Bila je prva romska pjevačica koja je nastupala na svom materinjem jeziku na jugoslavenskom radiju. Unatoč tome što je izgledala drugačije, imala svoj vlastiti glazbeni stil i pjevala na romskom jeziku, koji se nije puno govorio u Jugoslaviji, uspjela je stjeći nevjerojatnu popularnost ne samo u Jugoslaviji, već i širom svijeta.

Rođena je u Skopju 1943. godine kao drugo najmlađe od šestero djece u siromašnoj romskoj obitelji. Od djetinjstva je pokazivala zanimanje i talent za muziku te se pridružila bratu u školskom folklornom ansamblu. Kad je Esma imala 13 godina, bez znanja roditelja se prijavila na pjevačko natjecanje za mlade talente na Radio Skopju. Na natječaju ju je primijetio muzičar, skladatelj i vođa muzičkog ansambla Stevo Teodosijevski koji je nagovorio Esmu da se preseli u Beograd kako bi studirala na Muzičkoj akademiji. To nije bilo nimalo lako, jer je Esma odrasla u tradicionalnoj muslimanskoj obitelji. Njezini roditelji su se bojali da će Esma pjevati u kavanama i restoranima kao njezina starija sestra, što se u to vrijeme smatralo nepristojnim ponašanjem za mladu neudatu djevojku. Međutim, Stevo Teodosijevski je uspio uvjeriti Esmine roditelje da će ona pjevati samo na „uglednim koncertima“. Nakon dvije godine studija na Muzičkoj akademiji Esma Redžepova se pridružila ansamblu "Teodosievski" i od tada se njezina karijera počela brzo razvijati. Kada je imala 23 godine, Esma se udala za Stevu Teodosijevskog koji joj je ostao životni partner i osoba koja je vodila Esminu karijeru sve do njegove smrti 1997.godine.

Tokom gotovo šezdesetogodišnje karijere Esma Redžepova je imala oko 23 000 nastupa u 30 zemalja, objavila više od 20 albuma, glumila u 6 filmova, pjevala na najpopularnijim muzičkim festivalima, surađivala s najuglednijim muzičarima i pjevačima. Imala je priliku nastupati u najprestižnijim dvoranama poput Olimpije u Parizu, kazališta Ronacher u Beču, Boljšog teatra u Moskvi, opera u Frankfurtu i Kölnu. Istovremeno, jednako je rado pjevala u malim mjestima pred lokalnom publikom. Posebno se prisjećala svog nastupa u jednom bosanskom selu u kojem nije bilo nikakve dvorane niti odgovarajuće pozornice: “Pronašli smo jednu kuću koja je bila na uzvišici, otvorili smo prozor na malenoj sobi i iz njega je virila samo moja glava. Stevo i orkestar se nisu uopće videli.. ”.

Esma Redžepova je bila jedna od nekoliko pjevačica koja nije izgubila popularnost nakon raspada Jugoslavije. Prešla je s narodne muzike na modernije stilove i počela pjevati u duetima s mladim pjevačima. Zajedno s mladim makedonskim pjevačem Vlatkom Lozanoskim je 2013. godine predstavljala Makedoniju na Eurosongu.

Kako većina Roma, Esma Redžepova se tokom života suočavala s diskriminacijom i nepravdom. Opisujući svoje djetinjstvo, Esma Redžepova se posebno prisjećala ranih školskih godina i izolacije koju je osjećala zbog toga što je imala drugačuju boju kože od ostale djece. Učenici iz razreda su je nazivali "Ciganka" i nisu htjeli sjediti s Esmom u klupi.

Slično kao i druga romska djeca koja su odrastala u siromašnim obiteljima, Esma Redžepova je počela raditi  još u djetinjstvu. Iako je bila samo dijete, u jedanaestoj su je optužili pred sudom da je ukrala bijeli liječnički mantil u obitelji u kojoj je radila.

U jednom od svojih intervjua Esma Redžepova je priznala da je, prije braka s Stevom Teodosijevskim, bila zaljubljena u sina generala Popovića, ali se nije mogla udati za njega zbog predrasuda njegovih roditelja. "Krivovjerje je bilo i pomisliti da generalov sin oženi Ciganku".

Esma Redžepova se morala boriti protiv stereotipa o Romima ne samo u odnosu na pripadnike drugih nacionalnosti, već i unutar romske zajednice. Dio Roma je zamjerao Esmi da se udala sa neroma, radila s muškarcima, nastupala na pozornici, što se u to vrijeme smatralo nepristojnim ponašanjem za Romkinje iz njezinog okruženja. Velikim dijelom zbog neodobravanja okoline Esma Redžepova i Stevo Teodosijevski su se odlučili preseliti u Beograd.

