Svetomir Ilić Siki

Svetomir Ilić Siki (Serbian Cyrillic: Светомир Илић Сики) was a Serb folk singer and songwriter. He is best known for his patriotic music. His music career was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a severe stroke. In 2011, he would publish one last album and in the summer of the following year, he would do his last interview before passing.

Early life

Siki grew up in Podgorica and was an active person, boxing and playing handball. Due to the living situation with his parents, he was unable to learn, let alone buy an instrument. In 1971 when his son was born, Siki's mother invited an orchestra, though the orchestra's singer was absent. Siki would fill in the role, singing "Bosa Mara Bosna pregazila" at the request of his mother. Following his performance, the accordionist of the orchestra would hire him as their new singer and in turn kickstarted Siki's career.

Career

Siki at a kafana with other prominent folk singers.

Upon debut, he would fill in for the prominent composer Predrag Živković Tozovac of whom he shared his likeness with. He would learn the art of songwriting from composer and accordionist Buca Jovanović, developing a style that appealed to many.

In 1973, he made his studio debut with the single, Od života ništa nema and would go onto release five more singles under various state-owned labels.

In 1981, he would release his first studio album, Ima nešto, ima, ima / Vero, moja nevero. Upon release, the title track, "Ima nešto, ima, ima" became a big hit. The following year, the album would be re-released by the label Jugoton. From there, Siki would consistently release albums yearly until the early 90's.

In 1988, Siki released the album, Sve u svoje vreme. Although not entirely patriotic, it was the first album he made with patriotic content. This would also signal the change in his musical direction as he started publishing more works with patriotic material.

During the breakup of Yugoslavia, he would publish three albums in 1993: Probudi se Srbine, Srpkinja si na čelu ti piše, and Daće Bog Sveti Nikola. Of the three, Probudi se Srbine would receive a VHS release. The following year, he published only one album, Oj legendo Ravne Gore with the independent label, SuperTon. Due to the contents of these works, television networks refused to put him on air. In a 2012 interview, Siki would go onto say that it was the diaspora that enjoyed his works more than at home, noting that while attending gymnasium, people didn't like the mention of Serbia in music and Siki's own mentor, Buca warning him to not put such materials on a record.

Siki would publish one more album in 1998, Srbija se u Šešelja kuna for the upcoming elections. Although he was no longer making music, he did appear at the 13th annual radio televizijski festival in 2005. Over the years, his health declined and after suffering a stroke, he withdrew from the industry entirely.

In 2011, he released his final album, Balkan sad te ima, sad te ima. He would appear on the radio show Muzičke apoteke in 2012, sharing his thoughts on the current state of the industry as well as his own experiences.

Discography

[TBA]