If you have heard about Desi hip-hop , Punjabi rap then you probably know this personality as well . Bohemia was one of the first to rap in Punjabi . He can be considered as the pioneer of Punjabi rap . Roger David, whom we all know as ‘Bohemia’ was born on 15 October 1979 in Karachi , Pakistan . His great-grandfather converted from Sikhism to Christianity and therefore growing up in Pakistan , Bohemia had both the bible and the guru granth sahib in the house . When he was about 14 years old, he moved to California with his family. His mother died of cancer . That made him mad and push into negative things. Music is what finally woke him up and gave him a reason to live . He started to learn the keyboard from his father . Bohemia achieved success as a keyboard player and music arranger while living at local studios with other musicians and collaborating with local singers in California . After they went their separate ways, Bohemia soon started writing poetry in Punjabi and after experimenting with different musics he soon found his own unique style of music which was mixture of hip hop and Punjabi rap which gave birth to a new genre of music, Desi hip hop or Punjabi rap. In 2002, Bohemia released his first independent album, Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land) which quickly gained popularity and reached the Top 10 on BBC Radio One. In 2006, he released another album, Pesa Nasha Pyar, which became the first full-length Punjabi-rap album released by a major record label . It brought Bohemia increased popularity, including a Multi-record deal with Universal Music Group Pvt. Ltd. India . It also brought his creation of Punjabi rap to mainstream recognition making Bohemia known as a pioneer of a new genre of music : Desi hip-hop or Desi rap. In 2006, Pesa Nasha Pyar reached #2 on Maxim India magazine’s top 10 downloads, and #3 on the Planet M chart. In December 2011, his third album, Da Rap Star, received four nominations at the UK Asian music awards and PTC Punjabi music awards, including Best Punjabi Album and Best Music Director. Da Rap Star remained at #1 on the Planet M chart in India for several weeks. He released the album Hazar Gallan (Thousand Thoughts) in 2012. In 2013, it won Best Non-Resident Punjabi Album award at PTC Punjabi Music Awards. Bohemia was invited to be a part of the fifth season of Karachi’s MTV Coke Studio. In 2009, he wrote the title track for the Warner Bros . Bollywood Hindi feature film Chandni Chowk to China, directed by Nikhil Advani, in which he appeared with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. The soundtrack was launched by T-Series. In the movie 8 x 10 Tasveer, Akshay teamed up with Bohemia for a song . The film was directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. The music for the film was launched by T-Series. The “Sansaar” track was specially produced by Bohemia for the movie Speedy Singhs (also known as Breakaway), a 2011 sports film directed by Robert Lieberman, starring Vinay Virmani, Russell Peters, Camilla Belle and Anupam Kher. The film was produced by Paul Gross and Akshay Kumar. His voice was used for the film Desi Boyz, rapping to set the scene for Sanjay Dutt’s cameo with Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh. Bohemia toured in 2009 performing in Europe, Asia and America. He has appeared on many of Universal India’s mega-compilations including three tracks on The Chart Busters. Bohemia was one of the best-selling artists of the year, making him the flagship artist of Universal Music Group India. In May 2012, Sony Music Entertainment signed Bohemia. Bohemia released his single ,’Rooh’ in 2013 which was viewed over 1.4 million times on YouTube.
