Selma Bajrami (born 4 July 1980) is a Bosnian singer-songwriter and media personality. Her professional music career began when she was a teenager with the release of her first studio album Kad suza ne bude... in 1998. So far, she has released 8 studio albums and she is one of the most popular Bosnian singers of the 21st century.

Early life

Bajrami was born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time part of SFR Yugoslavia to a Bosniak mother and Albanian father. She grew up in the nearby village of Mramor where she spent the entirety of the Bosnian War (1992–1995), during which she started singing in kafanas. In 1996 she moved back to Tuzla.

Career

Her first studio album, Kad suza ne bude..., was released in 1998 through the record label "Nimfa Sound". There are 12 songs on the album, and the most popular among the audience were the songs: "Njemu osmijeh, meni suze", "Šta će žena ta", "Zašto boli kad se voli", "Kad suza jednom ne bude", etc.

Selma was a member of the pop music group "If" with whom she recorded 2 songs in the period 1999-2000; The songs "Ne vjeruj muškarcima" and "Ne mogu bez tebe".

Bajrami's second studio album, Ljubav si ubio gade, was released in 1999 through “Nimfa Sound” label. This album celebrated Selma in Bosnia and Herzegovina and earned her the epithet "star” already at the beginning of her career. The biggest hits from this album are: "Pijanico", "Ljubav si ubio gade", "Život liječi rane", "Mrva hljeba", etc.

The third studio album, Revolucija, was released in 2001 for the “Nimfa Sound” label for distribution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for Grand Production for distribution in Serbia. There are 10 songs on the album, and the biggest hits from this album are: "Svi ste vi isti", "Hajde, živio", "Nije više osamnaest meni", etc.

The fourth studio album, Žena sa Balkana, was released in 2002 for the “Nimfa Sound” label and this album is also Selma's last release for that publishing house. There are 12 songs on the album, and the biggest hits are: "Nana", "Škorpija", "Žena sa Balkana", and the song "Žena sirena" (English: A woman - Siren) became Selma’s nickname.

Selma also competed in the selection for the representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Zaljubena" which was held on March 1, 2003 in Skenderija in Sarajevo.

Selma's fifth studio album, Kakvo tijelo Selma ima, was released on December 27, 2004 for the publishing house “Hayat Production”. This album is a major turning point in Selma's career and has gained great popularity throughout the Balkans. The biggest hits from this album are: "Kakvo tijelo Selma ima", "Tijelo uz tijelo", "Muška suza" etc. On this album, Selma wrote the music for the songs "Divlji zov", "Prva ljubav" and is also the author of the music and lyrics for the song "Ljubavi jedina". After 6 years since the release of this album, in 2010, a demo version of the song “Muška suza” appeared on YouTube performed by Dragana Mirković.

Her sixth studio album, Ostrvo tuge, was released in April 2007 for the publishing house Grand Production. This is considered to be Selma's most successful album of her career, judging by the fact that the album has sold over 200,000 copies. Selma also recorded high-budget music videos for the songs "Ostrvo tuge" in Macedonia and "Promijeni se" in Sarajevo, and besides those songs, the song "Lijepe žene" stood out the most, which is one of Selma's biggest hits. There are 9 songs on the album, and one of them is a duet with Aca Lukas. In the same year, Selma won the award for “Singer of the decade” and “Album of the year” at the “Oskar popularnosti”.

Bajrami's seventh studio album was called Zakon sudbine, released in May 2010 for the record label Grand Production in the territory of Serbia, and in January 2011 for “Hayat Production” in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are 14 songs on the album, and the singles that announced this album were; "Đavolica" with Deda, "Šta je od Boga, dobro je" with Elvir Mekić and the single "Farmerice" released in December 2009. The album has sold more than 100,000 copies and is Selma's last album released by the record label Grand Production. The biggest hits from this album are; “Voli me do bola”, “Bakšiš”, “Rukujmo se kao prijatelji”, “Sarajevo”, etc. The following year, she won the “Duet of the year” award at the “Oskar popularnosti” in Banja Luka for the song “Šta je od Boga, dobro je”.

