Baja Mali Knindža: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Baja Mali Knindza Orkestar Fantom 1987.png|thumb|Baja playing with Orkestar Fantom sometime in 1987]]

== Early life ==

In 1989, he contributed to writing the [[Tromeđa]] album [[Izvorne pjesme Dalmacije, Like i Krajine|''Izvorne pjesme Dalmacije, Like i Krajine'']], which included one of their biggest hits, "[[Nema raja bez rodnoga kraja]]". Later in the year, Baja tried to participate 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.<ref>[https://archive.vn/Q2pRm "Baja Mali Knindža Biography"]. ''Biografija.org.'' 2 October 2021. Archived from [https://www.biografija.org/muzika/baja-mali-knindza/ the original] on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.</ref><ref>[https://archive.vn/J0KnL "Ispovijest Mirka Pajčina"]. ''Medium.com.'' 13 January 2019.  Archived from [https://medium.com/@manjacainsajder/ispovijest-mirka-pajčina-bio-sam-jako-nemiran-đed-me-nazvao-baja-7d8db475ed07 the original] on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.</ref>

When the breakup of Yugoslavia began, Baja's would make patriotic songs about the war. Baja set out to record these songs for an album, and after he gathered just enough money to begin production, he somehow lost it all on the way to the studio. Now in debt and in search of a record label, he eventually found [[Jugodisk]] after being rejected by [[PGP RTS]].  

[[File:Stand sa kasetama u Knez Mihajlovoj Kad je izasao najprodavaniji album u istoriji Srpske muzike 1992 godina.jpg|left|thumb|253x253px|Baja at a cassette stand in Knez Mihajlovo circa 1993.]]

Around late August/early September 1993, Baja would release his album and appear in many interviews regarding [[Još se ništa ne zna|''Još se ništa ne zna'']]. Upon release, it became one of Baja's most popular albums and would be the start of his work with [[SuperTon]]. Baja would also release a VHS tape called ''[[Najveći hitovi (VHS)|Najveći hitovi]]'', which featured music videos for his more popular song. At the end of 1993, he would release two more albums, [[Rat i mir|''Rat i mir'']] and [[Kockar bez sreće|''Kockar bez sreće'']] with the former containing patriotic songs and the latter containing love songs that were inspired by older, non-war material similar to his work in the mid 80's. [[File:1993 Superton Catalog Sabor.jpeg|thumb|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.]]Baja released one album in 1994, [[Pobediće istina|''Pobediće istina'']], and it would later receive a CD release on behalf of [[Estrada shop]] along with other songs from Baja's previous albums. This technically made the CD part compilation and part album release, and was therefore given the name ''[[Najveći hitovi - Pobediće istina]]''. A second Baja VHS, [[Rat i Mir (VHS)|''Rat i mir'']], released, and it would feature music videos for select tracks on the ''[[Rat i mir|Rat i Mir]]'' cassette release, as well as tracks from ''[[Kockar bez sreće]]''. The poems featured in the VHS were to be compiled in his one and only book, ''Nedefinisan čovek'', however, it never came to fruition.  

In early 1995, Baja would release three more albums: [[Igraju se delije|''Igraju se delije'']], [[Idemo dalje|''Idemo dalje'']], and ''[[Zbogom oružje]]''. ''Igraju se delije'' would be the last time Goran would accompany Baja on his own albums and would also be the first collaboration with Željko Jovanović. ''Idemo dalje'' was released in August of that year, shortly before Krajina fell. Shortly after the war officially ended, [[Zbogom oružje]] released in late 1995, critical of the war and the political climate at the time.

