Nikolija Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Николија Јовановић; born 19 October 1989) is a
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
n singer. Born to folk singer
Vesna Zmijanac
Vesna Zmijanac (, ; born 4 January 1957) is a Serbian singer. Debuted in 1979 with the single "Hvala ti za sve", she has been dubbed the "Queen of Sadness" (''Kraljica tuge'') being known for her emotional vocal delivery and melancholic ballads. ...
, Jovanović was born in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
and raised in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. Nikolija debuted in 2013 with the single "
Ćao zdravo
Ćao, zdravo (English: ''Bye, Hello'') is the debut single by Serbian recording artist Nikolija. It was released on 9 April 2013 under IDJTunes. "Ćao,zdravo" features guest vocals from rapper Teror Teča, who also wrote the lyrics. The music and ...
" and has since released five studio albums: ''
№1'' (2016), ''
Yin & Yang
Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
'' (2019), ''Aurora'' (2022), ''
Lavina'' (2024) and ''Sila'' (2025), as well as numerous other standalone singles. Her music videos have collectively accumulated over 700 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
Early life
Jovanović was born on October 19, 1989 in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. She is the only child of singer
Vesna Zmijanac
Vesna Zmijanac (, ; born 4 January 1957) is a Serbian singer. Debuted in 1979 with the single "Hvala ti za sve", she has been dubbed the "Queen of Sadness" (''Kraljica tuge'') being known for her emotional vocal delivery and melancholic ballads. ...
and economist Vlada Jovanović, who operated as the chief of marketing at
PGP RTS
PGP-RTS ( sr-Cyrl, Продукција грамофонских плоча Радио телевизије Србије, translit=Produkcija gramofonskih ploča Radio televizije Srbije ) is a major record label based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...
. Her parents divorced shortly after she had been born and Jovanović has two half-siblings from her father's second marriage. Nikolija was raised n
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. 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
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, 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.
Career
2010-2016: Career beginnings and ''No1''
Jovanović made her first public appearance in 2010 by competing alongside her mother on the
reality TV series
Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imaginary. Different cultures and academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways.
Philosophical questions about the nature of reality, existence, or be ...
''
Survivor Srbija VIP: Philippines'', where she was the first contestant to be voted out. Nikolija subsequently voluntarily left the show on medical grounds. During her studies in Athens, she started singing professionally by performing in local nightclubs.
At the beginning of 2011, Nikolija 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
Milan Stanković ( sr-cyrl, Милан Станковић; born 9 September 1987) is a Serbian singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a finalist on '' Zvezde Granda'' in 2007. Moreover, Stanković acquired wider fame by representing Serbia ...
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
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
-influenced single "
Ćao zdravo
Ćao, zdravo (English: ''Bye, Hello'') is the debut single by Serbian recording artist Nikolija. It was released on 9 April 2013 under IDJTunes. "Ćao,zdravo" features guest vocals from rapper Teror Teča, who also wrote the lyrics. The music and ...
" 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
Ana Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Ана Николић; ; born 27 September 1978) is a Serbian singer and television personality. Born in Jagodina and raised in Paraćin, she rose to prominence by competing in the Beovizija 2003 music festival with the s ...
, 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
''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
'', where she finished in 8th place after six weeks of competing. Also that year, she was featured on "Alkohola litar" by
Elitni Odredi
Elitni Odredi (Serbian Cyrillic: Елитни Одреди, English: ''Elite Units'') was a Serbian pop duo from Belgrade, formed in 2005. They were composed of two musicians and long-time friends; Relja Popović and Vladimir Matović. Initiall ...
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
Folk-pop is a broad musical fusion genre that includes contemporary folk songs with pop arrangements, and pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Folk-pop has been popularized by mainstream media in recent years.
Music ...
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
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
in 2015. In October, she released her first
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
ic 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
City Records (full legal name in Serbian: Предузеће за издавачко-пропагандну делатност City Records д.о.о. Београд/''Preduzeće za izdavačko-propagandnu delatnost City Records d.o.o. Beograd'' ...
. 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
Coby or Koby is a male and female name, a surname, or a nickname originating from the name "Jacob" or "Jakob".
Notable people with the name "Coby" include
A
* Koby Abberton (born 1979), Australian surfer
* Koby Altman (born 1982), American baske ...
. The single's music video has collected over 48 million views. Same month, it was revealed that Nikolija would star in the
dystopian
A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
action film
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
''Volja sinovljeva'', directed by Nemanja Ćeranić. Nikolija's role, however, did not make the final cut of the movie, which was eventually released in 2024 after facing setbacks. 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
Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
'', 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
Relja Popović ( sr-cyr, Реља Поповић; born 2 August 1989) is a Serbian actor, rapper and singer. Before pursuing a solo career with the single "Beograd još živi" (2015), he rose to prominence as the member of the hip-hop duo Elitni ...
would release a duet, entitled "Meduza". Their collaboration is currently Nikolija's most successful release on
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
. In July, she promoted her album at the Ulaz music festival in Belgrade. In September, Jovanović released "Sija grad".
