Nikolija (singer)

Nikolija Jovanović (Николија Јовановић; born 19 October 1989) is a Serbian singer and rapper. Daughter of folk singer Vesna Zmijanac, Jovanović was born in Zagreb and raised in Belgrade. Nikolija debuted in 2013 with the single "Ćao zdravo" and has since released four studio albums: №1 (2016), Yin & Yang (2019), Aurora (2022) and Lavina (2024), as well as numerous other standalone singles. Her music videos have collectively accumulated over 700 million views on YouTube.

Early life
Jovanović was born on October 19, 1989 in Zagreb. She is the only child of singer Vesna Zmijanac and economist Vlada Jovanović, who operated as the chief of marketing at PGP RTS. Her parents divorced shortly after she had been born and Jovanović has two half-siblings from her father's second marriage. Nikolija spent her childhood in Belgrade. In 1995, she appeared in her mother's music video for the song "Kad bih znala kako si". For her senior year of high school Nikolija relocated to Athens, Greece. There, she subsequently started attending The School of Business & Economics at the American Deree College, from which she graduated in 2013 with a degree in international business.

2010-2016: Career beginnings and No1
Jovanović made her first public appearance in 2010 by competing alongside her mother on the reality TV series Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines, where she was the first contestant to be voted out. Nikolija subsequently voluntarily left the show on medical grounds. Her music career began during her studies in Athens where she started performing in local nightclubs, claiming to have worked next to acts such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk and Swedish House Mafia. At the beginning of 2011, she released her first song "Crazy 2 Night" featuring DJ Kas under the stage name "Nicole", but failed to make a significant success.

After graduating from college, Nikolija relocated back to Serbia where singer Milan Stanković introduced her to the prominent songwriters and producers Nebojša Arežina and Marko Perunučić, who would become her frequent collaborators. She came on to the Serbian music scene with the house-influenced single "Ćao zdravo" featuring MC Techa, released in April 2013 under IDJTunes. The single received polarizing public reception due to its provocative lyrics and S&M-inspired music video. During the summer of 2013, she rose to further prominence after she had been featured on the song "Milion dolara" by Ana Nikolić, which also served as the title track for her fourth album.

In March 2014, Nikolija was announced as a contestant of the Serbian spin-off of Dancing with the Stars, where she finished in 8th place after six weeks of competing. Also that year, she was featured on "Alkohola litar" by Elitni Odredi and also released her solo song "Kako posle mene". With these singles Nikolija embraced singing rather than just rapping and began crossing over to more commercial pop-folk sound. With over 75 million views, Nikolija's collaboration with Elitni Odredi remains her highest performing music video. "Opasna igra" was subsequently released in June the following year to commercial success as well. Its music video was declared the most viewed Serbian video on YouTube in 2015. In October, she released her first balladic single, called "Ljubavni maneken". Nikolija made her runway debut for George Styler at the Belgrade Fashion Week in November the same year. On 20 October 2016, she released her debut album, No1, under City Records. It features previously released singles and three new songs: "101 Propušteni poziv", "Plavo more" and "Pucaj zbog nas". The album was sold in 50,000 copies.

2017-2019: Yin & Yang
Nikolija released "Promeni mi planove" in March 2017. In July, it was followed by the single "Loš momak", produced by Coby. The single's music video has collected over 48 million views. Same month, it was revealed that Jovanović would star as a post-apocalyptic warrior alongside Žarko Laušević and Sergej Trifunović in a Mad Max-inspired movie, titled Volja sinovljeva, directed by Nemanja Ćeranić. In October 2017, she released "Moj tempo". During the following year, Jovanović released three singles in succession: "Malo", "Nema limita" and "Slažem". The music video for "Nema limita", which was directed by Ćeranić and inspired by Volja Sinovljeva, has amassed over 45 million views.