After working on side projects, Baja would depart SuperTon some time in 1997, moving to Lazarević Produktion where he released [[Ne dirajte njega|''Ne dirajte njega'']] in 1997. During the Serbian general elections in the same year, controversial politician Vojislav Šešelj to approached Baja, asking him to produce a cassette with songs dedicated to Šešelj's party, the Serbian Radical Party (abbreviated to SRS). With three songs dedicated to the party and the rest being reused material from other albums, [[Srpskim radikalima|''Srpskim radikalima'']] was released.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Sd8TdWTMw "Baja Mali Knindza o Šešelju"] ''Youtube.com''</ref> In 1998, SuperTon would release the exceedingly rare Baja compilation "''[[The Best Off]]"'', but it's not known if Baja was directly involved with the album's production or not.

In 1999, Baja went to Renome and released his last war-related album, [[Biti 'il ne biti|''Biti 'il ne biti'']]. Its contents focused on the [[Music during the Kosovo War|Kosovo War]] and subsequent NATO bombing campaign of Yugoslavia, which were ongoing at the time. Accompanied by [[Dragan Stojković Bosanac]], he also would release [[Gara iz Lončara / Život je tamo]] with the songs "[[Evo džepa, đe su pare bile]]" and "[[Duni vjetre malo preko jetre]]" being one of his most popular songs. Like ''[[Kockar bez sreće]]'', the album would feature no patriotic songs.  

In 2012, he would release, [[Lesi se vraća kući|''Lesi se vraća kući'']]. While it would be his last album published by BN, he would work within the company until 2015 where would release a single, ''[[Tetreb]]''.

In 2014, Baja would work on an album for Narodni pokret Dinara Drina Dunav titled, [[Govor duše]]. It includes patriotic songs in the same vein as his work from the 90's and includes an updated version of the ''Još se ništa ne zna'' song, "[[Nisu suze za Srbina]]". Despite wishes to make another album, it is the last album Baja has released to date.

Baja has had a recent increase in popularity and still is one of the most popular singers in Serbia. In recent years, he has developed a cult following in non-Serb circles online due to the increasing awareness of his work during the war.

While Baja's debut album was released in 1992, his start in the music industry would be in 1985 where he was primarily a lyricist at Jugodisk under the name "M. Pajčin Baja". His first songwriting credit would be on the [[Borislav Ličanin]] song "Oko mene lepe žene" from the album of the same name. He would also write the song "Jasna je meni donijela sreću" for the 1986 album ''A oj Liko zavičajna sliko'' and "Kad se slože ravnice i brda" for the 1987 album of the same name. The 1990 album, ''Sve što imam, to mi je u lici'' would be the first album to feature the song "Nemoj me lagati, mila", predating its appearance in ''[[Kockar bez sreće]]'' by three years. In 1989, Baja would contribute to one of Tromeđe's biggest hits, "Nema raja" as he was the primary lyricist for Tromeđa's ''[[Pjesme Dalmacije, Like i Krajine]]''. The song has since been covered by artists such as [[Bora Drljača]], [[Minđušari]], and [[Žare i Goci]]. He would contribute to the title track of the 1991 Milivoje Đurišić album ''Crnogorsko Srce'' before releasing his debut album.

In 1993, Baja began to add the "Knindža" to his moniker and wrote songs for artists in PGP RTS, the label that two years prior refused to publish his debut album. He would write the song "Rastanak" with the music being composed and performed by Rođa Raičević in ''Tako Je Suđeno''. It would also be covered by Cakana in the same year, although Baja would not be credited. He would also write the lyrics for "Đetić bez mane" for the 1993 Miloje Bubanja album, ''[[Život teče dalje]]''. He would also write and compose "Čujem da me tražiš" and "Dosta je bilo lutanja" for Jane Kačar's ''Smiluj se, Bože'', published by Produkcija "Južni Vetar". While at Nina Trejd, he would compose and produce Goran Krajišnik's debut album, ''Koridor slobode'' as well as contribute an early version of "Dražo" (titled "Ustani čiča Dražo") to the Boro Srbin album ''Ja sam Srbin''. At SuperTon, he wrote the song "Prvi put" for Nina Nikolić's ''[[Azbuka ljubavi]]''. Baja would also compose for Boban Zemunac's debut album, ''[[Ne daj se Srbijo moja]]'' and would feature an early version of "[[Neće biti granica na Drini]]". Its title track would use the tune of "Nemoj me lagati mila" and some elements in the instrumentals throughout the album would appear in later Baja albums albeit slightly altered.

