Stoja

Stojanka Novaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Стојанка Новаковић; born 4 June 1972), known by her stage name Stoja (Стоја), is a Serbian pop-folk singer.

She released her first album, Kako je meni sada, through Lazarević Productions in 1998. Later, she chose to release her albums through the record label Grand Production, owned by Saša Popović and Lepa Brena, and within a short time Stoja became one of the most popular and respected singers in the Balkans. She is currently signed to BN Music.

"Ćiki, ćiki", "Samo idi" and "Umri" are some of her major hits.

Personal and early life

Novaković was born in the village of Perlez, in the Zrenjanin municipality in northern Serbia. Her father was born in Pukiš, in the Lopare municipality in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although some media outlets have wrongly cited Bosnia and Herzegovina as her birthplace, she clarified her origin on the TV Show "Ništa lično" on BN Televizija in November 2012. She was raised in Perlez, where she lived until the age of 25.^[1] She is said to have received her uncommon and strong voice from her father, Milan.^[2] Since 2007, she has lived in Belgrade.^[2]

On 4 October 2011, Stoja found her mother Katica, who had heart problems and diabetes, dead in bed after being suspicious when the mother did not emerge from her bedroom.^[3][4][5]

Stoja survived a car accident on 28 May 2012 when her car was totaled after being hit by a truck. She escaped with a minor injury to the forehead.^[6][7][8][9]

Stoja has said that her favorite singer is Šemsa Suljaković and she has frequently covered Suljaković's songs at concerts and television appearances, and was even interviewed with her in June 2012.^[10]

Stoja has a son and two grandchildren.

Career

Ćiki, ćiki (1999)

As a teenager in the 1980s, she began singing as an amateur for about a decade before getting a record deal with the label Lazarević Produktion and releasing her debut studio album, Kako je meni sada (What It's Like For Me Now), in 1998 at the age of 26.^[11] That first album became a big success.^[12] She signed with the label Grand Production, which is owned by Lepa Brena, and released her sophomore album, Ćiki, ćiki in 1999.^[13] The album featured multiple hit songs, with the biggest being "Ćiki, ćiki".

Over the following decade her success only grew with the studio albums Samo (Only, 2000),^[14] Evropa (Europe, 2001),^[15] Zakletva (Oath, 2003),^[16] Starija (Older Woman, 2004),^[17] Metak (Bullet, 2006),^[18] Do gole kože (To the Bare Skin, 2008)^[19] and Naj, naj (Best, Best, 2009).^[20]

She has worked with her longtime friend and songwriter Stevan Simeunović on almost all of her songs since the beginning of her career.

The song "Revolucija" (Revolution) and its music video were both released in October 2010. The video caused some stir in the media because it featured Stoja bathing in a bathtub full of peppers.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Her tenth studio album entitled Nije da nije (It's Not That It's Not) was released on 6 May 2013 by the Bosnia-based label BN Music, marking the first time in 15 years that Stoja has released an album with a production company other than Grand Production.^[25]

Half a year after Nije da nije, Stoja released a new non-album single entitled "Bela ciganka" (White Gypsy). A preview of the song was uploaded to her YouTube account on 2 November 2013, with the full song being released two days later.

Discography

Studio albums

• Kako je meni sada (1998)
• Ćiki, ćiki (1999)
• Samo (2000)
• Evropa (2001)
• Zakletva (2003)
• Starija (2004)
• Metak (2006)
• Do gole kože (2008)
• Naj, naj (2009)
• Nije da nije (2013)

Non-album singles

Stoja's tenth studio album, Nije da nije, was released on 6 May 2013. The jubilee tenth album featured 4 of the 8 non-album singles she released between March 2010 and October 2012, as well as 4 newly recorded songs.^[26][27] This is the complete list of the non-album singles including the 4 that were featured on Nije da nije:

• Kakva sam, takva sam (16 March 2010, featured on Nije da nije)
• Živi i uživaj^[28] (21 June 2010) with Ivan Plavšić and Ivan Gavrilović
• Revolucija (October 2010)
• Polako^[29] (9 May 2011)
• Idi gde ti volja (9 May 2011)
• Šuki (17 January 2012, featured on Nije da nije)
• Sad ja tebe neću (28 April 2012, featured on Nije da nije)
• Pare, pare (13 October 2012, featured on Nije da nije)

Other non-album singles

• Bela ciganka (4 November 2013)

As featured artist

• Što me tražiš sada (Why Are You Looking For Me Now?, 1998) with Dragan Kojić
• Tika tak (Tick Tock, 2003) with Sejo Kalač^[30]
• Zašto sam ti verovao (Why Did I Believe You?, 2003) with Đani
• Ej, od kad sam se rodila (Every Since I Was Born, 2006) with Južni Vetar (a cover of "Ej, otkad sam se rodio" by Sinan Sakić)
• Osveta (Revenge, 2007) with Južni Vetar
• Ja te Mićo ne volim (I Do Not Love You, Mićo, 2007) with Valentino
• Aha (2010) with Ivan Zak
• Bože, čuvaj je (God, Take Care of Her, 2010) with Božo Vorotović

Videography

• Starija (2004)
• Metak (2006)
• Ja te Mićo ne volim (2008)
• Do gole kože (2008)
• Kučka (2008)
• Pogrešna (2009)
• Da li si za sex? (2009)
• Kakva sam, takva sam (2010)
• Živi i uživaj (2010)
• Revolucija (2010)
• Pare, pare (2012)

References

Sources

• "Stoja - Ništa lično intervju". YouTube. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012. 

External links

• Official stoja site
• Official Facebook Profile
• Stoja Lyrics
• Stoja Gallery