Nikolija Jovanović

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* pop
* dance
 Occupation(s) | * Singer
* rapper
* City Records

**Nikolija Jovanović** (Serbo-Croatian: Николија Јовановић; born 19 October 1989), often simply known as **Nikolija**, is a Serbian singer, rapper and model. She first gained media attention for being a daughter of folk singer Vesna Zmijanac, before pursuing a music career herself with single "Ćao zdravo" in 2013. Her debut album, *№1*, was released on 20 October 2016 to general success. Following her second album, *Yin & Yang*, in April 2019, Nikolija was declared one of the most streamed Serbian artists on music services.

Although often described as an R&B performer, Nikolija became recognised for blending urban contemporary with pop-folk music. She is also known for her distinctive and often reinvented fashion style.

## Early life

Jovanović was born on 19 October 1989 in Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia, but raised in Belgrade. The daughter of the popular Yugoslavian folk singer, Vesna Zmijanac, and Vladimir Jovanović, PhD in economics who knowably worked as the marketing chief at PGP RTS, her parents divorced soon after she had been born. Nikolija moved to Athens, Greece for her senior year of high school where she also attended the American Deree College, majoring in economics. It was during these years that Jovanović initially started performing in the local night clubs as a dancer and MC, for which she gained a "party girl" reputation and was described as famous for being famous by the Serbian media.

In 2010, she appeared on *Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines* alongside her mother, where she was the first contestant to be voted out and eventually voluntarily walked from the show.

## Career

### 2013–2016: Career beginnings and *№1*

After completing the studies, Nikolija returned to Serbia, expressing her desire to record a song, but without intentions of pursuing a music career in her home country. She was introduced by Milan Stanković to popular producers Marko Peruničić and Nebojša Arežina from Atelje Trag, whom she started working with. In March 2013, Nikolija released her first single, house rap-oriented "Ćao zdravo" (*Bye, Bye*), through recently established IDJTunes. The song gained her substantial public attention, despite initially deemed controversial for its provocative lyrics and music video, which had more dislikes than likes ratio on YouTube. After hearing Nikolija's rapping demos in Atelje Trag, Ana Nikolić then offered her to perform guest verses on the lead single "Milion dolara" (Million Dollars) for her fourth album of the same name. In November, Nikolija also released a self-titled hip-hop song. Jovanović cites herself as the first Serbian mainstream female MC due to commercial success of these songs.

The following year, Nikolija was met with media scrutiny for appearing in the music video for the song "Miss C.O.K.E." by Greek act The Hype, which showed her consuming drugs. Jovanović defended herself by saying it was all an act and a modelling gig. She also appeared as a contestant on the Serbian version of *Dancing with the Stars*, where she got eliminated sixth. Then released the follow-up singles "Alkohola litar" (*Liter of Alcohol*) in collaboration with Elitni odredi and "Kako posle mene" (*How After Me*) in August and October, respectively. With these releases Nikolija marked a significant transition from her previous work, embracing a more commercial pop-folk sound and singing rather than just rapping. She also served as a model during the Belgrade Fashion Week, walking the runway while wearing a sultry dress by George Styler. In December, Dado Polumenta's single "Premija" (*Premium*) was released featuring Nikolija.

In June 2015, she scored a summer hit with "Opasna igra" (*Dangerous Game*). Jovanović also released a ballad titled "Ljubavni maneken" (*Love Mannequin*) in October. At the end of the year, the music video for "Opsana igra" was declared the most viewed one by a Serbian artist in 2015.

In July 2016, Nikolija released yet another promotional single, EDM-infused "Niko kao mi" (*No One Like Us*). Her debut album, titled *№1*, which included songs that had been previously released as well as three new tracks, was dropped on 20 October 2016 under City Records. It saw general commercial success with shipments of 50,000 units in Serbia and exceeding 200 million of combined views on YouTube.

### 2017–present: Standalone releases and *Yin & Yang*

In March 2017, she had her first release since the album with electropop single "Promeni mi planove" (*Change My Plans*). In July, Nikolija had a great hit with "Loš momak" (*Bad Boy*) produced by Coby, but then saw moderate success with the following singles "Moj tempo" (*My Tempo*) and "Malo" (*Little*). Also that year, Jovanović scored a minor movie role in the post-apocalyptic fiction *Volja sinovljeva* alongside Žarko Laušević and Sergej Trifunović in the lead roles.

The motion picture, which still hasn't had its premiere, later served her as a music video inspiration for the single "Nema limita" (*No Limit*), released in May 2018. Another single, titled "Slažem" (*I'm Stacking*), was released in August.

On 24 April 2019, she released her sophomore record, *Yin & Yang*, through IDJTunes. The album, which she had been working on for the past year, was preceded by two singles, the title track and "Nije lako biti ja" (*It's Not Easy Being Me*) featuring Serbian trap performer Fox in March and April, respectively. All the songs from her album charted on the official Deezer playlist in Serbia and collected close to 140 million views on YouTube. In June, Nikolija appeared on the single "Meduza" (*Medusa*) from Relja Popović's forthcoming debut solo album. While in September, she released "Sija grad" (*The City's Shining*). In December, Nikolija had a guest performance at the opening night of Merlinka Festival of LGBT-oriented films in the Belgrade Youth Center. At the end of the year, she garnered 10 million streams on Spotify and with 127 thousand monthly listeners, Nikolija was the fifth most popular regional female artist on this platform.

Her first single of 2020 was "Stav milionera" (*Millionaire's Attitude*), released in February. In March, Nikolija released trap ballad "Nakit" (*Jewelry*) under newly founded label Made in Blkn by Relja Popović.

## Mediterraneanvision

Jovanović was chosen to represent Croatia at the Mediterraneanvision Song Contest 7 in Monaco with the song "Dama Bez Pardona".

Due to Croatia being a member of the big 6 in this edition, she did not have to compete in the semi-finals and was an automatic qualifier. In the final, she placed 21st with 54 points.

## Personal life

Jovanović dated Greek NBA player Thanasis Antetokounmpo between 2013 and 2014.

She has been in a relationship with Serbian musician and actor Relja Popović, a former member of Elitni Odredi duo, since they collaborated on "Alkohola litar" in 2014. The couple has a daughter named Rea, born on 26 September 2016, and is not planning on getting married. Jovanović currently resides in Vračar, downtown Belgrade with her family.

## Discography

Studio albums
* *№1* (2016)
* *Yin & Yang* (2019)

## Film and television

* *Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines* (2010)
* *Ples sa Zvezdama* (2014)
* *Volja sinovljeva* (TBA)

## Awards and nominations

 2019 | Music Awards Ceremony
 2020 | Trap Collaboration of the Year