Roberts Gobziņš (born 13 July 1964 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

Rudaks, Uldis (2002). "Visiem sauli, vectēvu un zivis". ''Izklaide'' September 6: 3.Artist: Roberts Gobziņš - MusicBrainz
Retrieved on 2008-03-04.), also known as Eastbam or East Bam (as a result of his artistic connections with

Westbam Maximilian Lenz (born 4 March 1965), known by his stage name WestBam, is a German DJ and musician. He is the co-founder of the record label Low Spirit. Career Lenz started his musical career in 1978 in the punk scene of his birth town Münster ...

) is a Latvian entertainer. His career has encompassed work as a musician, DJ, MC,

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

(often with

comedic Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

overtones) and

parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of t ...

. He is best known as a member or collaborator with numerous bands (

Dzeltenie Pastnieki Dzeltenie Pastnieki are a Latvian people, Latvian band formed in 1979 in Riga, Latvia. Their name means "the yellow postmen" in Latvian language, Latvian, and is sometimes abbreviated to DzP. They were among the pioneers of New wave music, new ...

NSRD NSRD or Nebijušu Sajūtu Restaurēšanas Darbnīca (Latvian for "Workshop for the Restoration of Unfelt Feelings") was a Latvian experimental music group whose main members also worked as contemporary artists, greatly influencing multimedia art ...

, Diskomforts, 19 gadi pirms sākuma, Kaija, CSK, Fortress, Dzidriņas Megasistēma, Smalkie Regeji, Los Amigos, Resnie Putni,

Twinkle Brothers The Twinkle Brothers are a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century under Norman Grant's lead. History The Twinkle Brothers were formed in 1962 by brothers Norman (vocals, drums) and Ralston Grant (vocals, rhythm ...

) and, throughout the 1990s, as a nationally successful solo artist. He pioneered

Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

in 1982 by including a rap interlude on Dzeltenie Pastnieki song "''Bezcerīgā dziesma''" on the album ''

Man ļoti patīk jaunais vilnis ''Man ļoti patīk jaunais vilnis'' is the second album by Latvian band Dzeltenie Pastnieki, released through magnitizdat in 1982, and 'officially' in 2003. The name of the album is Latvian for "I really like new wave". It was essentially reco ...

'' and later releasing the first-ever Latvian rap 12-inch single ("''Aka Aka''") on Westbam's Low Spirit label. Performing live in Germany, he has shared the bill with

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

and the

Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall (Afrika Baby Bam) and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Hailed as pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop g ...

. In 1997, the avant-garde opera ''Rolstein on the Beach'' featured Gobziņš in the role of " The Son of Rothschild". In 2003, Gobziņš took part in "Aka Hip Aka Hop", a collaboration with A.G., Raitis, Giuseppe and

Gustavo Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, also spelled Gustaf, a Swedish name, likely from Slavic Gostislav. People with ...

, celebrating the history of the local scene. He again was the opening act for De La Soul on December 11, 2004 in Riga.

Discography

With Dzeltenie Pastnieki

*''

'' (1982) (lyrics on 3 tracks, lead vocals on one) *''

Vienmēr klusi ''Vienmēr klusi'' is the fourth album by Latvian band Dzeltenie Pastnieki, released through magnitizdat in 1984, and 'officially' in 2004. Track listing #"Vienmēr klusi" (Ingus Baušķenieks/Andris Kalniņš/Mārtiņš Rutkis/Viesturs Slava/Z ...

'' (1984) (lyrics on 5 tracks, lead vocals on one) *''

Depresīvā pilsēta ''Depresīvā pilsēta'' is the fifth album by Latvian band Dzeltenie Pastnieki, released through magnitizdat in 1986, and 'officially' as late as 2007. Track listing #"Casio Song" (trad., arr. Casio VL-1, lyrics by Roberts Gobziņš) – 1:20 ...

'' (1986) (lyrics on 3 tracks, lead vocals on 2) *''

Kaķis ''Kaķis'' ("a cat") is the seventh album by Latvian Musical ensemble, band Dzeltenie Pastnieki, released in 2003. It was their first album of new material in 16 years, and the first release, of any kind, in 8 years. Track listing #"Kaķa dziesm ...

'' (2003) (lyrics on 5 tracks)

Solo

*"Aka Aka" (1990) *''Roberts Gobziņš aka East Bam'' (1993) *''Sienāži'' (1994) *''Man saujā benzīns'' (1995) *''Roberta Gobziņa 20 labākās dziesmas'' (1996) *''Rīta radio'' (1998) *''Biezais vectēvs'' (2002)

Other Appearances

*19 gadi pirms sākuma — untitled demo EPs (late 1980s) *

WestBam Maximilian Lenz (born 4 March 1965), known by his stage name WestBam, is a German DJ and musician. He is the co-founder of the record label Low Spirit. Career Lenz started his musical career in 1978 in the punk scene of his birth town Münster ...

— "Do It in the Punk Mix" (1987) (B-side of "Do It in the Mix" 12") *WestBam — ''The Cabinet'' (1989) (vocals on "Go Eastbam!") *Dzidriņas megasistēma — ''Nes mani vēl'' (March 18, 1996) (band member) *Hardijs Lediņš & Kaspars Rolšteins — ''Rolstein on the Beach'' (1997) *

— ''Labākās dziesmas 1982-2002'' (2002) (vocals on "Labrīt, Putra!") *A.G., Raitis, Giuseppe, Eastbam,

— "Aka Hip Aka Hop" (2003) *19 gadi pirms sākuma — ''19 gadi pirms sākuma'' (2005) *NSRD — ''Dziesmas neuzrakstītai lugai'' (2006) (vocals on "Dons Huans")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gobzins, Roberts 1964 births Living people Musicians from Riga Latvian Christians Latvian rappers Latvian hip-hop musicians Dzeltenie Pastnieki members