Baja Mali Knindža

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Mirko Pajčin (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирко Пајчин,* 13 October 1966), better known by his stage name Baja Mali Knindža (Serbian Cyrillic: Баја Мали Книнџа), is a Bosnian Serb folk singer and poet. He is most known for his wartime music and is still one of the most popular artists in Serbia.

Baja Mali Knindža
Баја Мали Книнџа
Baja Mali Knindza Artist Image.png
Background information
Birth nameMirko Pajčin
Born (1966-10-13) October 13, 1966 (age 58)
Gubin, SFR Yugoslavia
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1989–present
LabelsJugodisk, Nina Trejd, SuperTon, RTVJ, Estrada shop, RENOME, Cronic Munchen, BN Music, Patriot
Baja playing with Orkestar Fantom sometime in 1987

Early life

Baja was born on 13 October 1966 in the village of Gubin, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina).[1] While attending school, Baja claims that his Serbian language teacher, Milan Poparić influenced him heavily and introduced him to poetry. He started writing songs, reciting acting and singing at a young age. He attended high school in Bačka Palanka and ended up moving to Belgrade two years later. After graduating from high school he started working at the IMT tractor factory in Belgrade, then briefly worked at the then "Tito" shipyard before finishing his mandatory military service in Livno. At the end of his military service, he started working at the Belgrade airport.

Baja became interested in singing when his friend from Surčin held a celebration, to which Baja was invited, and he was offered a microphone to sing as part of the event. His performance would earn him a tip that was five times greater than his airport salary, saying to himself "Baja, you won't wake up early anymore".

Career

Baja would soon perform in cities like Sarajevo at the restaurant "Holidej" in Čengić vila, which was owned by a cousin of Lepi Mića, sharing the stage with artists like Ljubiša Vasiljević.

In 1989, he contributed to writing the Tromeđa album Izvorne pjesme Dalmacije, Like i Krajine, which included one of their biggest hits, "Nema raja bez rodnoga kraja". Later in the year, Baja wanted to compete in the music competition "Prvi glas Livna", but was denied when the judges found out that Baja was a professional musician and the song, "Nema raja bez rodnoga kraja" was already on an album. He was permitted to perform the song along with another song "Nemoj me lagati mila", but could not compete.[2][3]

When the breakup of Yugoslavia started, Baja's songs turned patriotic, and he set out to make an album about the conflict. He managed to gather just enough money to record his own first album, but somehow lost it all on the way to the studio. Now in debt and in search of a record label to take him, he eventually found Jugodisk after being rejected by PGP RTS.

In 1992, he released his debut album Ne dam Krajine. Upon release, it would become very successful, catapulting Baja into the mainstream. In mid-1992, he would go to Nina Trade and release Stan'te paše i ustaše and would go onto sell 300,000 copies. Despite his mainstream success, Baja had a strained relationship with the media. His 1992 Poselo performance of "Pevaj Srbijo" was cut from TV broadcasting and only ever had a few select appearances on radio and TV.[4]

In February 1993, Baja would release his best-selling album, Živeće ovaj narod,[5] and a live album, Sve za Srpstvo, Srpstvo nizašta. During his time at Nina Trejd, Baja would help Gordan Krajišnik with his debut album, Koridor Slobode as well as contribute to Boro Srbin's self-titled debut album.

 
Baja at a cassette stand in Knez Mihajlovo circa 1993.

In September 1993, Baja would appear in interviews and start touring for his upcoming album, Još se ništa ne zna. Upon release, Još se ništa ne zna became one of Baja's most popular albums and would be the start of his work with SuperTon. Shortly after the release of the album, Baja's first VHS, which featured music videos to his more popular songs, Najveći hitovi would be released. At the end of the year, he would release two albums, "Rat i mir" and "Kockar bez sreće" with the former containing patriotic songs and the latter containing love songs, inspired by older, non-war material similar to his work in the mid 80's.

 
A SuperTon ad in the December 1993 release of Sabor advertising Rat i mir and Kockar bez sreće and wishing readers a happy new year.

At the beginning of 1994, Baja worked alongside Goran Radinović as "Goki i Baja Bend" and would work with Gordan Krajišnik on his second album, Život damo Krajine ne damo as well as Rade Tešić's debut album, Samotnjak. He would also form Braća sa Dinare (lit. "Brothers from Dinara") with his brother, Novak Pajčin and a friend, Luka Mihaljica. Shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album, the second Baja VHS would release, called Rat i mir. In late 1994, Baja released his one and only album, Pobediće istina.

In early 1995, he would release Igraju se delije and Braća sa Dinare's second album Bila jednom jedna zemlja. He would help Gordan once more in Nema laži, nema prevare" and guest starred in the Milka Todotović album, Desilo se čudo / Idemo do kraja. In August 1995 before Krajina fell, Baja released the album "Idemo dalje".

