Celebrity Info: Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper

Bohemia was born in Karachi. He started writing Punjabi poetry there as well. After moving to San Francisco Bay Area California, USA about 14 years of age, Bohemia was introduced to an America that was much the opposite of palm trees and green grass. The town was infested with drugs and violence. About a year after being in the states, he lost his mother to cancer. At that time, Bohemia left home and survived as 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 Bohemia left to pursue music on his own. Bohemia soon started putting his poetry to the music he composed and gave birth to a new genre of music. He is now the most successful Punjabi rappers of all time. His music has changed the Desi music scene forever and has spread all over the world. A number of up-and-coming artists consider Bohemia as their biggest inspiration as they embrace the genre of Urdu/Punjabi Rap. Bohemia has mentioned numerous times in his interviews that he does not belong to any culture or represent any religions. He considers himself to be someone who came from the streets, struggled with the world, and made it to where most people die before reaching.

Roger David (15 Oct, 1979) Known world wide by his stage name Bohemia or Raja is a Pakistani American, Punjabi rapper and a music producer from California, Bohemia quickly gained popularity in 2003 with his independent debut album, ‘Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land)’ which hit the Top 10 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 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 or Desi-rap. In 2006 ‘Pesa Nasha Pyar’ hits #2 on Maxim magazine’s Top 10 downloads, and #3 on Planet M chart. Bohemia appears in XXL magazine New York. He enters Bollywood in 2009 with the title track forWarner Bros. feature film ‘Chandni Chowk to China’, Bohemia appeared in the film with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. He most recently lends his voice for the film Desi Boyz. Bohemia raps to set the scene for Sanjay Dutt's cameo along with, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh. ‘Da Rap Star’, his third album receives 4 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 #1 on Planet M chart India for several weeks. Bohemia then went on touring for the rest of 2009 performing all over Europe, Asia and America. He has appeared on many of Universal India’s mega-compilations including"The Chart busters" where he appears on three tracks. Universal called this compilation The biggest hits in Punjabi on one massive album! 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 Coolest Desis. “Ek Tera Pyar”, his second single from ‘Da Rap Star’ entered the B4U Top 10 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 30 major label compilations and collaborations to date.

Bohemia is #3 on the Top 15 Desi Artists of the Decade. "This list is like no other" says Urban Desi radio. The list features artists that came onto the urban Desi scene and changed it forever.^[6] He is currently preparing his 4th solo studio album for a release in 2012.

About Bohemia the lahnda or western Punjabi rapper. The term “Bohemia” suggests flouting traditional mores. And rap is all about personal angst or feelings. So what is Bohemia the man all about? “Well, I lost my mom when I was just 14 or 15, and I was quite a momma’s boy. That made me mad and I was kind of pushed into negative things. I have to thank God for music, for that’s what finally made me wake up and gave a reason to live. Dad played the harmonium and I learned the keyboard.”

He goes on, “When we moved to the U.S., and after losing my mom, I left home. I was virtually living in recording studios and sleeping in cars. And when a friend of mine who was also a musician was murdered and replaced by another musician just as easily as if he was a broken instrument, I was mad again. I told the studio engineer that I was through with being a keyboard player who could go into anonymity if he died tomorrow. I wanted to leave my own music behind”.

Bohemia’s first album was Vich Pardesan De 2003, which was about coming to a foreign land. Hip Hop was then limited to the underground. But with this album, he pioneered Punjabi rap. Then came Pesa Nasha Pyar (Money, Intoxication, Love) 2006, the first-ever full-length Desi rap album to be released worldwide on a major music label (Bally Sagoo's Ishq Records).

Da Rap Star, his new album he says, “is all me, without any samples used other than my tribute track to Malkit Singh. I am showing off how good a producer I am! I have played all the instruments keyboards, drums and did all the sequencing. There are tracks that describe my journey. To sum up, it’s me saying, ‘I’m me! Look, I’m still here!’”

Through his experiences, come raw raps depicting not just California street life, but a life many south Asians lead in America. Bohemia looks up to artists such as late Jagjit Singh and the lateNusrat Fateh Ali Khan and rapper's like Nas and KRS-One.

After having burnt up music charts with his Bollywood songs, Bohemia's highly awaited album Da Rap Star has finally released. Da Rap Star, written and produced entirely by Bohemia hit #1 on the Planet M chart India and is nominated as the Best Punjabi Album at the UK Asian music awards. He is now became the fastest punjabi rappers of all the time.

After the great demand of the fans, Bohemia performed Live in Coke Studio (Pakistan season 5) which was Televised Live on 13 May 2012, on 23 Different channels in Pakistan. Bohemia's Performance in Coke Studio (Pakistan season 5)