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.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} 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^[6] and received his education in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the age of 13, he moved to the United States with his family.^[7] Bohemia married Sunny David on 13 June 2015 in a small ceremony in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California.^[8][9]

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 [Money, Intoxication, Love] 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

He performed the title track for Warner Bros film Chandni Chowk To China, appearing in the film with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.^[12] A few months later he did the title track for another Akshay Kumar film, 8 x 10 Tasveer.^[13] In 2011, he gave a song as a present to Akshay Kumar for his first Hollywood production Breakaway.^[14]

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.^[15][16]

In September 2012 he released his fourth album Thousand Thoughts.^[17] In 2013, it won Best Non-Resident Punjabi Album award at PTC Punjabi Music Awards.^[18] 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.^[19]

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.^[20] Bohemia appeared in XXL magazine in New York.^[11]

In 2017, Bohemia released his latest album Skull & Bones: The Final Chapter.^[21]

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.^[22] 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

Singles discography

References

External links

• Official website