After the release of Idemo dalje, Baja would work with his friend Đole on one of the rarest and mysterious releases of the war, "Seobe". With heavy emphasis on the fall of Krajina, Seobe had mostly sad lyrics, with the exception of a few songs. It also seems to lack the production quality of other albums, reusing instrumentals of previous songs and poorly mixed vocals. Baja and Đole also sing off key from each other on numerous occasions.

With the Yugoslav Wars coming to an end, Baja recorded the album "Zbogom oružje". It included songs critical of the war and the politics of the time like "Dejton-Ohajo" and "Za koga sam ratovao".

January 1996 saw the release of "Svrati posle snegova" in a collaboration with Obrad Vukovljak Ogi and mid-1996 the third album of Braća sa Dinare, titled "Plači voljena zemljo". The latter also including songs about the fall of Krajina.

A year later in 1997 Baja released the album "Ne dirajte njega" for Lazarević Produktion and Estrada Shop.

In the same year the fourth Braća sa Dinare album "Ja se svoga, ne odričem do groba" got released by Nina Trejd, carrying on the theme of Krajina and what once was.

1997 also saw the Serbian general elections. Like many others, Baja was asked by the controversial politician Vojislav Šešelj to produce a cassette with songs dedicated to the Serbian Radical Party. "Srpskim radikalima" released with three songs dedicated to the party, with the rest being reused material from other albums.[6]

After a discography pause in 1998, Baja released his last war album, "Biti 'il ne biti". The songs focused on the then ongoing Kosovo War and the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. It included many serious songs and also ones making fun of NATO.

Later in the same year Baja released the album "Gara iz Lončara / Život je tamo" in cooperation with Dragan Stojković Bosanac. It included no patriotic songs and instead had ones like "Evo džepa, đe su pare bile" and "Duni vjetre malo preko jetre", both of which could be considered his most popular work.

2000 saw the release of "Povratak u budućnost", a collaboration with Slaviša Guja Slaja, "Nova mega gara", and "Zaljubljen i mlad".

2001's "Đe si legendo" and 2002's "Zbogom pameti" were the last two albums before Baja's discography pause.

During this pause Baja maintained his popularity through many official and unofficial live releases.

In the same year as Zbogom pameti, "!!! Luda žurka !!!" was released by Carisma Disc International.

A year later in 2003, "Uživo" released on cassette and another concert recording on CD also called "Uživo" a year later. 2004 also saw the release of "Još sad pa ko zna kad!", both as a two part Cassette release and a two CD version.

 
2022 Baja Mali Knindža concert

"Ajmo braćo u kafanu", "Gara iz Nemačke" and "Hoćemo li brate zapjevati" all released in 2006 under the label "Cronic München".

2006 was also the year the DVD and VHS called "Baja Mali Knindža i prijatelji" released, aswell as Baja's next album "Za kim zvona zvone".

"Gluvi barut" released in 2007, followed by another three year pause and more unofficial live albums.

2010 saw the release of "Idemo malena" and "Lesi se vraća kući" in 2012.

2014's "Govor duše", is to date the last Baja album. It includes patriotic songs similar to his 90's work and a cover of his 1993 song "Nisu suze za Srbina".

Apart from a few singles, Baja only performs live nowadays. His performances have drastically changed in recent times. He stopped performing his overly nationalistic 90s work like Ne volim te Alija or Nemoj sejo nikad za Turčina and also quit performing his vulgar songs about alcohol and women. In the late 2000s, the rock band Minđušari also started to become his backing orchestra, contrary to his previous performances, which were generally all with the local bands of that area.

Baja has had a recent increase in popularity and still is one of the most popular singers in Serbia.

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • Tankosić As (2015)
  • Duško Kornjača (2015)
  • Ima srce lavlje (2015)
  • Tetreb (2015)
  • Himna FK Karanovac (2016)
  • Boro brate (2016)
  • Jovin goli otok (2016)
  • Ulje maslinovo (2019)
  • Nisu dostojni tebe (2019)
  • Dinarsko srce (2019)
  • Srpska Atina (2020)
  • Brat (2020)
  • Volim svoju zemlju (2020)
  • Luče sa Dorčola (2020)
  • Najčistija beretka "CIGO" (2021)
  • Šarena laža (2021)
  • 4. Avgust (2021)

Live

Compilations

Video

Collaborations (Baja bend)

Braća sa Dinare

References

  1. ↑ "Lična karta". Knindza.info. Archived link.
  2. ↑ Baja Mali Knindža Biography. Biografija.org. Archived link.
  3. ↑ "Ispovijest Mirka Pajčina". Medium.com. Archived link.
  4. ↑ 13.01.2021 Interview. Informer.rs. Archived link.
  5. ↑ "Karijera". Baja-mali-knindza.com. Archived link.
  6. ↑ "Baja Mali Knindza o Šešelju" Youtube.com
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