Ezhel
Ezhel, or known by his real name Ömer Sercan İpekçioğlu (born 1 July 1991) is a Turkish rapper, singer and songwriter from Ankara whose music blends trap, hip-hop and reggae. His song Geceler has been streamed more than 60 million times on Spotify and he has been given the title 'Freestyle King' by Hip Hop Life.[3]
Ezhel | |
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Ezhel at Boğaziçi University in March 2018 | |
Born | Ömer Sercan İpekçioğlu 1 July 1991[1] |
Other names |
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Occupation |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments | Vocals |
Labels |
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Associated acts |
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Life and career
Ezhel came from a musical family. His mother was an Anatolian folk dancer, and his uncle was a musician and sound and light engineer.[4] He received a scholarship to TED school, and began listening to US rap like Eminem, 50 Cent and Tupac Shakur.[5]
At 18, he began performing with a reggae band called Afra Tafra. After this group split, he formed his own reggae band, Kökler Filizleniyor, along with some of his friends from Ankara.[6] He performed under the name Ais Ezhel until 2017.[7]
Ezhel can also play the bağlama and guitar, and sings reggae with the band Kökler Filizleniyor. His debut album Müptezhel came out in 2017.[8]
Ezhel was arrested on 24 May 2018 and sent to pretrial detention accused of "inciting drug use" in his songs.[9][10] On June 19, Ezhel was acquitted within 9 minutes of the opening of his first trial hearing. Ezhel's lawyer, Fuat Ekin, stated that, "We got an acquittal. We can say that justice has been done," according to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).[11][12]
In May 2019, The New York Times named him among the European Pop Acts that everyone should know.[13]
Discography
- Studio albums
- Singles
- Pelesenk (ft. Aga B) (2012)
- Antrenman (ft. Kamufle, Aga B & Harun Adil) (2012)
- Psikokramp (ft. Red) (2012)
- SBAG (ft. Aga B, Funk'd Up & Dj Suppa)
- 3 Gün (2013)
- Façamızı Kes (2015)
- Ateşi Yak (ft. Aga B) (2016)
- Gerçek Sandım (ft. Sansar Salvo) (2016)
- Kayip Nesil (ft. Kamufle & Aga B) (2016)
- İmkansızım (2017)
- Kazıdık Tırnaklarla (2018)
- KAFA10 (ft. Anıl Piyancı) (2018)
- Felaket (2019)
- Summer of My Life (ft. Gringo, Yung Kafa ve Kücük Efendi) (2019)
- ne deve ne kush (ft. Büyük Ev Ablukada) (2019)
- Boynumdaki Chain (ft. Murda) (2019)
- Olay (2019)
- Lolo (2019)
- Aya (ft. Murda) (2019)
- Pırlanta (ft. Murda) (2019)
- Mon Ami (ft. Eno) (2019)
- Bi Sonraki Hayatımda Gel (ft. Murda) (2020)
- Limit Yok (ft. Patron, Anıl Piyancı, Sansar Salvo, Allâme, Kamufle, Beta, Pit10) (2020)
- İz Bırak (ft. Vio) (2020)
- Jealous & Greedy (ft. OMG) (2020)
- Made In Turkey (ft. Murda) (2020)
References
- "Ezhel". Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- "Ezhel". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- Ulaş. "Freestyle King 2 Şampiyonu Ais Ezhel!". Hiphoplife.com.tr | Türkiye`den Hip Hop Kültürü. (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2018-03-17. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
- sitesi, milliyet.com.tr Türkiye'nin lider haber. "'Rap hep aşktı'". MİLLİYET HABER - TÜRKİYE'NİN HABER SİTESİ. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- Dostgül, Busen. ""Bir rap iyi başlamazsa, iyi rap değildir": Ezhel ve Büyük Ev Ablukada". bantmag.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- "Salon İKSV | Ezhel". Salon İKSV. Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- "The Story of Turkish Hip Hop". We Love Istanbul. 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- "Ay Güneşten Daha Güzel! | Based Istanbul". Based Istanbul. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
- "Fenomen rapçi Ezhel tutuklandı |". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2018-05-24. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- O'Connor, Roisin (25 May 2018). "Popular Turkish rapper Ezhel arrested over lyrics 'promoting drug use'". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- agencies, The New Arab &. "Turkish rapper and government critic Ezhel acquitted of drug charges". alaraby. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- "Turkish rap artist Ezhel acquitted in drug case". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
- "15 European Pop Acts You Might Not Know, but Should". The New York Times. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.