In 1995, Baja wouldn't contribute as much as the previous year as he would write the lyrics to "Stara kalja a momak u duši" for the Bora Draljača album ''Nema raja bez svog zavičaja'' (whose title track is a cover of "Nema raja") and wrote the song "Nestao si kao dim" for the Simona album of the same name, both being published by PGP RTS. Baja would also be the primary songwriter for Gordan Krajišnik's ''Nema laži, nema prevare'' with a disco version of "Nema raja" (renamed to "Nema raja, bez rodnog kraja"). He would also be the primary songwriter for ''[[Bila jednom jedna zemlja]]'' and ''Seobe''.

In 1996, Baja would contribute to six more albums from SuperTon: ''Svrati posle snegova'' with Obrad Vukovljak, ''[[Plači voljena zemljo]]'', the songs "Pesma za ostavljene" and "Zorica" on Vojo Terzić's ''[[Kraljica bez krune]]'', the title track and "Hey nevero" on Sveto Jovanović's ''[[Boem]]'', the song "Ranjeni lav" on Sveto Tulić's ''[[Prokleta žena]]'', and "Što me gledaš kad mi nedaš" for Dar - Mar's [[Dar - Mar (Album)|self-titled album]]. At Diskos, he wrote "Imala je oči" and the title track for Jane Kačar in ''I bogati plaču'', "Čekala me majka" on Božo Vorotivić's debut album, ''Nedam te!'', and "Ženama sam dušu dao" in Svemir Serdar's debut album ''Momak najbolji''. He would return to Nina Trejd and would work with Ličanin again in ''Će s'tobom biti'' where he would write "Jedna jela sa ličkoga prela" and "Otrov sam za žene" as well as write "Danijela" for [[Jadrino Jato]]'s [[Oj Krajino suzo moja|''Oj Krajino suzo moja'']].

In 1999, Baja wrote three songs for the Jadrino Jato album ''Jedna je Danijela'': the title track, "Ti si moja greška", and "Branka Prijedorčanka" as well as another rendition of "Rastanak". He would be the primary songwriter for Jovan Perišić's ''Čovek kafanski'' as well as writing the song "Prevede me žedna preko vode" for the Bora Drljača album, Rača 2. It would also feature a cover of the song "Pevaj mala pevaj".  

During the 2000's, Baja's output began to slow drastically as the output he had at companies like Renome, Grand Production, and other labels during this era would not be nearly as much compared to his time at Nina Trejd and SuperTon.

In 2004, Baja and his cousin Lazo Pajčin would write for Prelidžije's ''Ode ode preko Drine vode'' and Karađorđe's ''Deset zapovijesti''. He wrote "Ti si mene već zaboravila" for Drljača's ''Stari vuk'' and "Devetnaest sati leta" for Mile Delija's ''Dobro jutro selo moje''.

In the 2010s to present day, Baja's songwriting for other artists was sparse as currently only eight songs have been written. In 2010, he wrote "Stojane, sine jedini" for the debut album of Krajiška Grupa Gubin, ''Evo braće''. Baja would not write any new songs for other artists for the next three years. In 2013, he wrote "Ništa nije kao prije" for the Žare i Goci album, ''Aj' na megdan!'' In 2014, he wrote "Dinara" and "Nemoj Ružo" for the Goci i Lazo album, ''Pozdravi mi Krajinu''. In 2015, he wrote "Lubav se ne kupuje" for Neđo Bobar's Ruka desna and "Daleko si rodni kraju" on Žare i Milenko's self-titled album. Baja would not write for another artist again for another three years. In 2018, he would write one more song for another artist. "Maštam o našoj sreći" would be written for Jovan Sekulović's album ''Anđele plave''.