# Nikolija (singer)

Nikolija Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николија Јовановић; born 19 October 1989) is a Serbian turbo-folk singer. Born to folk singer Vesna Zmijanac, Jovanović was born in Zagreb and raised in Belgrade. Nikolija debuted in 2013 with the single "Ćao zdravo" and has since released four studio albums: №1 (2016), Yin & Yang (2019), Aurora (2022) and Lavina (2024), as well as numerous other standalone singles. Her music videos have collectively accumulated over 700 million views on YouTube.

## Early life

Jovanović was born on October 19, 1989 in Zagreb. She is the only child of singer Vesna Zmijanac and economist Vlada Jovanović, who operated as the chief of marketing at PGP RTS. Her parents divorced shortly after she had been born and Jovanović has two half-siblings from her father's second marriage. Nikolija was raised n Belgrade. In 1995, she appeared in her mother's music video for the song "Kad bih znala kako si". For her senior year of high school Nikolija relocated to Athens, Greece. There, she subsequently started attending The School of Business & Economics at the American Deree College, from which she graduated in 2013 with a degree in international business.

## Career
### 2010-2016: Career beginnings and No1

Jovanović made her first public appearance in 2010 by competing alongside her mother on the reality TV series Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines, where she was the first contestant to be voted out. Nikolija subsequently voluntarily left the show on medical grounds. During her studies in Athens, she started singing professionally by performing in local nightclubs. At the beginning of 2011, Nikolija released her first song "Crazy 2 Night" featuring DJ Kas under the stage name "Nicole", but failed to make a significant success.
After graduating from college, Nikolija relocated back to Serbia where singer Milan Stanković introduced her to the prominent songwriters and producers Nebojša Arežina and Marko Perunučić, who would become her frequent collaborators. She came on to the Serbian music scene with the house-influenced single "Ćao zdravo" featuring MC Techa, released in April 2013 under IDJTunes. The single received polarizing public reception due to its provocative lyrics and S&M-inspired music video. During the summer of 2013, she rose to further prominence after she had been featured on the song "Milion dolara" by Ana Nikolić, which also served as the title track for her fourth album.
In March 2014, Nikolija was announced as a contestant of the Serbian spin-off of Dancing with the Stars, where she finished in 8th place after six weeks of competing. Also that year, she was featured on "Alkohola litar" by Elitni Odredi and also released her solo song "Kako posle mene". With these singles Nikolija embraced singing rather than just rapping and began crossing over to more commercial pop-folk sound. With over 75 million views, Nikolija's collaboration with Elitni Odredi remains her highest performing music video. "Opasna igra" was subsequently released in June the following year to commercial success as well. Its music video was declared the most viewed Serbian video on YouTube in 2015. In October, she released her first balladic single, called "Ljubavni maneken". Nikolija made her runway debut for George Styler at the Belgrade Fashion Week in November the same year. On 20 October 2016, she released her debut album, No1, under City Records. It features previously released singles and three new songs: "101 Propušteni poziv", "Plavo more" and "Pucaj zbog nas". The album was sold in 50,000 copies.

### 2017-2019: Yin & Yang

Nikolija released "Promeni mi planove" in March 2017. In July, it was followed by the single "Loš momak", produced by Coby. The single's music video has collected over 48 million views. Same month, it was revealed that Nikolija would star in the dystopian action film Volja sinovljeva, directed by Nemanja Ćeranić. Nikolija's role, however, did not make the final cut of the movie, which was eventually released in 2024 after facing setbacks. In October 2017, she released "Moj tempo". During the following year, Jovanović released three singles in succession: "Malo", "Nema limita" and "Slažem". The music video for "Nema limita", which was directed by Ćeranić and inspired by Volja Sinovljeva, has amassed over 45 million views.
Her second studio album, Yin & Yang, was released under IDJTunes on 24 April 2019. It was preceded by two official singles: the title track and "Nije lako biti ja" featuring rapper Fox, and it also included three standalone releases: "Loš momak", "Nema limita" and "Slažem" as bonus tracks on the physical edition. A month after the album's release, it was announced that Nikolija and Relja Popović would release a duet, entitled "Meduza". Their collaboration is currently Nikolija's most successful release on Spotify. In July, she promoted her album at the Ulaz music festival in Belgrade. In September, Jovanović released "Sija grad".