Her second studio album, Yin & Yang, was released under IDJTunes on 24 April 2019. It was preceded by two official singles: the title track and "Nije lako biti ja" featuring rapper Fox, and it also included three standalone releases: "Loš momak", "Nema limita" and "Slažem" as bonus tracks on the physical edition. A month after the album's release, it was announced that Nikolija and Relja Popović would release a duet, entitled "Meduza". Their collaboration is currently Nikolija's most successful release on Spotify. In July, she promoted her album at the Ulaz music festival in Belgrade. In September, Jovanović released "Sija grad".

2020-present: Aurora and Lavina
Nikolija released "Stav Milionera" in February 2020, which would become her last official single under IDJTunes. She was subsequently signed to the newly established record label, Made In BLKN, founded by Relja Popović in distribution deal with IDJTunes. Under the new label she released a series of four singles during 2020: "Nakit", "No Plaky", "O bivšima" and "High Life". In December that year, Jovanović and her half-sister launched a fashion brand, called About Me, with streetwear designed by her. In the following year, she had two solo releases: "Sve bih" and "Divlja orhideja", while in October 2021, Nikolija and Teya Dora released "Ulice" from the soundtrack for the Serbian thriller Južni Vetar 2: Ubrzanje.

In June 2022, Nikolija appeared on Devito's single "Ljubav". In August, she held a concert during the Music Week Festival in Belgrade. On 2 December 2023, Nikolija released her third studio album, Aurora. Its lead single, "Gringo", was released in April, whilst the title track featuring the winner of the first season of IDJ Show, Amna Alajbegović, was released in July. The latter became Nikolija's first single on the Billboard's Croatia Songs chart. On 26 January 2023, Nikolija performed the songs from Aurora at the Music Awards Ceremony in the Belgrade Arena. The performance also included the chorus from her forthcoming single "Prezime", created by Rasta.

During the spring and summer of 2023, she released two drill-influenced singles - "Nicky" and "Avlije avlije". They were succeeded by the more melodic "Ljubi jako" in July, which was accompanied by the official vertical video, recorded by Nikolija and her half-sister in Athens, and another video made out of fan TikToks. On 15 March 2024, Nikolija released her fourth studio album, Lavina, to digital services through Made In BLKN Records. The album debuted on the official charts in Austria and Switzerland. Four tracks from Lavina also simultaneously debuted on the Billboard's chart in Croatia, whilst "Nenormalan lik" with Devito took the highest position, peaking at number three.

Personal life
In 2011, Nikolija began dating Greek NBA player Thanasis Antetokounmpo. In September 2014, it was reported that the two were no longer together.

Jovanović has been in a relationship with actor, musician and former member of Elitni Odredi, Relja Popović, since they collaborated on the single "Alkohola litar" in 2014. Together they have two daughters, born on 26 September 2016 and 17 July 2021. The couple tends not to publicly discuss details from their private life and children. Nikolija and her family reside in Vračar, Belgrade, but she also has a residency in Athens, Greece.

Public image
Nikolija has been noted for versatility in music and for blending different genres, mainly hip hop, trap, reggaeton and dancehall with Serbian pop-folk music. Furthermore, she has been recognized for pioneering mainstream popular rap music in Serbia as a female artists. While receiving the 2023 MAC Award for the Female Trap Song of the Year, Jovanović reflected on her influence on other female artists on the regional music scene by stating: ""When I started, I was alone in this genre, and now I'm glad that there are so many of us. That's why I dedicate this award to all brave women. We can do everything!""

On the topic of cyberbullying, Nikolija has been vocal about online harassment she has received when her relationship with Popović was alleged to be the reason behind the breakup of Elitni Odredi in early 2015. In April 2023, Jovanović received overwhelming praise for her honesty and transparency after she had opened up on TikTok about her much speculated past plastic surgeries and her developing relationship with her own body acceptance. Nikolija has also expressed her public support to social equality in general, especially in the sense of gender equality and LGBT rights.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * №1 (2016)
 * Yin & Yang (2019)
 * Aurora (2022)
 * Lavina (2024)