Bohemia (musician)

Bohemia
Bohemia performing live Houston, Texas, USA
Background information
Birth name	Roger David
Also known as	Bohemia, Punjabi Rap Da Badshah, Raja
Born	15 October 1979 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan[1]
Genres	Rap, Desi hip hop
Years active	2002–present.
Labels	Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, T-Series, Speed Records.
Associated acts	Snoop Dogg, Baby Bash, Akshay Kumar, Nitin Zira Mika Singh, Tigerstyle, Pritam, Bally Sagoo, Malkit Singh, Gippy Grewal, Rishi Rich, Taz, Devika Chawla, Rohail Hyatt, Coke Studio (Pakistan), Gitta Bains, Haji Springer, 3AM.
Website	Bohemia's official website

Roger David, (born 15 October 1979),^[2] known by his stage names Bohemia or Raja, is a Pakistani American, rapper and music producer from California. He is a rap singer and sings in Punjabi; he is known as "The Punjabi Rapper".^[3] He has released three studio albums and an independent album. His songs include "Vich Pardesan De", "Kali Denali" and "Sahara".

Early life

David was born on 15 October 1979 in Karachi^[4] into a Punjabi Christian family. When he was about 14 years old, he moved to California with his family. He started learning music from his father at a very young age and writing Punjabi poetry around that time.^[5] His mother died of cancer^[6] when he was 14 years old. Filled with anger at tender age, he channeled his energy into learning keyboard and music.

He achieved success as a keyboard player and music arranger while living at local studios with other musicians and collaborating with local singers in California.^[7] After they went their separate ways, Bohemia soon started writing poetry in Punjabi and after experimenting with different musics he soon found his own unique style of music which was mixture of hip hop and Punjabi rap which gave birth to a new genre of music, Desi hip hop or Punjabi rap.

Bohemia claims to be inspired by the poets Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal. He says, "People like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mirza Ghalib are our icons and most of my poetry is inspired by them. For instance, in one of my songs, I talk about ‘going beyond the stars’, the idea of which is essentially taken from Allama Iqbal’s ‘Sitaron Se Aagay Jahan Aur Bhi Hain’."^[8]

Career

In 2002, Bohemia released his first independent album, Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land) which quickly gained popularity and reached the Top 10 on BBC Radio One.^[9][10]

In 2006, he released another album, Pesa Nasha Pyar, which became the first full-length Punjabi-rap album released by a major record label. It brought Bohemia increased popularity, including a multi-record deal with Universal Music Group Pvt. Ltd. India. It also brought his creation of Punjabi rap to mainstream recognition making Bohemia known as a pioneer of a new genre of music: Desi-hip-hop or Desi-rap.^[11]

In 2006, Pesa Nasha Pyar reached #2 on Maxim India magazine’s top 10 downloads, and #3 on the Planet M chart.^[12]

In December 2011, his third album, Da Rap Star, received four nominations at the UK Asian music awards and PTC Punjabi music awards, including Best Punjabi Album and Best Music Director. Da Rap Star remained at #1 on the Planet M chart in India for several weeks.^[13]

He released the album Hazar Gallan (Thousand Thoughts) in 2012. In 2013, it won Best Non-Resident Punjabi Album award at PTC Punjabi Music Awards.^[14]

Bohemia was invited to be a part of the fifth season of Karachi's MTV Coke Studio.^[15]

Film music

In 2009, he wrote the title track for the Warner Bros. Bollywood Hindi feature film Chandni Chowk to China, directed by Nikhil Advani, in which he appeared with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.^[16] The soundtrack was launched by T-Series.

In the movie 8 x 10 Tasveer, Akshay teamed up with Bohemia for a song, "I got the picture", and said, "Bohemia is a very popular rap artist and we are very happy that he has given his music for our film." The film was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. The music for the film was launched by T-Series.

The "Sansaar" track was specially produced by Bohemia for the movie Speedy Singhs (also known as Breakaway), a 2011 sports film directed by Robert Lieberman, starring Vinay Virmani, Russell Peters, Camilla Belle and Anupam Kher. The film was produced by Paul Gross and Akshay Kumar.

His voice was used for the film Desi Boyz, rapping to set the scene for Sanjay Dutt's cameo with Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh.

Association with major labels

Bohemia toured in 2009 performing in Europe, Asia and America. He has appeared on many of Universal India’s mega-compilations including three tracks on The Chart Busters. Universal called this compilation "The biggest hits in Punjabi on one massive album!"^[17] Bohemia was one of the best-selling artists of the year, making him the flagship artist of Universal Music Group India.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2012, Sony Music Entertainment signed Bohemia. As part of the association, Sony Music will take care of Bohemia's music albums, launches and shows under its artist management program.^[18][19]

Other accolades

Bohemia was ranked 25th on Desiclub.com’s list of the 50 Coolest Desis.^[20]

"Ek Tera Pyar", the second single from Da Rap Star, entered the B4U Top 10 chart, becoming the first non-film track to do so.

Bohemia was among the top 100 most searched Asian artists on yahoo.com.^[21]

He has appeared on over 30 major label compilations and collaborations to date.

Bohemia appeared in XXL magazine in New York.^[22]

Bohemia is #3 on the Top 15 Desi Artists of the Decade. "This list is like no other," according to Urban Desi radio.^[23]

Discography

Albums

• 2002: Vich Pardesan De (In the foreign lands)
• 2006: Pesa Nasha Pyar - (No. 1 on Planet M Chart Pakistan UK Punjab)^[24]
• 2009: Da Rap Star UMG India - (No1 on Planet M Chart India Punjab America)^[25]
• 2012: Thousand Thoughts (Hazaar Gallan) Sony Music India - (Best selling album by www.flipkart.com, Awarded Best Non Residents Punjabi Album at PTC Punjabi Music Awards, 2013)^[26]
• 2013: Rooh The Soul (Release date: 1 July 2013).

Vich Pardesan De

Pesa Nasha Pyar

Da Rap Star

Coke Studio Pakistan - Season 5

Thousand Thoughts

Rooh The Soul

Singles

• "Bulawa" - Bohemia, D-Naar, Pakman, Synister1
• "Kala Doriya" - Bohemia, Dj Chintu
• "Everyday" - Bohemia
• "Sher E Punjab" - Bohemia, Mika Singh
• "Dunali" - Bohemia, Mika Singh
• "Adhi Rati" - Bohemia, Jasmine Sandlas
• "Holi Holi Nach" - Bohemia, Stereo Nation
• "Paigam" - Bohemia
• "Keep It G" - Bohemia, Kurrupt
• "Bandookaan" - Bohemia, Desi Beam
• "Talli" - Bohemia, Gitta Bains and Tigerstyle
• "Bad Boy" - Bohemia, D Major-NS and Tigerstyle
• "Sansaar" - Bohemia
• "Sh Sh Sh! Sharabi" - Bohemia, Gippy Grewal
• "What Have I Learned" - Bohemia, Jennifer F

References

External links

• Official Youtube page
• Bohemia at Universal Music Group
• Official website