Marčelo
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Marčelo (born Marko Šelić on January 22, 1983 in Paraćin, Serbia) is a Serbian rapper, known for his socially-conscious lyricism and eclectic approach to musical arrangements. From Paraćin, he moved to Belgrade, where he has great success over years, and became one of the most prominent Serbian hip hop artists. He is also a student of literature at Belgrade University, a journalist for a monthly magazine, and a budding novelist.
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[edit] Rise
Marčelo started making hip hop music in 1997, though his first significant contributions came in 1999 with a demo band called Rhyme Animal. In order to pursue his solo career, Marčelo stepped out of Rhyme Animal in 2001, and started to work with Oneya, the founder of Bassivity Music and one of the leading producers on Serbian hip hop scene. Oneya recognized his full potential and Marčelo signed to Bassivity in 2002. The first opportunity for a wider audience to hear and recognize his work came with 2003's Bassivity Mixtape Vol.1, to which he contributed two tracks, Definicija (feat. Shorty) and Snovidjenje.
[edit] Debut (De Facto)
His debut album, De Facto, also released in 2003 on the Bassivity label, came out to both public and critical acclaim, and he was branded the voice of a generation. The album was full of criticism of Serbian society at the dawn of the new millennium and personal themes, which were delivered in a very sincere manner. In his single and video Kuća Na Promaji (A House On A Range), he deals with the assassination of Serbia's prime minister in 2003, police brutality, corruption and alienation amongst young people in the country. It was the best-selling hip hop album that year in Serbia-Montenegro and the first post-war record that included collaborations between the new generation of music acts from the former Yugoslavia (Edo Maajka (Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia), Elemental (Croatia), Škabo (Serbia), Shorty (Serbia), Disciplinska Komisija (Bosnia-Herzegovina)).
[edit] Puzzle Shock!
Despite the success of his debut album, Marčelo was unable to settle his differences with the record company, and left Bassivity in mid-2004 and signed for Multimedia Records (Universal Music licensee in Serbia-Montenegro) in early 2005. In December the same year, Marčelo released his sophomore effort Puzzle Shock! (2005, Multimedia Records), which featured the singles Šarada (Masquerade) and Otkucaji (Heartbeat). It topped the charts upon its release. On this album, Marčelo collaborated with Dragoljub Marković alias Dr. Dra (ex-member of rock-bands such as Ništa Ali Logopedi, Block Out, X-Centar), who was a more involved in a recording process than a regular producer, adding vocal parts and playing instruments. Marčelo also did some co-producing and arrangement work. The result was a hip hop album with strong rock, jazz and funk influences, which estranged a minority of fans who loved what they considered to be the pure hip hop sound of De Facto, but gained the admiration of many people unfamiliar with rap and hip hop. Marčelo toured the country to promote the new album, taking part along the way in the EXIT 06 tour of the countries of the former Yugoslavia[citation needed], and sold out a venue Serbia's capital, Belgrade. At his gigs, he is supported by several big names on the Serbian hip hop scene: Wikluh Sky MC, Ministar Lingvista (Real Skillz) and Flip-Flop (Kontakt Grupa). With the addition of DJ Raid, a talented DJ based in Switzerland, this is the line-up of the Filter Crew.
[edit] Future projects
A Filter Crew record should be released in March 2007. Another project is the Shock Orchestra, consisting of musicians playing some songs from Puzzle Shock! live, as well as some songs from De Facto in altered arrangements. Marčelo recently got the Davorin (Bosnia-Herzegovina & former Yugoslavia Music Awards) award for the best rock/pop/hip hop album from Serbia, which came as a unique acknowledgement of his musical efforts.
[edit] Discography
- De Facto (Bassivity Music, 2003)
- Puzzle Shock! (Multimedia Records, 2005)
