Edo Maajka

Biography

Edin Osmić (born 22 December 1978), better known by his stage name Edo Maajka, is a Bosnian rapper, record producer and songwriter. His popularity brought his group Disciplinska Komisija to the mainstream. He resides in Zagreb, Croatia. He has released seven studio albums since 2002.

Early life

Edin Osmić was born to Bosniak parents Azemina and Fehim, and raised in Brčko (at the time SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) where he finished elementary school. In 1992, when the Bosnian War started, he left Bosnia and Herzegovina and went to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where he began attending high 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 in high school and began to do rap battles at the age of fifteen. He also recorded a few demo tracks, creating his own instrumentals 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)

Osmić announced his debut album with the single Znaš me. He released his debut album, Slušaj mater×Slušaj Mater3 July 2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1Intro0:292Slušaj Mater4:293Minimalni Rizik5:094Rado Viđen4:185Jesmo'l Sami4:566Saletova Osveta4:057Prikaze4:528Recitacija1:249Mahir i Alma4:4910Faca Intro0:3611Faca3:1312Znaš Me Intro0:1913Znaš me4:3814Šverc Komerc3:5915De-ža-vu4:2716Šank5:0417Pare, Pare3:2618Molitva4:5319Za i Protiv3:3920Nemoj Se Bojat4:2221Outro1:05, 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×No sikiriki3 May 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 19 tracks1Sevdah o rodama2:282To sam ja3:183Pržiiiii4:444On je mlađi4:045Dragi moj Vlado5:016Svudi san bija3:327Savske meduze3:168Ruke gore3:289Slušajte me sad3:0110No sikiriki3:5711Kliše3:5812Ožeži3:5413Obećana riječ3:5714Legenda o Elvisu5:1115Kidanje veza3:5716Down3:0917Ne-mo-žeš3:2518Samo za raju4:0219Mater vam jebem4:24. On day one, the album sold 5,000 copies. He toured until the end of the year to promote his second album. In 2005, Osmić toured the US and Canada, visiting cities including Toronto, St. Louis, New York, Atlanta and Detroit, first time a Bosnian hip hop star was touring North America.

Third album (2006–08)

Recording of songs for the third studio album Stig'o Ćumur×Stig'o ćumur30 March 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Uši zatvori3:402Bomba3:183Budi ti3:474Trpaj3:265Para na paru (Uš na fukaru)4:096Sretno dijete3:097To mora da je ljubav4:048To što se traži5:189Moj cijeli život3:2310Za Mirzu4:4411Rek'o sam joj4:3212Moš' me pljuvat'2:1813Stvoren za rep4:1314Blažena tišina3:4015Nikad više4:3116Severina / [untitled]10:07 (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. The album peaked at number 1 on the Croatian Albums Chart.
In January 2007, Osmić '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×Balkansko a naše25 March 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Intro2:492Daj mi ljubav3:023Klimaj glavom3:554Ove godine slavim3:445Gansi3:416Pokradi lovu4:287Sve prolazi (feat. Saša Antić)3:578Volim te (feat. Burky & General Woo)4:189Ovaj ritam volim (feat. Koolade)3:0910Veliki medo (feat. Ivana Starčević)3:4311Hag (feat. Dino Šaran)4:0012I dalje slušam3:1213Svi su ošli na more3:0914Fmjam I Like (feat. Disciplinska Komisija)4:2715Hvala, voli vas Maajka4:55. At the beginning of June he announced that he had 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×Spomen ploča 2002-2009June 2010 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Ove godine2Saletova3Jebo vladu4Fotelja5Jesmo'l sami6Prži se srce moje7Ona je bomba8Ja odo krast9Trpaj trpaj10Tata mama11Care samo pare12Sretna djeca13Oldskul14No sikiriki no15Sve prolazi sve, but he redid the album with his newly formed band, where they would use band instruments as the music and softer vocals.
Osmić 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 (2012–18)

Osmić's fifth studio album, Štrajk mozga׊trajk mozga21 April 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Panika2Diši3Uplaćujem zato4Soma tebi, soma njemu5Šuldigung Sabine6Facebook7Imaš li ti šta para8RaTaTa/Moj DJ9Drukčiji10Džigera Beat11Šta će reć12Gube se, was released in April 2012. The first single 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

Osmić 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 has been described as having a perfect flow, also his varied subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums and was praised for his ability to write 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

Osmić 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. Osmić 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

Osmić 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, Osmić opened up a cafe bar called "No sikiriki×No sikiriki3 May 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 19 tracks1Sevdah o rodama2:282To sam ja3:183Pržiiiii4:444On je mlađi4:045Dragi moj Vlado5:016Svudi san bija3:327Savske meduze3:168Ruke gore3:289Slušajte me sad3:0110No sikiriki3:5711Kliše3:5812Ožeži3:5413Obećana riječ3:5714Legenda o Elvisu5:1115Kidanje veza3:5716Down3:0917Ne-mo-žeš3:2518Samo za raju4:0219Mater vam jebem4:24", named after his second album. Along with beverages, the cafe also serves his favorite food, ćevapi.
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

Osmić 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. Osmić 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

Osmić held a concert in the Sports Hall (Dom sportova) in 2005. The sponsor for the concert was T-mobile Croatia. Osmić 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 Osmić's album in Serbia) promoted Osmić's concert, which he was unaware of. When Osmić 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 Osmić mistakes from the past to 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 Osmić 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

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

Refusal to air music video

At the end of November 2005, a month after Osmić 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.

Studio albums

Slušaj mater (2002)
No sikiriki (2004)
Stig'o ćumur (2006)
Balkansko a naše (2008)
Štrajk mozga (2012)
Put u plus (2018)
Moćno (2022)

Live albums

I Like to Dance (with Jazz Orkestar HRT-a; 2026)

Compilation albums

Spomen ploča 2002–2009 (2010)
Best od Edo Maajka (2019)

Documentaries

Several documentaries were made on Osmić's life and career. Croatian Radiotelevision's documentary Edo Maajka - Sevdah o Rodama premiered 27 July 2007 at the Motovun Film Festival.