Kao i mnogi drugi Romi, Esma Redžepova je postala žrtvom nepoštenih ljudi i vlastite lakovjernosti. Bio je to slučaj s poznatim filmom Borat u kojem je njezina hit pjesma “Čaje šukarije” korištena bez pristanka pjevačice. Dio ljudi, uključujući Esmu Redžepovu, smatrao da film ismijava druge narode i širi stereotipe o zaostalosti Kazahstana. Esma Redžepova je saznala da je njezina pjesma korišćena u filmu tek nakon što je film već stigao u kina. Kasnije se ispostavilo da su producenti filma Borat dobili dopuštenje od njezine producentske kuće da koriste pjesmu, o čemu Esma kao autorica pjesme nije bila obaviještena.

Esma Redžepova je voljela Makedoniju (od 2019. godine Republika Sjeverna Makedonija), ali se istovremeno osjećala dijelom “velike zemlje bez granica“ koju je Jugoslavija predstavljala u njezinim očima. Teško joj je pao raspad Jugoslavije i ratovi koji su uslijedili. Istovremeno, Esma Redžepova je bila jedna od rijetkih pjevačica koja je uvijek rado nastupala u zemljama koje su nastale na području bivše Jugoslavije. Esma Redžepova je govorila "da se i dalje osjeća kao kod kuće na cijelom prostoru od Vardara do Triglava". Ovaj kozmopolitizam je u velikoj mjeri bio razlog zašto Esma Redžepova nikad nije podržavala romske političke stranke. Za nju je to značilo podrška samo jedne strane i podjela ljudi na Rome i nerome, nešto protiv čega se ona cijeli život borila.

Osim zadivljujuće muzičke karijere Esma Redžepova je poznata i po svom humanitarnom radu. Esma Redžepova je održala oko 2000 humanitarnih koncerata, zajedno s suprugom osnovala je muzičku školu i pomogla razvijati muzičke vještine 47 djece, pomagala bolesnoj djeci i siromašnim ljudima. Dio njezinog humanitarnog rada je također bio usmjeren na pomoć izbjeglicama. Esma Redžepova se prisjećala da je tokom rata u Jugoslaviji njezina kuća postala prihvatni centar za izbjeglice s Kosova i iz Bosne. Kad je 2015. godine izbila migracijska kriza, pjevačica je također pomagala izbjeglicama iz Sirije i Iraka koje su prolazile preko Makedonije. Zbog svih postignuća na humanitarnom području, Esma Redžepova je bila dva puta nominirana za Nobelovu nagradu za mir.

Teško je precijeniti ulogu Esme Redžepove u popularizaciji romske muzike. Upravo Esma Redžepova je dokazala da romska muzika i romski pjevači i pjevačice mogu biti popularni ne samo među romskom zajednicom već i širom svijeta. Popularnost Esme Redžepove je bila tako velika, a život tako intenzivan i zanimljiv da je pjevačica govorila da je nadmašila svoje najambicioznije snove. Njezin primjer također pokazuje da romska djeca čak i iz siromašnih obitelji mogu postići velik uspjeh. Esma Redžepova je također bila žena velikog srca. Nikad nije zaboravila trenutak kada je u prvom razredu od Crvenog križa dobila šal, kapu i rukavice kao poklon. Ovaj trenutak ju je toliko dirnuo da je obećala pomagati drugim ljudima ukoliko bude imala priliku. I održala je riječ.

 

 

Today marks four years since the death of the “Queen of Roma music” Esma Redžepova. Probably nobody made such a great contribution to the promotion of Roma music as a Roma vocalist from North Macedonia Esma Redžepova.

 

She was the first Roma singer to perform in her native language on Yugoslav radio. Remarkably, in spite of looking differently, having her own style in music and singing in Roma language, which was not widely spoken in Yugoslavia, she managed to make her music mainstream not only in Yugoslavia but also well beyond it.

She was born in Skopje in 1943 as the second youngest of six children in a poor Roma family. Since childhood she showed deep interest and talent in music and together with her brother took part in school folklore ensemble. When Esma was 13 years old, without telling her parents she applied for a singing contest for young talents on the Radio Skopje. At the contest she was noticed by a musician, composer and director of a musical ensemble Stevo Teodosijevski who persuaded Esma to move to Belgrade to study at the Musical Academy. It was not an easy thing to do since Esma grew up in a quite traditional Muslim family. Her parents were afraid that Esma will sing in kafanas and retaurants as her elder sister which was at that time seen as indecent behaviour for a young unmarried girl. However, Stevo Teodosijevski managed to persuade Esma Redžepova's parents that she will sing only at “respected concernts“. After two years of study at the Musical Academy she joined the Ensemble "Teodosievski" and since then her career started rapidly to develop. At the age of 23 she also married Stevo Teodosijevski who was her life partner and a person who fully managed Esma Redžepova's career till his death in 1997.

