Baja Mali Knindža

Mirko Pajčin (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирко Пајчин; born 13 October 1966), known by his stage name Baja Mali Knindža (Serbian Cyrillic: Баја Мали Книнџа, lit. 'Baja Little Kninja'), is a Bosnian Serb folk singer and songwriter. He is often described as part of the turbo-folk scene, and is known for his Serbian nationalist songs. His cousin was the pop-folk recording artist Ksenija Pajčin.

Pajčin is not to be mistaken with Nedeljko Bajić Baja (to whom he owes his nickname due to their physical resemblance), who is another Bosnian Serb folk singer.

Early life[edit]

Pajčin^[1] was born on 13 October 1966 into a Bosnian Serb family in the village of Gubin, near Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pajčin moved to SR Serbia in 1980, and began singing in 1984 in Surčin.^[2]

Career[edit]

Baja won a 1989 competition for amateur singers in Livno and released his first album in 1991. His career began just as Yugoslavia was breaking up. Throughout the 1990s, he was known for his strong Serbian nationalism and nationalist songs supporting the Serbs during the Yugoslav wars; during the Croatian War of Independence he was dubbed Baja Mali-Knindža (literally meaning "Baja little Kninja" in reference to the de facto capital, Knin, of the Serbian ethnic breakaway state of Serbian Krajina within Croatia and its armed force and also the Serb paramilitary unit, Kninjas).^[3][4] His first professional success was the song "Врати се Војводо" (Come Back, Voivode), in which he appealed to Serbian World War II Chetnik commander Momčilo Đujić to come back to the areas of the Croatian Krajina and help lift the spirits of the Croatian Serbs. He said that he would never consider going to Croatia as he claimed that Croatian soldiers "burned down his house and desecrated his ancestors' graves".^{[citation needed]}

Baja performs at "Кочићев збор" (Kočić's Assembly) in Zmijanje near Banja Luka in mid-August every year, and he usually attracts tens of thousands of people. Since Operation Storm, Pajčin has written many songs about his dream of the Serb people returning to live in territories now inhabited by Croats following the Croatian War for Independence.^{[citation needed]}

Pajčin is controversial due to his Serbian nationalism and Serbian far-right views and bias in lyrics.^[5] Most of his songs are condemned in non-Serb parts of Bosnia and Croatia because of their xenophobic lyrics, which often reference war leaders during the Yugoslav wars. For example, his song "Ne volim te Alija" describes his strong dislike for the Bosnian wartime president Alija Izetbegović.^{[citation needed]}

One song titled "Ćuti, Ćuti Ujko!" (featuring Serbian rock singer Bora Đorđević) contains the lyrics "Shut up, shut up, Ujko (Ustaša/Croat), I will kill you" as well as "Shut up, shut up, mujo (Bosnian Muslim), I will kill you". He has also sung "I don't like people who like the HDZ", which included the lyrics "Fuck their šahovnica".^{[citation needed]}

Despite many of his songs having a nationalistic lyrical theme, he is also known for his often humorous non-political songs such as "Umri Baba" and "Poker Aparat".^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[edit]

Pajčin lives with his wife, three daughters and three sons in Zemun. Besides his native language, he also speaks English and Russian. His mother and father live in a newly built house in Surčin.

Baja is a supporter of the Serbian Radical Party, and has sung at the party's conventions. He also released an album, Српским радикалима (To the Serbian Radicals, 1998), which glorifies the party and its leader Vojislav Šešelj.

His cousin Ksenija Pajčin, pop-folk recording artist, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on March 16, 2010.^[6][7] Later that same year, Baja released the song "Spavaj, kraljice" (Sleep, Queen) in her memory,^[8] stating that he was very "shaken" by her death.

Discography[edit]

Solo[edit]

With Braća sa Dinare band[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Discography at Discogs