Sercan İpekçioğlu (born 1 July 1991), better known by his stage name Ezhel (), is a Turkish rapper and singer whose music blends

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

, hip hop and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

. His song "AYA" has been streamed more than 80 million times on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. He has been given the title "Freestyle King" by ''Hip Hop Life'' in Turkey.

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. He received a scholarship to TED school, and began listening to American rappers like

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

and

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

. At 18, he began performing with a

band called Afra Tafra. After this group split, he formed his own reggae band, Kökler Filizleniyor, along with some of his friends from Ankara. He performed under the name Ais Ezhel until 2017. Ezhel can also play the

bağlama The ''bağlama'' or ''saz'' is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, ...

and guitar, and sings reggae with the band Kökler Filizleniyor. His debut album '' Müptezhel'' came out in 2017. Ezhel was arrested on 24 May 2018 and sent to pretrial detention accused of "inciting drug use" in his songs. On 19 June, 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). In May 2019, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' named Ezhel among the European pop acts that everyone should know.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Müptezhel'' (2017) * ''

Lights Out Lights Out may refer to: Events and times * Institutional, and thence colloquial, term for bedtime *Lights Out (event), an event in the UK on 4 August 2014 to commemorate the start of World War I * Lights Out Hong Kong, a campaign to protest air ...

'' (ft.

Ufo361 Ufuk Bayraktar (born 28 May 1988), better known by his stage name Ufo361, is a German rapper of Turkish descent from Berlin. Early life Bayraktar was born to Turkish parents in west Berlin and grew up in nearby Kreuzberg. He came in contact wi ...

) (2019) * '' Made in Turkey'' (ft. Murda) (2020) ;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) * ''3500'' (ft. Aga B) (2019) * ''Summer of My Life'' (ft.

Gringo ''Gringo'' (, , ) (masculine) (or ''gringa'' (feminine)) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner, usually an English-speaking Anglo-American. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. In Latin America, it is ...

, 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 Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, 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) * ''Devam'' (ft. Luciano &

Gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

) (2020) * ''Allah'ından Bul'' (2020) * ''LINK UP'' (ft. Kelvyn Colt) (2020) * ''Melodien'' (ft. Newman) (2020) * ''Not a day'' (ft. Patrice) (2021) * ''Sakatat'' (2021) * ''4 Kanaken'' (ft. Haftbefehl, Capo, Veysel) (2021) * ''Lifeline'' (ft. Gentleman) (2021) * ''Astronaut In The Ocean - Ezhel Remix '' (ft. Masked Wolf) (2021) * ''Bul Beni'' (2021) * ''BENIM HAYALLER'' (ft. Luciano) (2021) * ''End of Time'' (ft. Kelvyn Colt) (2021) * ''Mayrig'' (2021) * ''VIP'' (ft. Olexesh, Hell Yes) (2021) * ''Hayrola'' (2021) * ''Ağlattın'' (2022) * ''Daima'' (2022) * ''Nerdesin'' (2022)

Awards

References

External links

* {{Authority control Turkish rappers Musicians from Ankara Living people 1991 births Turkish lyricists 21st-century Turkish male singers 21st-century Turkish singers Golden Butterfly Award winners