War veteran who is engaged to a Serb girl. His lyrics are not limited to politics - he often raps about youth issues like in "Saletova Osveta", the state of pop music ("Kliše"), bad rapping ("Slušaj Mater") and others. Some of the songs have positive messages, such as the title track from his album "No Sikiriki".
Other Work
In 2003, Davor Konjikušić and Mišo Babović made a documentary about Edo Maajka called "Trajno Nastanjeni Stranac" and it was a hit at the Zagreb Film Festival.
In 2007, he recorded a duet with a Montenegrin band The Books of Knjige, titled "Ja suludan neću biti" ("I Won't Be Mad"), in order to promote Montenegrin government's anti-drug campaign.
HTV filmed a documentary about Edo called "Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama". The documentary premiered July 27, 2007 on the Motovun Film Festival and Sunday October 28, 2007 Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama premiered on HRT.
At the beginning of June he announced that he created a new band called TRNOKOP and the band premiered at the Rokajfest. The band is somewhat of a Rage Against the Machine in that it combines reggae, hip hop, and rock.
International Fame
- Edo Maajka's song "Bomba" was used in an episode of the second season Sleeper Cell titled "School".
- His 2007 documentary was featured in the Bosnian Chicago Film Festival, Unerhoert Film Festival in Hamburg and MOFFOM in Prag
- The single "Gansi" has a sample from the Guns-n-Roses
- His 2007 documentary won two awards
- 2007 - People's choice - 5th Liburnija Film Festival
- 2008 - Documentary Festival (DORF) - Best documentary
- He is well known for his involvement with non-profit organizations that include UNICEF.
- He was the only Bosnian and rapper to be featured at the Aerodrome festival in 2005, where there were many famous world singers like Prodigy, Asian Dub Foundation, Hivesse, Incubus and many more.He also performed at the Exit festival in 2005.
Awards
- Davorin:
- 2003
- Urban artist of the year "Edo Maajka"
- Album of the year - "Slušaj Mater"
- New sound - Edo Maajka
- Video of the year - Edo Maajka "Znaš me"
- 2004
- International work - Edo Maajka and Hladno pivo - "Teško je ful biti kul"
- 2005
- Urban artist of the year "Edo Maajka"
- Album of the year "No Sikiriki"
- Urban song of the year "No Sikiriki"
- Song of the year (in all categories) "No Sikiriki"
- 2006
- Best song together - Edo Maajka and Frenkie "Hajmo Rušit"
- 2007
- Album of the year "Stig'o Ćumur"
- Song of the year "Bomba"
- 2003
- Porin:
- 2003
- New artist "Edo Maajka" (2003)
- 2004
- Best vocal featuring - Edo Maajka and Hladno Pivo - "Teško je ful biti kul"(2004)
- 2005
- Best urban album "No Sikiriki" (2005)
- Best video spot "Pržiiiii" (2005)
- 2003
- Zlatna Koogla:
- 2005
- Artist of the year "Edo Maajka"
- Best video spot "Edo Maajka - Pržiiiii"
- Best web site "www.edomaajka.com"
- Zlatni DOP (Golden DOP)of the year - Artist accepting of the criticism "Edo Maajka"
- 2007
- Artist of the year "Edo Maajka"
- Album of the year "Stig'o Ćumur"
- Concerts held during the year "Edo Maajka"
- Design and imaging of the album "Stig'o Ćumur"
- People's choice "Edo Maajka"
- Zlatni DOP (Golden DOP)of the year - Artist accepting of the criticism "Edo Maajka"
- 2005
- Crni Mačak:
- Artist of the year "Edo Maajka" (2003)
- Best song "Znaš me" (2003)
Discography
Studio albums
Still in production
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Top Billboard singles
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Video
Documentaries
- 2003 - Trajno Nastanjeni Stranac - documentary
- 2007 - Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama - documentary
- A animated documentary of his life - he will be animated
Other
- Brother Bear (in Bosnian) - voice
- Ice Age - The Meltdown (in Bosnian) - voice
- Chicken little (in Bosnian) - voice
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External links
- Official website (Bosnian)
- Fmjam (Bosnian)
- Edo Maajka's official myspace (Bosnian)
- Reuters article about Balkan hip hop
References
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