Edo Maajka

Early life

Edin Osmić was born and raised in Brčko (at the time SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) where he finished his elementary schooling. In 1992 when the Bosnian War started, he left Bosnia and Herzegovina and went to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where he began attending secondary mechanical engineering school. After the war, he returned to Bosnia to study criminal law in Tuzla, but never graduated.

He took an interest in hip-hop when he was still in high school and began battling at the age of fifteen. 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 in Bosnian). 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.

After a year of studying, he left school due to financial problems and returned to Zagreb to meet a friend (from the group Elemental) and 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.

Debut album (2001-04)

Edo Maajka announced his debut album with the single Znaš me. He released his debut album, Slušaj mater, in the spring of 2002 under the Menart and Fmjam label. He released two more singles, Jesmo'l sami (Are we alone) at the end of 2002 and Prikaze (Spectres) at the beginning in 2003, which officially closed the album. He was featured by other artists, such as in "Teško je ful biti kul" by Hladno Pivo, "Rat" by Pioniri among others.

Second album (2004-06)

In April 2004, he released his second album No Sikiriki. On day one, the album sold 5,000 copies. He toured until the end of the year to promote his second album. In 2005, Maajka toured the USA and Canada, visiting cities including Toronto, St. Louis, New York, Atlanta and Detroit, first time a Bosnian hip hop star has toured North America.

Third album (2006-08)

Recording of songs for the third studio 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. He started the promotion of his third album at the end of March, the day his album was released.

In January 2007, Maajka's single "Bomba" was featured in an episode of the TV series Sleeper Cell. In the summer of 2007, Maajka and his band decided to part, but remained good friends.

Fourth album (2008-12)

His fourth album was released on 25 March 2008. The album's name was changed from Sjeti Se to Idemo Dalje. In December 2008 the album received the name Balkansko a naše. At the beginning of June he announced that he created a new band called TRNOKOP and the band premiered at the Rokajfest.

At the end of 2008, "Balkansko a Nase" came at number 36 of the year's top albums.

In June 2010, he released his best off album Spomen ploča 2002-2009, but he redid the album with his newly formed band, where they would use band instruments as the music and softer vocals.

Edo Maajka was also featured as a judge and performer in the first Red Bull MC Battle that was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia on 23 April 2010. The next year, he was the host for the Bosnian Red Bull MC Battle 2011.

Fifth album (2012-present)

Edo's fifth studio album, Štrajk mozga, was released in April 2012. The first sngle was Imaš li ti šta para, followed by the first music video and second single Panika, released on 26 December 2011. The third single was Džigera beat, followed by the fourth single and second music video "Facebook", released on 19 November 2012. The director Filip Filkovic Philatz, who directed both music videos, described the video being a sequel to "Panika" because it is set in the same universe, and is second part of the music video trilogy from the "Štrajk Mozga" album.

Influences and rapping technique

Edo Maajka has named several artists that have influenced him, including Rambo Amadeus, TBF, Safet Isović, Miladin Šobić, Azra, Zabranjeno Pušenje, Disciplina Kičme, Atomsko Sklonište, Majke, Rupa u Zidu among others.

His rapping technique is described as having a perfect flow, also his varied subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums and got most praised for his ability to write brilliant lyrics.

His lyrics have also been described as a variation in connecting emotionally to the viewer. As Anur Hadžiomerspahić says "once you start listening to a Edo Maajka song, when you first start listening it hits you, gives you goosebumps and grabs you by the throat, then the very next verse makes you laugh.

Alter ego

Edo Maajka has an alter ego or pseudonym that he names MC Berbo. He is described as a man who loves drugs, alcohol, fast and expensive cars, women and pop music. Edo maajka stated that the character of Berbo is the complete opposite of himself and that it is more of a joke than taken seriously.

Themes and lyrical content

Edo Maajka started his career with storytelling songs with the demo songs of "Minimalni rizik" (small risk) and the storytelling/love songs "Mahir i Alma". He is known for his brilliant storytelling ability.

Business ventures

In September 2006, Edo Maajka opened up a cafe bar called "No sikiriki", named after his second album. Along with beverages, the cafe also serves Edo's favorite food, cevapi.

Along with the cafe bar, he also plans to publish a weekly magazine which will only focus on positive things that are happening in everyday life and the music scene.

Legal issues

Edo Maajka released his first single and music video for his third album, named "To mora da je ljubav", before his album came out, in which his producer. Koolade, used the song "Cissy Strut" from 1969 by The Meters. Some media outlets have criticized him for plagiarizing the music in the song. Edo answered back by saying "Sampling is not stealing. In hip hop you sample music, you take someones beat and rap on that beat. My album was postponed 1 week just because of that reason, while we waited for the authorization to use that song. The fact is that sometimes this waiting for authorization can be as long as one year, we redid the beat a little, gave credit to the author and not on us. You can see that the credit goes to the author on the inside cover of the album. Hip hop is made up of sampling, that is normal. On this particular track, Koolade is not named as the beat maker, but the author is. Remi, who is featured on the song, also gave a comment on the issue, saying that "That is not stealing, we are dealing with sampling of a already made song. You take one part of a song and combine it with your text. People who are not in hip hop don't usually know that this is a practice in this type of music.

Sports Hall Incident

Edo maajka held a concert in the Sports Hall (Dom sportova) in 2005. The sponsor for the concert was T-mobile Croatia. Edo held a press conference before the concert where he criticized his sponsors for the firing of workers after they changed their "brand". He also explained his decision to work with a telecommunications monopoly by saying that he wanted his ticket for his concert to be 45 kuna or less. He added "you can only do that with a compromise, no one is criticizing Hladno Pivo that they sold out because their sponsor for the tour was Ozujsko beer, whose owners are also foreigners".

