Ștefan Relu Mihalache (born on June 9, 1982 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

), better known by his stage name Connect-R, is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

roma rapper, singer, producer and occasional actor, best known for his association with

Romanian hip hop Romanian hip hop first emerged in 1982, along with the break-dancing movement which became very popular in the 1980s. However, Romanian hip hop was developed in the early 1990s, when American rappers hit the European charts. Most notable Romanian ...

group R.A.C.L.A. early in his career and the successful solo career that followed his leaving of the group. He has been noted as having a baritone-range singing voice and an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

musical style.

Biography

Early life and career

Mihalache was born in mid-1982 in

and, by the age of 8, was a professional dancer as a member of the dance group Primăvara. By the age of 15, he had become involved with hip hop music and in 1997 recorded "Observ", the first track in his professional career. His ex-wife and him had a child together. He was chosen by

Disney Channel Romania Disney Channel is a European children's television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company Limited. broadcast in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria. It was previously known as Fox Kids, then Jetix. There are several va ...

to sing "Sunt legat în lanț" song from the animated series ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as ...

''. He also sings in Romanian the main theme of the animated movie - Treasure Planet.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Dacă dragostea dispare'' (2007) * ''From Nothing to Something'' (2012) * ''Drăgostit'' (2016) * ''Slawbaz'' (2017)

Singles

References

{{Authority control 1982 births Living people Musicians from Bucharest Romanian rappers Romanian Romani people Romani musicians Romani rappers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Moldova