Relja Popović

Popović was born on August 2, 1989, in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia. His mother, Zoja Begolli (née Đoković), was a ballet dancer at the National Theatre in Belgrade and lecturer at the Academy of Arts,^[1][2] and his father, Srđan Popović, worked as a sports journalist for the daily newspaper Večernje novosti.^[3] Popović lost his father in 1991, and his mother remarried to Kosovar actor Faruk Begolli, whom she divorced after 17 years of marriage. She died in 2017.^[3][4] Popović grew up in the Paviljoni neighborhood of New Belgrade. Relja stated that he found passion for hip-hop as a child, being exposed by his older brother Miša to artists such as Eminem, Jay-Z and Juice.^[5]

Popović graduated from the High School of Hospitality and Tourism in downtown Belgrade. In May 2008, he was shot in stomach while defending his girl friend from a middle age man at a pub, and had his kidney and spleen removed because of it. The assaulter was subsequently sentenced to six and a half years in prison.^[3][6]

Popović began his professional music career in 2005 alongside his childhood friend Vladimir Matović, as a part of Elitni Odredi.^[7] Together they released one studio album, titled Oko sveta (2010), and several standalone singles. Elitni Odredi broke to mainstream attention in 2011 with the singles "Kao kokain" and "Beograd". They were one of the first urban artists to perform for Serbian diaspora in the European Union and Australia. At the beginning of 2015, Elitni Odredi eventually announced their disbandment to focus on solo projects.^[8]

Following the duo's hiatus, Popović pursued a solo career with the release of the single "Beograd još živi" in April 2015.^[9] It was succeeded with a series of other standalone singles during the next couple of years, including "Crni sin" featuring Coby and Cvija, released in May 2016. The song's music video, which has garnered over 50 million views, has been credited as the most expensive one done by IDJVideos production.^[10][11] Relja and Coby also partnered with singer Stoja for "Samo jako" in April 2017. Their collaboration has collected over 70 million views on YouTube.^[12]

With the release of the single "Princeza na belom" in June 2019, Popović announced his debut body of work Made In BLKN.^[13] During the rest of the year, it was followed by four other singles: "Meduza" featuring Nikolija, "Takvi kao ja", "Tuga iz Porschea" and "Made in Balkan", which were all featured on the first part of the album. In July 2019, Popović held his first major solo concert during the Ulaz music festival in Belgrade.^[14] At the beginning of 2020, he established Made In BLKN Records in distribution deal with IDJTunes. The first release under the newly founded label was "Maria" in March. The company was also expanded to a clothing brand in 2021.^[15] In July 2020, he collaborated with Rasta on "Genge".^[16] The music video has amassed over 50 million views on YouTube.^[17] It was followed by "Offline" featuring Devito, "Manije" and "Kraj je", which alongside "Maria" and "Genge" were included to the second part of his debut solo project.

In April 2022, he released two more duets with Devito, titled "Omađijala" and "Do zore".^[18] "Omađijala" peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Croatia Songs chart, whilst the music video has collected over 40 million views.^[19] In March, Popović alongside Teodora Džehverović and Darko Dimitrov was announced as a judge and coach on the singing competition series IDJ Show.^[20] In June, his contestant Amna Alajbegović was declared the season winner.^[21] The following month, Relja collaborated with Nucci on the single "Zovite doktore", which was inspired by his early works with Elitni Odredi.^[22] It peaked at number 8 in Croatia. In late August 2022, Popović performed at the Music Week Festival in Ušće, Belgrade.^[23] In January 2024, he released "Sve si znala", which became his first single to rise atop of the Croatia Songs chart. Popović alongside Marija Šerifović is set to perform at the Red Bull SoundClash concert in Belgrade on June 22, 2024.^[24] On May 22, he released a six-track EP, titled Strouberi.

Popović made his on screen debut in the short film Dremano oko (2003), directed by Vladimir Perišić. He continued working with Perišić on his full-length feature film Ordinary People from 2009. For his performance in the movie, Popović earned the Best Actor Award at the 19th Cottbus East European Film Festival and at the Sarajevo Film Festival, making him the youngest recipient of the Heart of Sarajevo award.^[25][26]

He was cast in the 2011 film The Parade, directed by Srđan Dragojević.^[27] The movie was enlisted as the fourth biggest Serbian box office success in the 2010s.^[28] Serbian LGBT portal GayEcho also nominated Popović for the male gay icon of 2011 because of his performance in the film, which he ultimately lost to Bosnian model Andreja Pejić.^[29]

In December 2021, Popović was introduced to the second season of the crime drama series Besa.^[30] He starred in the main role of Videoteka, directed by Luka Bursać, which premiered during the 2024 FEST.^[31]

Popović graduated from the Faculty of Media and Communications at the Singidunum University and also studied acting at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade.^[32][3]

He has been in a relationship with singer Nikolija Jovanović since Elitni Odredi collaborated with her on the single "Alkohola litar" in 2014. Together they have two daughters, born in 2016 and 2021.^[33][34]

• Relja Popović at IMDb
• Relja discography at Discogs