Concert in Serbia controversy

Bassivity (music label that released Edo Maajka's album in Serbia) promoted a concert for Edo Maajka, unknown to Edo Maajka. When Edo was asked about this in an interview for Svet magazine, he replied "I don't know where this idea that I will promote my album in Belgrade came from? "Bassivity" did that promotion on their own. I don't plan to go to Serbia, at least in the coming months. I don't want to go to a country that promotes the burning of mosques, and yet thousands of young people are howling on the streets. If I come to Serbia for an album promotion, which I promised to do, I am sure that it will not be for a while." Svet also tried to bring some of Edo mistakes from the past to the light, in which they stated that he was supposed to have concert with Mile Kitić, but they never revealed the source for that. In the same interview, Svet made some untrue and false accusations against Edo Maajka and his family, saying that his brother and sister "live from black marketing in Northern Bosnia" and that his close family live of pirate sales from his own albums.

UNICEF's Education Action in Bosnia

Edo Maajka was one of three artists that was featured in UNICEF's education program in Bosnia against HIV/AIDS.

Refusal to air video spot

At the end of November 2005, a month after Edo Maajka premiered his video for the single Mater Vam Jebem on MTV Adria, HTV and Nova TV refused to air that video spot based on the name of the song and some theorized because the song's lyrics were critical of the countries leaders and the media.

Feuds

Throughout his career Edo Maajka had several feuds, although most of them have been with artists that are not hip hop musicians.

Severina

In 2004, a sex tape was released on the internet that featured pop star Severina and Croatian business man Milan Lučić. Edo Maajka addressed this sex tape on the 2004 song "Kliše" (Cliche), in which he said "We all can rap, everyone can F*** Severina". Severina answered back in her 2004 summer single "Hrvatica" with the lyrics: "rappers raise a revolt, your kids are listening to the wrong mother (Maajka)". In the feud Croatian hip hop artist and producer Bizzo was almost pulled into the feud, as he was supposed to be in the video spot of the song "Hrvatica", where Severina calls out Edo Maajka, but after he talked to Severina, Bizzo found out that it contained those lyrics, mentioned earlier, and he backed out because he felt that it was a bad move on the part of Severina, but mostly because he thought the lyrics were geared towards the nationality of Edo Maajka, him being a Bosniak. A number of media outlets have criticized Severina for only going after Edo Maajka, determining that she went after him because he was more popular than she was in Croatia, yet he is not a Croatian. Also media have criticized her attack on Edo Maajka because others have made fun of her and named her in a number of songs about her sex tape, yet she failed to say anything to them, thus sustaining that the response to Edo Maajka was based on popularity and national orientation. Ironically, on the same album the Edo Maajka takes a shot at Severina, he lends support to her when she left her record company, but then the same record company released a best off album of hers after she left and Edo Maajka on his single "Prziiii" states that "Come to Croatia Records we'll make you a male Severina, we'll release your album after you leave us", implying that the artist does not get any money from the sales.

Matija Dedić

Matija Dedić did a song together with Severina, for which he was criticized by a part of the music scene. In an interview Matija Dedić stated "blame the one that came from the countryside and who is packing the Sports Hall (sometimes concerts are held there)". Edo Maajka answered him back by saying that "My man, you can come from the center of New York, but why are you blaming me because you worked with Severina."

Siniša Vuco

This feud started when Edo Maajka was appearing more and more on TV, especially Croatian TV, while other artists, not necessarily hip hop artists, like Siniša Vuco were not, as he claims "allowed". Vuco said while describing one of his songs that the song in question is referring to Edo Maajka, calling him a Turk and criticizing him being on TV more than Vuco himself. Edo Maajka simply answered back with a small reference to Vuco in his 2006 song "Uši zatvori" (Close your ears), where he said "For what reason did Vuco call me a Turk".

Alka Vuica

After the release of Edo Maajka's the second studio album, he was promoting the album, which featured a number of TV spots and TV exposure such as interviews, concerts, etc... Alka Vuica in an interview for Jutarnji list said that only intellectuals listen to her and that Edo Maajka "stinks of sweat and over the TV". In the same interview she supported Severina in her feud with Edo Maajka. Edo Maajka also anwered back to her calling him out in the song "Uši zatvori" (close your ears), with "Why did Alka say that I stink over the TV".

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Documentaries

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. HTV filmed a documentary about Edo called "Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama". The documentary premiered 27 July 2007 on the Motovun Film Festival and Sunday, 28 October 2007 Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama premiered on HRT. It was featured in the Bosnian Chicago Film Festival, Unerhoert Music Film Festival in Hamburg and MOFFOM in Prague

Awards

Davorin/Indexi Awards

Porin Awards

Zlatna Koogla Awards

Crni Mačak Awards

Tour dates and other events

This is a list of events where Edo Maajka held concerts.

The 2004 No Sikiriki Tour

The following was the Edo Maajka's 2004 tour to promote his second album No Sikiriki.

The 2005 North American Tour

This is Edo Maajka's North American tour that took place in 2005. This is the first time a Bosnian hip hop star held a tour in North America, specifically Canada and the United States of America.

2013 First Australian Tour

The first Australian tour. Produced by Knez and Archie Media. Supported by hip hop artist Frenkie, DJ Soul and hip hop artist Genocide.

Štrajk mozga album tour

The Štrajk mozga album tour.