Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper

Bohemia (musician)

Bohemia;n: A person who does not follow conventional standards of behaviour, expressing themselves in an artistic or literary way. Desi: A descendant of Southern Asia, primarily India/Pakistan. After immigrating to the West over ten years ago, Bohemia came to realize that the South Asian experience in America wasn't all nice cars and palm trees. On the contrary, he found himself living amongst murderers and drug dealers. Through his experiences, come raw, hard-edged raps depicting not just California street life, but a life many South Asians lead in America. His lyrics are in Punjabi, while many of the hooks are in English. Placed over hip-hop beats, Bohemia makes it seem as though Punjabi was made to be rapped rather than merely spoken. This truly remarkable gift of rapping in Punjabi makes him a very unique individual who will make his mark in the global hip hop scene. Bohemia looks up to artists such as Jagjeet Singh and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His music has created a big impact on the streets of America and he has a large underground following and is widely recognized as the pioneer of Desi Hip Hop.

Ra (short for Raja) (or Bohemia the Punjabi Rapper) is a rapper/music-producer who writes, plays and performs his music in his native language Punjabi. Bohemia moved to the United States during his teen years and was heavily influenced by hip hop.

Bohemia's first album, Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land), was released in 2002. His next album, Pesa Nasha Pyar (Money Drugs Love), was released in 2006 under Universal Music Group Pvt. Ltd. India and Ishq Records, UK.

Bohemia is best known for his song "Kali Denali" from his album Pesa Nasha Pyar, in which he raps about his Kali ("black") GMC Denali with spinners and tinted windows, and being followed by the police for 24 hours.