During her almost sixty year career Esma Redžepova had about 23 000 performances in 30 countries, published more than 20 albums, acted in 6 films, sang at the most popular musical festivals, worked with the most prominent musicians and singers. She had opportunity to perform at the most prestigious stages such as the Olympia in Paris, the Ronacher Theater in Vienna, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Frankfurt and the Cologne Opera. At the same time, she was equally happy to sing in small places in front of local people. She particularly recalled her performance in one of the Bosnian villages that had no concert hall and no proper stage: “They found one house that was on a hill, we opened a window in a small room and only my head was sticking out of it. Stevo and the orchestra were not seen at all”.

Esma Redžepova was among a few singers who managed to regain popularity after the breakup of Yugoslavia. She switched from the classical folk genre to more modern music styles and started singing in duets with young singers. In 2013 together with a young Macedonian singer Vlatko Lozanoski she represented Macedonia in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

As the majority of Roma people Esma Redžepova faced discrimination and injustice throught her life. Describing her childhood Esma Redžepova particularly recalled early school years and islolation she felt because of looking differently from other children. Her classmates called her Gypsy and didn’t want to share the same desk with her.

Similarly to other Roma children who grew up in poor families, Esma Redžepova had to start working at a very young age. Though being just a child, at the age of 11 she was accused of stealing doctor’s white coat from the family she worked for. 

In one of her interviews she also confessed that before marriage with Stevo Teodosijevski she was in love with the general Popovic’s son but couldn's marry him because of his family's prejudices about Roma. “It was a heresy itself to think that the general's son would marry a Gypsy“.

Esma Redžepova had to fight stereotypes about Roma not only among people of different nationalities but also among the Roma community itself. She was criticized for numerous things including working with men, singing in public, which was at that time considered inappropriate for a Roma woman, marrying non-Roma. Largely because of this pressure and misunderstanding Esma Redžepova and Stevo Teodosijevski had to move to Belgrade.

As other Roma people Esma Redžepova also became victim of dishonest people and her own gullibility. This was the case with the acclaimed movie Borat when Esma Redžepova's hit “Čaje šukarije” was used in the movie without her approval. Borat was seen by a number of people including Esma Redžepova as the movie mocking other nations and promoting stereotypes of Kazakhstan's backwardness. Esma Redžepova found out about the fact that her music was used in the movie only after it was already running in cinemas. Later she found out that it was her production house which gave approval to the film producers to use the song without consulting the author of the music.

Esma Redžepova loved Macedonia (since 2019 the Republic of North Macedonia) but at the same time she felt herself part of a big country without borders which Yugoslavia embodied for her. The dissolution of Yugoslavia and wars that followed became an enormous blow for her. In spite of this Esma Redžepova was one of a few singers who was always eager to give concerts in newly created countries saying that “she still feels like at home at the whole territory from Vardar to Triglava“. This cosmopolitanism largely explained why Esma Redžepova didn't feel right about supporting any Roma political party. For her this meant favoring one side and dividing people on Roma and non-Roma which was something she was fighting with all her life.  

Apart from her impressive musical career Esma Redžepova was also famous for her humanitarian work. During her life Esma Redžepova gave about 2000 humanitarian concerts, together with her husband opened music school and  helped to improve music skills of 47 children, helped sick children and poor people. Part of her humanitarian work also focused on refugees. She recalled that during the war in Yugoslavia her house became a reception center for refugees from Bosnia and Kosovo. When the 2015 migration crisis erupted, Esma Redžepova also helped refugees from Syria and Irak who transited through Macedonia. For all her achievements in the humanitarian field, Esma Redžepova was two times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is difficult to overestimate Esma Redžepova's role in popularization of the Roma music. She was the one who proved that Roma music and Roma singers can be popular not not only amony Roma community but also all over the world. Esma Redžepova's popularity was so huge and her life was so intense and interesting that she used to say that she exceeded her most ambitious dreams. Her example also shows that Roma children even from poor families can achieve great success. Esma Redžepova was also a woman with a big heart. She never forget the moment when she received a scarf, mittens and a hat as a present from a Red Cross in the first grade. This moment touched her so much that she promised herself to help other people if she has such opportunity. And she kept her word.