Besa

Besa is considered to be one of the most popular and successful Singers/Performers in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia of the last decade. Praised for her special voice and emotional performances, she is considered one the of the best voices and most awarded performers in Albanian Music Scene.
Besa Kokedhima was born on the 29th of May 1986.
She originally comes from Qeparo, Himara a city in the South of Albania.
Daughter of Koço Kokëdhima, an early Albanian mathematician and entrepreneur, and Brixhida Kokëdhima, mathematician and business manager.
She spent some years of her childhood in Qeparo with her grandmother, and her teen age in Fier, where her family lived at the time.
She was continually involved in school music activities as a solo singer, where she was inevitably noted for her singing and music talent.
She was praised for the special color and tone of her voice.
Her music passion became obvious to her parents, reluctant to encourage her to pursue a musical career.
However they did provide her piano lessons to satisfy her music passion.
At the age of 15 she moved to England (UK) for her High school studies.
At the age of 17 she succeeded in the "UK International Students Talent Contest" in which she was supposed to compete as a pianist, later switched to singing as her piano teacher, introduced to her singing shortly before the show, got very enthusiastic about her voice.
Despite the distance, In 2002 Besa appeared in Albanian Music Festival "Mikrofoni I Artë" as a special guest, covering one of her favorite songs at the time "Street Symphony" by Monica.
A year later, her debut song "Më beso" written by highly successful producer Florian Mumajesi, a featuring with then newly formed Albanian group Produkt 28, resulted a success, being awarded the Major Prize in Albanian Music Festival "Mikorofoni I Artë" 2003.
At the age of 19 she permanently returned and settled in Albania, and started working on her debut album which was published on July 29th in 2006.
Her album "BESA" resulted in high sales for it's big hits at the time "Zonja dhe zotërinj", "Mëngjesi im je ti" etc.
Her debut album was written in collaboration with well known Albanian music industry personalities such as Dorian Gjoni, Florian Mumajesi, Genti Lako, Andy Dj etc.
She was chosen to represent Albania at the MTV Exit concert, later that year.
She participated in Albanian Music Contest "Kënga Magjike" both in 2006 & 2007 which she was awarded respectively "Best Dance" with "Tani te dua" and "Jon Music" with "Pa yllin tënd".
In 2006, she participated in "Notafest" Music Contest in Macedonia, where she was awarded the Jury's 1st prize with successful R& B single "Lëshoje Hapin".
In "Top Fest" another major Albanian festival, she was awarded "Best Pop & Rock" in 2007 with her hit "Unik" and in 2008 she won the "Internet" and the 1st prize with her major hit "Engjëjt vrasin njëlloj".
In 2008, she participated in Romania's Eurovision Pre-Selection with an English single "Nothin' gonna change", which got very good reviews thus listing her among the finalists of the event.
She was awarded "Best Performance" for her participation in International Music Festival in Ohër, "Ohrid Fest" representing her country with rock single "Versus".
In 2010, she took part in Albanian Music Festival "Top Fest 7", in which she was awarded the "Best Female Singer" with her single "Kalorësi i Natës" which was lately associated with an official music video.
She collaborated with well known Kosovo singer Jehona Sopi for their "feminist" spirited R& B Hit single "Nuk jam Ajo" which was published in October 2010.
Shortly after Besa published the Official Video for her Summer Hit single "Always on my mind", which is an English record.
In 2011, Besa returns to "Kënga Magjike" 2011, after 4 years of absence in the famous music festival, with her colorful song "Botën do ndryshoja". The lyrics of "Botën do ndryshoja", convey an inspiring message for a love, big enough to change the world. The song was warded the "Critic's Award" and finished of 3rd, besides becoming one of the dearest and most talked about songs of the edition.
In 2012, Besa returns to "Top Fest 9", with her Hit single "Fishekzjarre" which got her the Hit award, and returning her to the charts.
In 2013 in collaboration with Romanian DJ LLP, "Burning" was published in Romania through Media Pro. The single was featured in Romanian Radio Charts and received very good reviews.
Besa has constantly appeared as a special guest in several concerts & events as the exclusive opening act for international artists such as Rasmus, Uli Jon Roth/Scorpions, Rainbow, Planet Funk, One Republic, Melanie Fiona, Manu Chao etc.
In the Summer of 2013 Besa published Video Single "Folie", which became one of the greatest summer hits in Albanian Music scene.The Video for "Folie" was shot in the natural beauties of the South of Albania, where Besa originally comes from and wished to promote.
In August 2013, Besa was invited to perform in Sopot Music Festival in Sopot, Poland where she performed her Hit single, "Fishekzjarre" among some of Europe's greatest names in present music, Loreen, Imany, Amy McDonalds, Caro Emerald etc.
In September 2013, she was invited to represent Albania in "Türkçe Vizyon 2013", The Turkish Music Festival. Her live rendition of "Gül Pembe" by Barış Manço was considered by fans one of the most original interpretations of the edition.
In October 2013 Besa returns to greatest Albanian Music Festival "Kenga Magjike" with "Tatuazh në Zemër". The song was written by Darko Dimitrov and lyrics by Alban Skenderaj. In a tough competition with Albania's greatest names in the Music Industry, Besa wins the Festival, thus making her the first artist in Albania to win a Festival with an uptempo, dance song. She also won the "Best Dance" Award that same edition. "Tatuazh në Zemër" has also won the hearts of many, becoming a major Hit song in Albania.
In December 2013, Besa published her special holiday EP "Besa për Festat - EP", with 8 English traditional songs adopted in Albanian language. All the tracks were accompanied by music videos featuring Besa and the National Band performing in the center of the capital's venue, decorated in a Christmas theme.The tracks were produced by well known Darko Dimitrov, Edi Balili, Klodian Qafoku and Mario Deda. It also featured a Christmas Version of winner song "Tatuazh ne Zemer" ft. Darko Dimitrov.
In 2014 Besa published "Zemrën Dot Nuk ta Lexoj" featuring Albanian rapper 2Po2, which was later accompanied with a music video. "Zemrën Dot Nuk ta Lexoj" is currently receiving great commercial success.
In May 2014, Besa released "Mbretëreshë" ''(Queen)'', which gained positive feedback. In late-July she released "Zejemër" (from Zemër,Eng. Sweetheart) with TDS' lead singer Dr. Mic. "Zejemer" received great feedback and commercial success. In early August Besa also released video-single "Arabia" (Faj) featuring German rapper Gmd Babydave.
On Decembre 2014, Besa published Christmas single and Album Ti Je Festa Ime. "Ti Je Festa Ime" (You are my fiesta) EP was the second edition of Besa për Festat, the first Christmas Album published by the artist on December 2013. The single received positive feedback and the Album was one of the most well received projects of the year. Besa is also considered the first artist in Balkan which has made a tradition of Holiday and Christmas Albums in Albanian Language. Single "Ti je Festa ime' was written & produced by highly recognized Darko Dimitrov and lyrics were written by Alex and Besa. The video projected all the beauty and magic of Christmas and the Holiday Season. The Album also featured covers of Christmas classics in Albanian Language, those too released later as clips.