### 2020-present: Aurora and Lavina

Nikolija released "Stav Milionera" in February 2020, which would become her last official single under IDJTunes. She was subsequently signed to the newly established record label, Made In BLKN, founded by Relja Popović in distribution deal with IDJTunes. Under the new label she released a series of four singles during 2020: "Nakit", "No Plaky", "O bivšima" and "High Life". In December that year, Jovanović and her half-sister launched a fashion brand, called About Me, with streetwear designed by her. In the following year, she had two solo releases: "Sve bih" and "Divlja orhideja", while in October 2021, Nikolija and Teya Dora released "Ulice" from the soundtrack for the Serbian thriller Južni Vetar 2: Ubrzanje.
In June 2022, Nikolija appeared on Devito's single "Ljubav". In August, she held a concert during the Music Week Festival in Belgrade. On 2 December 2023, Nikolija released her third studio album, Aurora. Its lead single, "Gringo", was released in April, whilst the title track featuring the winner of the first season of IDJ Show, Amna Alajbegović, was released in July. The latter became Nikolija's first single on the Billboard's Croatia Songs chart. On 26 January 2023, Nikolija performed the songs from Aurora at the Music Awards Ceremony in the Belgrade Arena. The performance also included the chorus from her forthcoming single "Prezime", created by Rasta.
During the spring and summer of 2023, she released two drill-influenced singles - "Nicky" and "Avlije avlije". They were succeeded by the more melodic "Ljubi jako" in July, which was accompanied by the official vertical video, recorded by Nikolija and her half-sister in Athens, and another video made out of fan TikToks. On 15 March 2024, Nikolija released her fourth studio album, Lavina, to digital services through Made In BLKN Records. The album debuted on the official charts in Austria and Switzerland. Four tracks from Lavina also simultaneously debuted on the Billboard's chart in Croatia, whilst "Nenormalan lik" with Devito took the highest position, peaking at number three.

## Personal life

According to media reports, Nikolija dated Greek NBA player Thanasis Antetokounmpo between 2011 and 2014.
Jovanović has been in a relationship with actor, musician and former member of Elitni Odredi, Relja Popović, since they collaborated on the single "Alkohola litar" in 2014. Together they have two daughters, born on 26 September 2016 and 17 July 2021. The couple tends not to publicly discuss details from their private life and children.
On the topic of cyberbullying, Nikolija has been vocal about online harassment she has received when her relationship with Popović was alleged to be the reason behind the breakup of Elitni Odredi in early 2015. In April 2023, Jovanović received overwhelming praise for her honesty and transparency after she had opened up on TikTok about her much speculated past plastic surgeries and her developing relationship with her own body acceptance.

## Discography
### Studio albums

* №1 (2016)
* Yin & Yang (2019)
* Aurora (2022)
* Lavina (2024)
* Sila (2025)

## Filmography

Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | Survivor Srbija | Herself (contestant) | VIP Season 1; 16th place (Quit) |
| 2014 | Ples sa zvezdama | Herself (contestant) | Season 1; Eliminated 6th |
List of music videos with cameo appearances, showing year released and artists :
| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Ref. |
| 1995 | "Kad bih znala kako si" | Vesna Zmijanac | |
| 2020 | "Poziv" | Cvija | |

## Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations of Nikolija :
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee/work | Result |
| 2013 | OGAE Video Contest | Music Video of the Year | "Milion dolara" (Ana Nikolić ft. Nikolija) | Nominated |
| 2019 | Music Awards Ceremony | Modern Dance Song of the Year | "Nema limita" | Nominated |
| 2020 | Music Awards Ceremony | Trap Collaboration of the Year | "Meduza" (Relja feat. Nikolija) | Nominated |
| 2023 | Music Awards Ceremony | Female Trap Song of the Year | "Pilot" | Won |
| 2023 | Music Awards Ceremony | Balkan Trap Song of the Year | "Dodole" | Nominated |