Rigels Rajku (; born 27 September 1986), known professionally as Noizy, is an Albanian rapper.

Life and career

1986–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Rigels Rajku was born on 27 September 1986 into a multi-religious Albanian family in the village of

Sukth Sukth is a village and a former municipality in the Durrës County, western Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Durrës. The population at the 2011 census was 15,966.

, then part of the People's Socialist Republic, present Albania. His father is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

from Dibër and his mother a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

from

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Kru ...

. In 1997, Rajku and his family fled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, as refugees to escape the war and conflicts in connection with the

Albanian Civil War The Albanian Civil War in 1997 was sparked by pyramid scheme failures in Albania soon after its transition to a market economy. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. Various other sources also describe the violenc ...

. He was raised in the

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

neighborhood of Southeast London and subsequently developed an interest in boxing and street fighting. In 2006, Rajku returned to Albania and appeared on the third edition of Top Fest, as a solo artist with the song "Jemi OTR" and as part of his group OTR with the song "Kështu e bëjme ne". In May 2007, he collaborated with Albanian rappers J-No and Decee and returned to the competition with the song "Kur vijm na". Later that year in November 2007, he unsuccessfully participated with the song "Veç për ty" in the 9th edition of

Kënga Magjike Kënga Magjike (; ) is an annual music competition organised by the Albanian television broadcaster Televizioni Klan. The music competition has been broadcasting annually since its inauguration in 1999 with the exception of 2020. The first ed ...

and failed to qualify for the contest's semi-finals.

2011–present: Breakthrough and continued success

In 2015, Rajku launched his fashion label ''Illyrian Bloodline'' represented with five branches in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Starting with the release of "Gangsta Love" in August 2015, the single received an award at the 2016 Netët e Klipit Shqiptar gala in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, Albania. In March 2017, the rapper was featured on German rapper Zuna's "Nummer 1", which peaked at number seven in Germany and became a certified Platinum-single by the German

Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie (English: Federal Music Industry Association), or simply BVMI, represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 280 labels and music industry related enterprises, which ...

(BVMI). In June 2018, " Toto", a collaboration with Austrian rapper RAF Camora released under

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

, was also successful in German-speaking Europe, and was certified Gold in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, respectively. Another collaboration followed in December 2018 with the release of "Gango" by Greek rapper Snik, which eventually reached number one in Greece. In March 2019, Rajku was invited as a special guest at the Palmen aus Plastik Tour by RAF Camora and German rapper

Bonez MC John Lorenz Moser (born December 23, 1985), better known by his stage name Bonez MC, is a German rapper and music producer. Bonez is a member of the German hip hop crew 187 Strassenbande consisting of the rappers Gzuz, Maxwell, LX, Sa4 and Bon ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany. In June 2019, Rajku was approached to perform at the MAD Video Music Awards 2019 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, Greece. In October 2019, he collaborated a second time with Snik on "Colpo Grosso" to commercial success in the latter country. Peaking at number 32 in Switzerland, the rapper released his fifth studio album, ''Epoka'', in April 2020. Two months after, he released his follow-up "All Dem Talk" featuring German rapper

Gzuz Kristoffer Klauß (; born 29 June 1988), better known by the stage name Gzuz (), is a German rapper. In addition to his solo career, he has had success as part of Hamburg hip hop crew 187 Strassenbande. Biography After his parents divorced, ...

and British rapper

Dutchavelli Stephan Fabulous Allen (born 11 November 1993), better known by his stage name Dutchavelli, is a British rapper. His name comes in part from the fact that he and his family (including his sister, singer and rapper Stefflon Don) spent their form ...

in June 2020. It peaked at number 16 in Switzerland and reached the top 30 in Austria and Germany, respectively. in February 2022 featured with German rapper Dardan he released "Alles Gut". In June 2022 he released featured with Swiss rapper

Loredana Loredana is a feminine given name, claimed to be invented by French author Lucile Aurore Dupin (George Sand) in her novel ''Mattea'' (1833), and later used by Luciano Zuccoli in ''L'amore di Loredana'' (1908). It may have been inspired by the rea ...

he released "Heart Attack" entered the charts in German-speaking Europe, reaching number three in Switzerland, number 42 in Austria and number 61 in Germany.

Discography

* ''Pak më ndryshe'' (2009) * ''Mixtape Living Your Dream'' (2010) * ''The Leader'' (2013) * ''The Hardest in the Market'' (2014) * ''Zin City'' (2016) * ''Epoka'' (2020) * ''ALPHA'' (2022)

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noizy 1986 births 21st-century Albanian rappers 21st-century Albanian male singers Albanian emigrants to the United Kingdom Albanian hip hop singers Albanian songwriters Living people Musicians from London People from Sukth Universal Music Group artists Warner Music Group artists