# Frenkie

Adnan Hamidović (born 31 May 1982) better known by his stage name, Frenkie, is a Bosnian rapper from Tuzla. His music is often concerned with the political situation in Bosnia, and includes traditional hip-hop subject matters such as rap battles and pop culture. As of 2022, he has recorded seven full-length albums: Odličan CD (2005), Povratak Cigana (2007), Protuotrov (2009), Troyanac (2012), Putanja (2016, recorded in Berlin), Egzil (2017, recorded in Tokyo), 20/20 (2019, recorded in Los Angeles), and Stari Frenkie (2021). He also released extended plays Pokreni se (2008), DNA (2015, with Billain), and a Bosnian-only album, DOSTA (2006).
Frenkie is also a member of the crew Disciplinska Komisija, which includes Edo Maajka, HZA, Kiing Mire and Dj Soul. As of 2016, he was performing with his producer Indigo and the Sarajevo-based rapper Kontra.

## Personal life and career
### Early life

Adnan Hamidović was born in Bijeljina on 31 May 1982, where he lived until 1992, when the Bosnian War started. After escaping the war, he settled with his family in Nürnberg, Germany until 1998. There, he was introduced to hip-hop culture, where he started to make hip-hop music and do graffiti. His first rap lyrics were in German. German hip-hop has influenced his style of rap throughout his career. After returning to Bosnia, he went to Tuzla and continued with his graffiti, making him one of the first to make hip-hop related graffiti art after the war.

### Early career

In 1999, he collaborated with the founders of FMJam from Radio Kameleon, DJ Soul and Erol, as the group "Prljavi Anđeli" (Dirty Angels), and released their first hip-hop demo singles.
Then later that same year, Disciplinska Komisija (DK) was formed. At the time of the formation the members were: Edo Maajka as spearhead of the group, Frenkie, Hamaz, Mire, Koma and DJ Soul. Edo Maajka released his popular album "Slusaj Mater" and started tours and concerts, during which he was joined by Frenkie. In Edo Maajka's second studio album "No Sikiriki", Frenkie is featured on two songs.

### Recent activity

Frenkie's first album, Odličan CD, was released in 2005. It included the singles "Bruce Lee Rap" with Baby Dooks and "Raise" with Defence. Frenkie's second album, DOSTA!, featuring his beat maker King Mire from Brčko, was released in June 2006 and was dedicated to the movement of the same name. Singles from the album include:
* "Rat Savezu" which was dedicated to the Bosnian Soccer Fans "BHFANATICOS" in their fight against the Bosnian Football Federation; Frenkie has released a video clip for this song.
* In 2007, radio station 202 was fined 5,000 euros by the Bosnian organization RAK for Frenkie's single "Mr. Policeman", a song talking about corrupt police forces. He has also released a video for "Mr Policeman." After that fine, Frenkie released a song in response to RAK on FMJam called "Massiv", which criticizes and mocks this institution.
The title track of his album, Povratak Cigana (2007), was released as its first single on FMJam's website. It features Hamza, Frenkie's long time friend.
In addition to his solo work, Frenkie has been featured on many Disciplinska Komisija songs such as "America 2" and "Ustaj", and on Edo Maajka's albums on "Ozezi", "Ne-Mo-Zes" and "Stvoren Za Rep".
In the summer of 2008, Frenkie's song 'Soundtrack' (from the album Odličan CD) was used in the 2008 Marvel Studios film The Incredible Hulk. The song was used in a cab driving scene featuring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler.
Frenkie recorded a song with Masta Ace called Živili. It was released on Frenkie's 2009 album Protuotrov.
Frenkie is part of the Diversidad crew. Diversidad: A Unique European Urban Experience has a collective album gathering twenty rappers, beat-makers and DJs, which includes Frenkie.
To mark the 10 year anniversary of his debut album, Frenkie released the compilation album Reexperience, which featured his greatest hits as well as new songs and remixed songs.
In September 2016, Frenkie, Kontra and producer Indigo released a collaborative album entitled Putanja. The album was recorded in Red Bull Studios in Berlin and entirely produced by Indigo.
On 10 September 2019, Frenkie had a public forum on which he presented his new book Koraci (Steps). It was held in reading rooms of City Library of Zenica, as a part of fourth dokuMfest (only Bosnian festival of documentaries). He also released a book called Lack-Made in Bosnia which documents his graffiti career.
On 8 November 2019, Frenkie announced a new album entitled 20/20 (made in collaboration with Kontra and Indigo in Los Angeles based Red Bull Music Studios / Red Bull Camp Stewart); its publishing date is 20 December 2019 and marks the 20th anniversary of FMJam crew's existence. 20/20 has 12 songs, some videos and a short documentary, and is the third Kontra and Indigo joint project with Frenkie — the first two being Berlin and Tokyo. Album mastering was done by respected James Musshorn, and studio engineer was Henry D'Ambrosio; recording finished on 1 October 2019. Departure for the United States was on 8 September 2019 from Spain, where the crew, in Lloret de Mar, held their first concert in Spain. The day was described as the beginning of the new album project.

## Discography

| Year | Title | Label | Certification | Singles |
| 2005 | Odličan CD | Menart/Fmjam | Platinum | "Raise", "Bruce Lee Rap" |
| 2006 | DOSTA! | Menart/Fmjam | N/A | "Mr. Policeman", "Rat savezu" |
| 2007 | Povratak Cigana | Menart/Fmjam | 2× Platinum | "Povratak cigana", "Ja ne znam", "Prepoznaj" |
| 2008 | Pokreni se | Menart/Fmjam | N/A | "Pokreni se" |
| 2009 | Protuotrov | Menart/Fmjam | Platinum | "Tebi", "Haj to" |
| 2010 | Featuring mixtape | Menart/Fmjam | N/A | N/A |
| 2011 | Diversidad - The Experience Album | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2012 | Troyanac | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2014 | #DNA | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2015 | Reexperience | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2015 | Putanja | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2017 | Egzil | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2019 | 20/20 | Red Bull Camp Stewart | N/A | N/A |

## Filmography
### Documentaries

* Who the Fuck is Frenkie (came out with his album Protuotrov, 2009)
* Soul Train (came out 2015)