In the spring of 2011, Selma had her own reality show called "Voli me do bola: Reality Show" to select dancers for her music video "Voli me do bola" which was broadcast on Hayat TV in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2012, Selma recorded the single "James Dean" and retired from the scene to devote herself to motherhood.

In August 2013, she recorded the comeback song "Nisam ti oprostila" and announced her eighth studio album the following year.

The long-awaited eighth studio album, Selma, was released on July 23, 2014 for the publishing house City Records in the territory of Serbia and for the publishing house "Hayat Production" for the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are 9 songs on the album, and the songs "Tijelo bez duše", "Nisam ti oprostila", "Samo tvoje oči", "Zabrani mi da te volim" etc.

In October 2015, she recorded the first female duet in her career with Enela Palavra; "Mlađe slađe", and the song soon became a hit, especially among the younger audience. Today, the song has over 15 million views on YouTube.

In 2016, she collaborated again with her longtime collaborator, songwriter Dragan Brajović Braja, and released the song "Zvjerka", which achieved incredible success in her career and became one of her biggest hits. The song has over 30 million views on YouTube.

The singles "Uzbuna", "U zemlji krvi i meda", "Sve mi nudi", "Indicentno" followed, and the interesting fact is that the song "U zemlji krvi i meda" was inspired by the tragic death of a young loving couple during Bosnian War, Boško and Almira.

2012–14: Selma Bajrami

Bajrami began work on her 8th studio album in 2012. The lead single "James Dean" premiered in December of that year. It was followed by "Nisam ti oprostila", "Moje milo", "Tijelo bez duše" and "Samo tvoje oči". ^{[1] [2] [3]} The full album, Selma Bajrami was released 23 July 2014 through Hayat Production and City Records. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Personal life

Bajrami met her first husband, Zoran Vučković from Sarajevo, in March 2003 in the Croatian city of Makarska, where they married six months later. ^{[7] [8]} They divorced in February 2004. ^[9]

Selma met her second husband, a Bosnian man named Mujo Musić in July 2011, during a performance of hers at the Modrac Lake by Lukavac. ^[10] They were wed on 22 December 2011 in front of 100 guests at the hotel Tuzla in the same city, having been engaged a month. ^[11] Bajrami moved with her second husband to his home in Vienna, Austria. The couple filed for divorce in October 2014. ^[12]

Bajrami was about two months pregnant on her wedding day and although she had a birth due date of 4 July 2012, ^{[13] [14]} her 32nd birthday, she gave birth via caesarean section ^[15] to a baby boy named Daris seven days later than expected on 11 July 2012 in Vienna. ^{[16] [17] [18] [19]}

Bajrami did not celebrate her son's first birthday in 2013 as he was born on the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. She has stated that she will never celebrate his birthday on that date out of respect for the victims. ^[20]

On 28 February 2010, Bajrami was attending a friends birthday party in Belgrade, when she was attacked and assaulted by a drunk man. ^{[21] [22] [23]} She was treated in a hospital and sued her assailant. ^[24] Earlier, Bajrami denied news in September 2008 that she had been attacked by a schizophrenic man with a chainsaw in a nightclub near Srebrenik. ^{[25] [26]}

Discography

Studio albums

• Kad suza ne bude... (1998)
• Ljubav si ubio gade (1999)
• Revolucija (2001)
• Žena sa Balkana (2002)
• Kakvo tijelo Selma ima (2004)
• Ostrvo tuge (2007)
• Zakon sudbine (2010)
• Selma (2014)

Non-album singles

• Ne vjeruj muškarcima (1999) with IF
• Ne mogu bez tebe (2000) with IF
• Zaljubljena (2003)
• To vodu ne pije (2005) with Amir Kazić Leo
• Gdje će ti duša (2006) with Enes Begović
• Mlađe slađe (2015) with Enela Palavra
• Zvjerka (2016)
• Uzbuna (2016)
• U zemlji krvi i meda (2016)
• Sve mi nudi (2017)
• Incidentno (2017)
• Rizik (2018)
• Lažni gospodin (2019)
• Neka gori ova noć (2021) with Belmin
• Prva žena (2022)
• Maska (2022)
• Harem (2023)
• Dama (2024)

Videography

Filmography

References