Biography Of Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper

Ra [Short for Raja] aka Bohemia or Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper is a Pakistani born Punjabi Rapper and Music Producer from California, USA of mixed Sikh and Christian descent. Bohemia quickly gained popularity in 2002 with his independent debut album, ‘Vich Pardesan De’ which hit the Top Ten on BBC Radio 1 UK. The following album, ‘Pesa Nasha Pyar’, became the first full-length Punjabi-Rap album released by a major label in the history. It brought Bohemia increased popularity, including his recent multi-record deal with music mogul Universal Music Group Pvt. Ltd. India. It also brought his creation of Punjabi Rap to mainstream recognition making Bohemia known as pioneer of a new genre of music: Desi-Hip-Hop. In 2006 ‘Pesa Nasha Pyar’ hits No.2 on Maxim Magazine’s Top10 Downloads, and No.3 on Planet M Chart. Bohemia appears in XXL Magazine New York, USA. He enters Bollywood in 2009 with the title track for Warner Bros. feature film Chandni Chowk to China, in which he also appeared in the video with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. In 2010 ‘Da Rap Star’, his third album receives four nominations at the UK Asian Music Awards and PTC Punjabi Music Awards, including ‘Best Punjabi Album’ and ‘Best Music Director’. ‘Da Rap Star’ also remains No. 1 on Planet M Chart Punjabi for several weeks. Bohemia then went on touring in summer 2009. He recently appeared on the title track of UMG’s mega-compilation called ‘The best of the best Sher-e-Punjab', titled ‘Putt Punjabi’, on February, 2010. Bohemia is one of the best-selling artists of the year, making him the flagship artist of Universal Music Group India.


Bohemia was ranked 25th on Desiclub.com’s list of the 50 Coolist Desis. “Ek Tera Pyar”, his second single from ‘Da Rap Star’ entered the B4U Top Ten Chart, becoming the first none film track to do so. Bohemia was amongst the top 100 most searched Asian artists on yahoo.com. He has been featured on over 25 major label compilations to date.


Bohemia (Born Roger David) started learning music at a very young age from his father. He started writing Punjabi poetry around then as well. After migrating to the Bay Area California USA at about fourteen years of age, Ra was introduced to America that was much the opposite of palm trees and green grass. The town was infested with drugs and violence. About a year later being in the states, he lost his mother to cancer. At that time, Ra left home and became a local musician. He started working as a keyboard player/music arranger while living at local studios with other musicians. After a few years of success, the local group of musicians fell apart and Ra left to pursue music on his own. Bohemia soon started putting his poetry to the music he composed and gave birth to the new era of Punjabi rap, a new genre of music.
Through his experiences, come raw raps depicting not just California street life, but a life many south Asians lead in America. His lyrics are in Punjabi, while many of the hooks are in English. Bohemia looks up to artists such as Jagjit Singh and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Bohemia's first album, Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Lands), was released independently in 2002 and was soon among the Top Ten most requested songs on BBC radio 1 UK. His next album, Pesa Nasha Pyar (Money Addiction Love), was released in 2006 under Universal Music Group Pvt. Ltd. India and Ishq Records, UK making it the first ever full-length Punjabi-rap album to be released by a major label. His latest album Da Rap Star also with UMG was No1 on Planet M Chart in Punjab and is nominated as the Best International album at the Uk Asian Music Awards 2010. Hailing from California USA, Bohemia unloads automatic rounds of street-savvy Punjabi rap interlaced with pounding kicks, chunky bass lines and contagious melodies.
After having burnt up music charts with his Bollywood songs, Bohemia's highly awaited album Da Rap Star has finally released (Universal Music Group, April 2009). Da Rap Star, written and produced entirely by Bohemia hit No1 on the Planet M/Music World Chart in Punjabi, India and is nominated as the Best International Album at the UK Asian Music Awards 2010.


Vich Pardesan De was the first album released by Bohemia. At that time, Bohemia was a group, made up of music producer/song writer Seth "SHA ONE" Agress, and Roger David (Now known as Bohemia The Punjabi Rapper). Vich Pardesan De garnered attention within the South Asian music community, but it wasn't until the second album "Pesa Nasha Pyar", that Bohemia became a recognized name. Both albums were produced and masterminded almost entirely by SHA ONE, who was also responsible for developing Bohemia's vocal delivery style, public image, and stage persona.
With the success of Pesa Nasha Pyar, Bohemia was offered a deal from Universal Music India. He took the deal, but subsequently cut SHA ONE out of the picture. This proved to be a career mistake, as none of Bohemia's music following Pesa Nasha Pyar was able to have the same impact on audiences.

Discography

• 2002: Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Lands) / Produced by Seth "SHA ONE" Agress
• 2006: Pesa Nasha Pyar (Money Addiction Love) Universal Music Group India Pvt. Ltd. / Produced by Seth "SHA ONE" Agress
• 2009: Da Rap Star Universal Music Group India Pvt. Ltd. (Nominated for 4 Int'l Music Awards

Bollywood films

• Chandni Chowk to China

Bohemia wrote and produced the title track for Warner Bros. Chandni Chowk to China is a Hindi film which released on 16 January 2009. The film is directed by Nikhil Advani and stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.

• 8 x 10 Tasveer

Akshay teams up with Bohemia for a song in 8 x 10 Tasveer. Navin Shah, CEO of Percept Picture Company, says, "...Bohemia is a very popular rap artist and we are very happy that he has given his music for our film."8 x 10 Tasveer. starring Julian S. Low, Akshay Kumar, Ayesha Takia, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Jaffrey, and Anant Mahadevan is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor.