Sarkis Levoni Balasanyan (; born August 17, 1978), professionally known as Super Sako (), is an Armenian-American rapper, singer, DJ and record producer based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is best known for his hit single "

Mi Gna "Mi Gna" () is a song in Armenian and English by Armenian-American rapper Super Sako (Sarkis Balasanyan) and features vocals by the Armenian rabiz singer Spitakci Hayko (Hayk Ghevondyan). The song samples In Da Club by 50 Cent. "Mi Gna" was ...

," which ranked at #4 in France and #2 in Romania music charts in 2018.

Early life

Balasanyan was born on 17 August 1978 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, alongside his family at a young age and grew up in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Career

As early as 1994, he started rapping under the name Sad Eyez. At the time he collaborated with the “Twinz” and AC now known as A.chilla, who were also Armenian rappers. Later becoming more involved with Armenian singers such as Suro, Tatul Avoyan and releasing an Armenian Rabiz/hip-hop mix with Samvel Sahakyan, “Mots Ari”. Later in 2008, Super Sako would release his first official album known as ''Saint Sarkis''. He would later release more albums throughout the years, which include ''Saint Sarkis 2'', ''Saint Sarkis 3'', ''Saint Sarkis 4'', ''Sako and Friends'', and his the album ''Love Crimes'' in 2016. His 2016 single "

" taken from his album ''Love Crimes'', and featuring rabiz singer Spitakci Hayko, became a hit in Armenia, the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the

Arab countries The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

, and elsewhere. Artists who have covered the song include French rapper

Maître Gims Gandhi Alimasi Djuna (born 6 May 1986), known professionally as Maître Gims and more recently just Gims (stylized in all caps), is a Congolese people in France, Congolese singer, rapper, producer, and songwriter. He grew up in France and current ...

. In 2020, he released a new track with the Egyptian singer and actor and Mohamed Ramadan called "Tik Tok" which resulted in 2 million downloads in its first 24 hours of release. In May 2022, his hand prints were cemented in front of the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Present at the ceremony were other Armenian artists such as Armenchik,

Andy Madadian Andranik Madadian (, ; born April 22, 1958), better known by his stage name Andy, is an Armenian-Iranian singer-songwriter and actor. He immigrated to the United States and currently lives in Los Angeles. He sings in several languages including ...

and Tigran Asatryan. Also in May 2022, he released a new track called "Cake" with Offset (member of the rap group

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

). In 2024, he released a new album called ''Saint Sarkis 5'' and in October 2024 performed a concert at the

Dolby Theatre The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue (Los Angeles), Highland Avenue, in the Holly ...

in Los Angeles.

Style

Super Sako blends traditional Armenian urban folk music with American rap. He is the first and best known Armenian artist do so. He is the originator of the genre “rap-biz” (a combination of rap and rabiz music).

Personal life

He has two kids.

Discography

Albums

*''Voch 1-in Chases'' (with

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

) (2007) *''Saint Sarkis'' (2008) *''Saint Sarkis 2'' (2009) *''Saint Sarkis 3'' (2010) *''Saint Sarkis 4'' (2012) *''Sako and Friends'' (2012) *''Love Crimes'' (2016) *''Saint Sarkis 5'' (2024)

Charted singles

Other singles

*1994: "Big Time Criminals" *1994: " Armenian Power" (feat. Ghost Daddy (Twinz)) *1995: “Mots Ari” (feat. Samvel Sahakyan) *1996: "Sippin on Cognac" (feat. AC) *2000-2001: "RIP Silent" (feat. Unknown Armenian Singer) *2016: "

" () (feat. Spitakci Hayko) *2017: "Amena Lavnes" () (feat. Harout Balyan) *2017: "She's Mine" () (feat. Armenchik) *2018: "Mi Gna" (feat. Spitakci Hayko &

) *2019: "Gna Gna/La Tghibi" (, ) (feat. Eyad Tannous & Suro) *2019: "Señorita" (feat. Fadi Kod) *2019: "Amenur es" () (feat. Saro Tovmasyan) *2019։ "Samo tvoia" (feat.

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

) *2020: "Tik Tok" (feat. Mohamed Ramadan) *2021: "Sunshine & Rain" (feat. Kan) *2021: "Amor Mio" (feat.

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

) *2022: "Cake" (feat Offset of

)

Featured in

*2019: "Yes" ( Karl Wolf feat. Super Sako, Deena,

Fito Blanko Fito Blanko (born Roberto E. Testa) is a Panamanian-Canadian tropical urban singer, songwriter, and producer. Biography Fito Blanko created his own sound by combining his Panamanian dancehall roots with a North American delivery. Fito Blanko is ...

) *2021: "Sirts Patrasta" () (OFI feat. Hak & Super Sako)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sako, Super Armenian rappers Musicians from Yerevan Armenian folk-pop singers Living people 1978 births