2020-2025: ''Aurora'', ''Lavina'' and ''Sila''
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
Teodora Pavlovska ( sr-Cyrl, Теодора Павловска; born 1 May 1992), known professionally as Teya Dora ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Теја Дора, separator=" / ", Teja Dora), is a Serbian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born in Bor, she d ...
released "Ulice" from the soundtrack for the Serbian
thriller
Thriller may refer to:
* Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television
** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre
Comics
* ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
''Južni Vetar 2: Ubrzanje''.
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
''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the ...
''
Croatia Songs
Croatia Songs is a record chart in Croatia for songs, compiled by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' since February 2022. The chart is updated every Tuesday on ''Billboard''s website. The chart was announced on 14 February 2022 as part of ''Bill ...
chart.
In June 2022, Nikolija was featured on
Devito DeVito, De Vito or de Vito is an Italian surname, and may refer to:
*Cosima De Vito (born 1976), Australian singer
*Danny DeVito (born 1944), American actor
*Gaetano de Vito (1884–1964), Italian painter
*Gioconda de Vito (1907–1994), Italian-Br ...
's single "Ljubav". Also during 2022, she had released songs from her forthcoming third album ''Aurora'' as individual singles,
before releasing the album itself on 4 December, 2022 under Made In BLKN Records. The following January, at the
Music Awards Ceremony
The Music Awards Ceremony (often simply called the MAC) are annual popular music awards for Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro presented by Skymedia Group. The awards were first held on 29 January 20 ...
she performed "Dodole" and "Gringo" from the album, as well as at the new single written by
Rasta, titled "Prezime". During the ceremony, Nikolija also won in the "Best Trap Song by a Female Artist"-category with the song "Pilot" from ''Aurora''.
In July 2023, Jovanović released a standalone single, titled "Ljubi jako", which was accompanied by the official
vertical video
A vertical video is a video created either by a camera or computer that is intended for viewing in portrait mode, producing an image that is taller than it is wide. It thus sits in opposition to the multiple horizontal formats normalised by ci ...
, recorded by Nikolija and her half-sister in Athens, and another video made out of fan
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
s. Her forth studio album, ''
Lavina'', was released on 15 March 2024 to digital services through Made In BLKN Records. The album debuted on the official charts in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, whilst four tracks from ''Lavina'' also simultaneously debuted on the ''
Billboard's
''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the ...
''
Croatia Songs
Croatia Songs is a record chart in Croatia for songs, compiled by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' since February 2022. The chart is updated every Tuesday on ''Billboard''s website. The chart was announced on 14 February 2022 as part of ''Bill ...
chart. "Nenormalan lik" featuring Devito took the highest position, peaking at number three.
On 25 April the following year, Nikolija's fifth studio album ''
Sila
Sila may refer to :
Places
* Sila Region, Chad
** Sila Department, Chad, part of Sila Region
* La Sila, a mountainous area of Calabria, Italy
** Sila National Park
* Sila, Numidia, a former ancient city and bishopric, now Bordj-El-Ksar in Alge ...
'' was released, on which she for the first time also contributed as a songwriter. The album was preceded by its lead single "Drugovi budale" in March. During this period, Nikolija also announced her first headline solo concert, titled ''Sila je u nama'' (''Force Is Within Us''), at the
Tašmajdan Center, Belgrade for 29 August, 2025.
Personal life
According to media reports, Nikolija dated Greek
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Athanasios Rotimi "Thanasis" Antetokounmpo (born Adetokunbo; July 18, 1992) is a Nigerian-Greek professional basketball player who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the international stage, he ...
between 2011 and 2014.
Jovanović has been in a relationship with actor, musician and former member of
Elitni Odredi
Elitni Odredi (Serbian Cyrillic: Елитни Одреди, English: ''Elite Units'') was a Serbian pop duo from Belgrade, formed in 2005. They were composed of two musicians and long-time friends; Relja Popović and Vladimir Matović. Initiall ...
,
Relja Popović
Relja Popović ( sr-cyr, Реља Поповић; born 2 August 1989) is a Serbian actor, rapper and singer. Before pursuing a solo career with the single "Beograd još živi" (2015), he rose to prominence as the member of the hip-hop duo Elitni ...
, 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.
On the topic of
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...
, 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
Elitni Odredi (Serbian Cyrillic: Елитни Одреди, English: ''Elite Units'') was a Serbian pop duo from Belgrade, formed in 2005. They were composed of two musicians and long-time friends; Relja Popović and Vladimir Matović. Initiall ...
in early 2015. In April 2023, Jovanović received overwhelming praise for her honesty and transparency after she had opened up on
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
about her much speculated past
plastic surgeries and her developing relationship with her own body acceptance.
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''
№1'' (2016)
* ''
Yin & Yang
Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
'' (2019)
* ''Aurora'' (2022)
* ''
Lavina'' (2024)
* ''Sila'' (2025)
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolija
Living people
1989 births
Singers from Belgrade
21st-century Serbian women singers
Serbian women rappers
Serbian pop singers
Fashion designers from Belgrade
Musicians from Zagreb
Pop rappers