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Bohemia
بوہیمیا
Bohemia in 2017
Born	Roger David (1979-10-15) 15 October 1979 (age 45) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan United States of America
Occupations	Rapper poet singer songwriter record producer
Years active	2001–present
Spouse	Sunny David ​(m. 2017)​
Musical career
Origin	Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	Desi hip hop hip hop
Labels	Universal Music Group Sony Music India Kali Denali Music T-Series Yash Raj Films Saga Music Coke Studio Pakistan Geet MP3
Website	thepunjabirapstar.com

Roger David (Punjabi: راجر ڈیوڈ, pronounced [ɾaːd͡ʒəɾ ɖeːʋɪɖ]; born 15 October 1979), better known by his stage name Bohemia (pronounced [boːɦiːmiːaː]), is a Pakistani-American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer, mainly associated with Punjabi language music industry. He is considered to be the pioneer of the Desi hip hop industry.

Early and personal life

Bohemia was born on 15 October 1979 to a Punjabi Christian family in Karachi, Sindh and received his education in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the age of 13, he moved to the United States with his family. Bohemia married Sunny David on 13 June 2017 in a small ceremony in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California.

Career

In early 2000, he moved to join his cousin in Oakland who was working at a West Oakland recording studio and introduced him to a young hip-hop producer called Sha One (Seth Agress). Discovering that they both shared a deep interest in music, they made plans to form their own record label, which they subsequently called "The Outfit Entertainment". After Sha heard Bohemia reciting something he had written in Punjabi he asked him to rap it over one of his beats. Over the next few months, he wrote a library of lyrics. This would become the arsenal for his debut album Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land) – an autobiographical story of his life as a Desi youngster adapting to the streets of America, which he and Sha One produced together. Their first single "Sha Te Ra" was released as a music video, but the song itself was not included on Vich Pardesan De.

The following album, Pesa Nasha Pyar became the first full-length Punjabi rap album released by a major label. It was recorded and produced by Sha One and Bohemia in their downtown Oakland studio. After nearly two years of perfecting their sound and style, a seamless fusion of Bohemia's Punjabi vocals, and Sha One's English hooks, the album was finally released. He subsequently signed a multi-record deal with music label Universal Music Group. In 2006, Pesa Nasha Pyar was on the Top 10 downloads of Maxim, and No. 3 on Planet M chart India. His first album Vich Pardesan De get nominated in BBC UK top ten albums. Da Rap Star, his third album, received four nominations at the UK Asian Music Awards and PTC Punjabi music awards. It also remained at No. 1 on Planet M chart for several weeks.

He performed the title track for Warner Bros film Chandni Chowk To China, appearing in the film with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. A few months later he did the title track for another Akshay Kumar film, 8 x 10 Tasveer. In 2011, he gave a song as a present to Akshay Kumar for his first Hollywood production Breakaway.

In May 2012, Sony Music India signed Bohemia. As part of the association, Sony Music managed his music albums, launches and shows under its management program.

In September 2012, he released his fourth album Thousand Thoughts. In 2013, it won Best Non-Resident Punjabi Album award at PTC Punjabi Music Awards. At the Coke Studio Sessions, he was the first rap artist, appearing in their fifth season where he performed three songs. Bohemia has also recorded a collaboration with Sonu Kakkar and Jamaican American artist Sean Kingston.

In 2015, Bohemia & J.Hind launched their own music label Kali Denali Music. Bohemia has since departed the company & J.Hind is currently the CEO. Bohemia appeared in XXL magazine in New York.

In 2017, Bohemia released his latest album Skull & Bones: The Final Chapter.

On 26 July 2018, first single "Sandesa" from his EP "Skull & Bones: Volume 2" was released, which turned out to be a remixed version of one of his unreleased singles. On 27 November 2018, Bohemia released first original single "Koi Farak Nahi" for his EP Skull & Bones: Volume 2. In an interview Bohemia said that he is coming back with his brand new album Skull and Bones Volume 2 which later got released as an EP. All the songs in it were got released as singles instead of a single unit album.

At the end of 2018, Bohemia went on a tour in India, where he performed in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, and Rajasthan. He also appeared on an Episode on No.1 Yaarian With Raftaar and Salim Merchant.

In February 2019, Bohemia released the third single "Umeed" from his EP Skull and Bones Volume 2.

In April 2022, Bohemia released his fifth studio album named as "I Am I.C.O.N" (In Control Of Nothing) In this album Bohemia features multiple new talented artists like Noveen Morris and many more The music of the album produced by Deep Jandu

Awards and nominations

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles discography

As lead artist

As featured artist

Coke Studio

• School Di Kitaab
• Paisay Da Nasha
• Kandyaari Dhol Geet
• Saari Duniya

MTV Spoken Word

• Purana Wala
• Jaane Jana

Film soundtracks

References

1. "Cricketer Tanvir's brother files law suit against rapper Bohemia | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. 2 October 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
2. Images Staff (10 August 2018). "Pakistani-American rapper Bohemia set to make acting debut". Images. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
3. "Bohemia dedicates new song Gumraah to victims of abuse | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
4. Tribune.com.pk (27 December 2010). "Pakistani rapper Bohemia in Bollywood again". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
5. "Bohemia to perform live in Delhi on Friday". The Statesman. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
6. Kapoor, Diksha (15 October 2019). "Happy Birthday Bohemia: Here's How He Became The King Of Punjabi Rap". PTC Punjabi. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
7. Mahmood, Rafay (27 January 2012). "Bohemia: More than just forties and shorties". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
8. ssbride2345 (9 July 2018). "Bohemia, The King of Punjabi Rap". Sacramento Bride & Groom. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. N, Karan (2 January 2019). "Bohemia, His Wife Visit Golden Temple To Start Their New Year 2019". PTC Punjabi. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
10. Bohemia (30 August 2012). "Bio". Thepunjabirapper.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
11. ^ "Bohemia Bio | Bohemia Career". MTV. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
12. jfsocc (16 January 2009). "Chandni Chowk to China (2009)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
13. manojharisree (3 April 2009). "8 x 10 Tasveer (2009)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
14. "Sansaar [Breakaway 2011]". Bohemia The Punjabi Rapper. 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
15. "Sony Music signs Punjabi rapper Bohemia". Daily News & Analysis. Dnaindia.com. 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
16. "Sony Music signs singer Bohemia". The Times of India. 29 May 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
17. "iTunes – Music – Thousand Thoughts by Bohemia". iTunes. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
18. "PTC Punjabi Music Awards winners". The Times of India. 25 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
19. "BOHEMIA, IRAJ, SEAN KINGSTON". BOHEMIA. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
20. "Main". BOHEMIA. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
21. "Skull & Bones by Bohemia". iTunes. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
22. "Koi Farak Nahi - Single". iTunes. 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
23. "Asian Music Chart Top 40 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
24. "Official Punjabi Music Chart Top 20 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
25. Bohemia Chart History https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/60465/sidhu-moose-wala-ft-bohemia Archived 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website

• 1979 births
• Pakistani emigrants to the United States
• Living people
• American rappers of Asian descent
• Pakistani rappers
• Punjabi rappers
• Rappers from California
• 21st-century American rappers