Rok Terkaj (born 1 March 1983), better known as Trkaj, is a

rapper 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 ...

from

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. He has also been active as a social activist and a writer.

Life

Trkaj grew up in the Savsko Naselje neighbourhood in the

Bežigrad District The Bežigrad District (), or simply Bežigrad (), is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. Spanning an area of 7.2 km2 (2.8 sq mi), it encompasses the northern part of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia Slovenia, officially ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. He started rapping at the age of 17. He joined the freestyle band ''Rodbine Trgavšek'', alongside its members (N'toko, Boštjan Gorenc - Pižama, Valterap, and DJ Supastar), and performed throughout Slovenia, later becoming a member of the ''Generacija 00'' group under the umbrella of the ''Z Glavo na Zabavo'' (Party With Your Head) Foundation. His artistic name is a derivative of his surname, as at home, in the Savsko Naselje, he is called Trkaj, without the ''e''. In 2004, he walked 800 km of

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

and then studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from 2006 until 2011, when he graduated. In 2009, he walked from Ljubljana to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

and carried out the ''Kul Vinska Tura'' (Cool Wine Tour) when he visited Styrian towns and villages by foot, promoting rap and the region. He was bestowed the highest award by the Slovenian Marketing Festival for the tour.

Music

In 2003, Trkaj won the 8 Mile freestyle battle championship and a few months later the 2nd Slovenian Freestyle Championship along with fellow rapper

N'toko Miha Blažič, better known by his stage name N'toko, is a Slovenian rapper and lead vocalist of Moveknowledgement. He is well known for his socially critical lyrics, which gave him acclaim in the underground Slovenian hip-hop scene. He freestyle ...

. His prize was a record deal with RapNika, and he released his debut album ''V času enga diha'' in 2004. The album was a commercial success, but it lacked some critical acclaim indicating that Trkaj re-recorded a lot of his songs that were already online as demo songs. In 2005, he announced a new album to be released on his birthday in March 2006, but the album wasn't released due to complications with the label. It was rescheduled to a year later and finally released in December 2007, called ''Rapostol'' (meaning

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

in rap music). In 2009, he won the Slovenian music award

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

as the best male music performer for ''Rapostol''.

References

External links

Trkaj's official Web Page

Nika Records Official
1983 births Living people Slovenian rappers Musicians from Ljubljana Slovenian activists 21st-century Slovenian writers Slovenian lyricists Long distance walkers {{hiphop-bio-stub