Svetomir Ilić Siki

Svetomir Ilić Siki (Serbian Cyrillic: Светомир Илић Сики) was a Serb folk singer and songwriter. He is best known domestically for the song "Ima nešto, ima, ima" and best known in western circles for the song "Arkanove delije". His music career was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a severe stroke. In 2011, he would publish one last album before passing the following year.

Svetomir Ilić Siki Светомир Илић Сики
Siki performing at Moravski biseri in 2005.
Background information
Birth name	Svetomir Ilić
Born	Year Unknown Podgorica, Montenegro
Died	2012
Genres	Novokompovana
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1972-2005, 2011
Labels	PGP radio Kruševac, Diskos, PGP RTB, Jugodisk, Jugoton, Mega Company, DK Studio, Produkcija Stig, SuperTon, Audio produkcija zemunski novina

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 his first war-related album in 1992: Probudi se Srbine, which features patriotic material on the A-side and love songs on the B-side. "Arkanove delije", the album's second track would become popular in western circles. The following year, the albums Srpkinja si na čelu ti piše, and Daće Bog • Sveti Nikola were released, though were noticeably from independent labels. In 1994, he released his last war-related work Sad je vreme za ujedinjenje with the independent label, SuperTon. Due to the contents of these works, mainstream television networks refused to put him on air.

Siki would publish an album in 1998, Srbija se u Šešelja kune under the label Audio produkcija zemunski novina. This was to promote politician Vojislav Šešelj for the upcoming elections. Other than reissuing the 1994 album Sad je vreme za ujedinjenje under the name Oj, legendo Ravne Gore in 1999, Srbija se u Šešelja kune would be the last album Siki made, citing disillusionment with the industry and declining health.

Although he was no longer making music, he did appear at the 13th annual radio televizijski festival Moravski biseri in 2005. Over the years, his health declined and after suffering a stroke, he withdrew from the industry entirely.

In 2011, he came out of retirement and released his final album, Balkan sad te ima, sad te ima. He would appear on the radio show Muzičke apoteke in 2012, going 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.

Discography

Singles

• Od života ništa nema (1973)
• Nisi ti za mene (1974)
• Vreme mi je da se ženim / Bolje da se rastanemo (1975)
• On i ona (1977)
• Sviraj, violino / Romanka (1978)
• Ima nešto, ima, ima / Neženja sam, pa se ljudi čude (1981)
• Jugoton Express (1982)

Albums

• Ima nešto, ima, ima / Neženja sam, pa se ljudi čude (1981)
• Ima nešto, ima, ima (1982)
• Zbog jedne žene (1983)
• Volite se ljudi (1983)
• Ako Odeš, kajaćeš se (1986)
• On i ona (1987)
• Sve u svoje vreme (1988)
• Svetomir Ilić siki (1989)
• O Božiću ako Bog da (1990)
• Probudi se Srbine (1992)
• Srpkinja si na čelu ti piše (1993)
• Daće Bog • Sveti Nikola (1993)
• Sad je vreme za ujedinjenje (1994)
• Srbija se u Šešelja kune (1998)
• Oj, legendo Ravne Gore (1999)
• Balkan sad te ima, sad te ima (2011)