Nick “Smooth” Semwogerere is a rapper from the Great Britain who especially loves the Balkans, and he currently lives and works in Sarajevo. His love for Sarajevo was born in 2010, when he came to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time.
Nick returned to Sarajevo in April this year and currently works as an English teacher. He says that he intends to stay in the BiH capital at least for a year. Although he graduated in film studies, he additionally educated himself in order to obtain a license for working as an English teacher.
“I love London, but I needed a change. Before coming to Sarajevo, I spent some time working in Poland, and before that in Istanbul. People told me that I will like it, that Istanbul is like huge Sarajevo, but it was not like that. It is true, there are similarities when it comes to buildings and architecture, but those are two entirely different cities. People keep asking me ‘Are you crazy, man, why do you keep going to such places’. In London I have everything, but it is very important to me to see other places as well, for me that means growing as a person,” Nick says.
Nick says that one of the things he loves about Bosnians the most is that they are a lot more relaxed about life. He thinks that it might be a good and a bad thing at the same time, bad because people can sometimes be too relaxed about some things.
“It is very difficult to compare life and people here and in London, since those are two very different places. When I come to Sarajevo and walk down the streets, it seems like everything is in slow motion – everyone is relaxed, they walk slowly, drink coffee. That is another phenomenon here – going to coffee. In London, you grab a coffee on your way and keep going after your business, and here it is different. When people invited me for coffee for the first time, I was surprised to realize that is means going to a café and sit while drinking it. It was a new experience for me. What I also love here is that people know how to have fun, even if they have no money. The entire world is materialistic, but people here find ways to satisfy themselves with small things,” Nick says.
Lately, Nick has been working on a new project and the album “Burek Obama”. A new song from the album which should come out this summer is titled “Balkan Beauty” and is dedicated to the beauty of women from the Balkans.
Another thing Nick noticed about people in Sarajevo is something that he calls “the countryside mentality” – everyone knows everyone and talks about everyone, and people find it difficult to feel free and be what they are.
“For example, sometimes I like to wear trainers of different colors. Same brand, same model, but different colors. People always ask why, and I say why not. That is what I like, it is simple, that is me and there is no mystery there. Everyone dresses ‘nice’, but it is all copy paste. You want to be noticed but you are afraid to stand out? What a contradiction,” Nick says.
So far, on his YouTube channel Nick discussed different topics, commenting on numerous issues such as the political situation in BiH, protests, elections, the phenomenon of burek and promaha, BiH on the World Championship in football in 2014, anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, etc.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: klix.ba)
