Tarkan - Dudu
Tarkan Tevetoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [taɾˈkan teveˈtoːɫu]; born October 17, 1972), simply known as Tarkan, is a World Music award winning Turkish pop singer. He was born in Alzey, West Germany, and raised in Turkey. Tarkan has been known for the use of sexual and romantic themes in his work and has been nicknamed the "Prince of Pop" by the media.has released several platinum-selling albums during his career, with an estimated 29 million albums and singles sold. He also produces music through his company HITT Music, which he established in February 1997. One of a few European singers that has managed to span chart success over three continents without singing in English, the artist is also noted for his live stage performances. Tarkan's effect on Turkey has been compared by The Washington Post as analogous to Elvis in America circa 1957 and Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegün described him as one of the best live performers he had ever seen. He has also been listed by Rhapsody as a key artist in the history of European pop music, with his signature song "Şımarık" as a keystone track that moved the genre forward.
Tarkan was born in Alzey, West Germany, to Ali and Neşe Tevetçioğlu, and was named after a popular 1960s Turkish comic book character. The name is said to originate from an ancient Turkic king or title, meaning bold and strong (cf. Tarkhan). In 2009 it was discovered that Tarkan was in fact his middle name and his first name was Hüsamettin, which means "sword of faith".
His parents were part of the generation of Turkish immigrants that came to West Germany during that country's economic boom. His father's family has a decorated military past as war heroes that fought in the Ottoman armies in the Russo-Turkish Wars, while his mother's family comes from a long line of talented Turkmen folk singers. Tarkan chose to cover a song in 2003 by Turkish minstrel Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu as a nod to his roots. In the early stages of his career he was seen sporting a necklace with the crescent and star, the symbol of the Turkish flag, making it a fashion accessory amongst the Turkish youth - as the entertainer Madonna had done globally with the crucifix.
Tarkan has three older half-siblings named Adnan, Gülay and Nuray from his mother's first marriage, and a brother, Hakan, and younger sister, Handan from her marriage to his father. Although Tarkan was raised in Alzey until the age of 13, his father Ali suddenly decided to move the family back to Turkey in 1986. His father died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 49, and was buried in his home village of Rüzgarlı Köy, in the Turkish district of Ikizdere in the Rize Province situated in the Turkish Black Sea region. His mother later married an architect, Seyhun Kahraman. Tarkan keeps close ties with his family in Turkey and Germany. He still understands the German language though speaks little, since he has been living in the USA and Turkey for 20 years.
Tarkan has charted both in Europe and in the Americas with his definitive song "Şımarık" (Spoilt/Kiss Kiss/Chanson Du Bisou/Besos). As a result of its widespread success and immediately recognizable sound of Tarkan kissing on the track, "Şımarık" was reincarnated into English as "Kiss Kiss" by Stella Soleil and later Holly Valance (which notched her a UK number one hit), after the composer Sezen Aksu sold the music rights. It has been covered by various artists across the world in various languages. Another successful Aksu collaboration was the hit single "Şıkıdım" (Shake).His entry into the European musical consciousness started a Turkish pop boom in Germany and Turkey in the 1990s, with his European successes signalling that the musical borders between Turkey and Europe, more specifically Germany, were dissolving. Because of his success, he became the prime example of Turkish pop obtaining an audience outside Turkey.Over the years his works have maintained their popularity, with Tarkan's 2007 studio album Metamorfoz selling over a quarter of a million copies in the first two weeks of its release on December 25, 2007.
When the Tevetoğlu family relocated to Turkey, Tarkan began to study music in Karamürsel at high school, before being accepted at the Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti Academy in Istanbul.After his family moved to Istanbul in 1988, he began to prepare for University entrance exams in 1990, but had a difficult time in Istanbul with little money, and worked in low-paying jobs including a stint as a wedding singer.Music legend has it just as he was preparing to return to Germany, he met Mehmet Söğütoğlu, chairman of the record company İstanbul Plak Produced by Söğütoğlu, his debut album Yine Sensiz (Without You Again) sold 750 thousand copies after its release in December 1992 For the album he had teamed up with then little known songwriter-composer Ozan Çolakoğlu, who later co-produced his albums. Tarkan's debut provoked mingled feelings among the Turks, but it seemed that young people in Turkish cities who were satisfying their hunger with new sounds from Westerns acts such as Michael Jackson and U2 were looking for their own home grown idol. Considered rebellious for his lyrics, his dressing style and his earrings by traditionalists made him even more attractive to the young. Although his debut album was not extraordinary when compared to other pop albums of the period, what distinguished Tarkan from the earliest days of his musical career was his unique style and image.
The success of Tarkan in the early 90s was seen by some as a sign of growing admiration for Western music, and the artist's real success came two years later. Collaborating with Turkey's "little sparrow", prominent producer and songwriter Sezen Aksu,Tarkan's highly anticipated second album Aacayipsin (Oh - You're Something Else) sold more than two million copies in Turkey and 750 thousand copies in Europe. Such high European sales were a first-time feat for a Turkish performer. Aksu wrote two songs for the album, the radio friendly "Hepsi Senin Mi?", which was later relicensed as "Şıkıdım" (Shake) for the European market, and a pop-rock number "Şeytan Azapta". "Hepsi Senin Mi?" incorporated shaky Turkish rhythms and lyrics of pure slang, and in the video to the song Tarkan slanted his body to the rhythmic melody of the song while displaying a naked chest. This was considered to be bold and daring in the newly opening but still conservative Turkish music industry.Building on his taboo-breaking and rebellious image, the video to "Şeytan Azapta" incorporated scenes from the tour that followed, where dancers would strip Tarkan naked on stage. This erotic persona was enhanced by the artist posing naked and semi-naked for the most popular Turkish magazines of the period including becoming the first male to make the front cover of the domestic edition of the Cosmopolitan (Cosmo).
In 1994 he experienced a dip in the new found celebrity status the album had generated, when he made a live broadcast gaffe on private Turkish TV channel ATV's anniversary celebration during an interview. His response when asked how he was, captured live on camera, was "Çişim var, ağabey." ("I've gotta pee, man.") He was publicly criticised for the comment and only after performing traditional songs on another TV special did he endear himself again to the nation.
Tarkan Tevetoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [taɾˈkan teveˈtoːɫu]; born October 17, 1972), simply known as Tarkan, is a World Music award winning Turkish pop singer. He was born in Alzey, West Germany, and raised in Turkey. Tarkan has been known for the use of sexual and romantic themes in his work and has been nicknamed the "Prince of Pop" by the media.has released several platinum-selling albums during his career, with an estimated 29 million albums and singles sold. He also produces music through his company HITT Music, which he established in February 1997. One of a few European singers that has managed to span chart success over three continents without singing in English, the artist is also noted for his live stage performances. Tarkan's effect on Turkey has been compared by The Washington Post as analogous to Elvis in America circa 1957 and Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegün described him as one of the best live performers he had ever seen. He has also been listed by Rhapsody as a key artist in the history of European pop music, with his signature song "Şımarık" as a keystone track that moved the genre forward.
Tarkan was born in Alzey, West Germany, to Ali and Neşe Tevetçioğlu, and was named after a popular 1960s Turkish comic book character. The name is said to originate from an ancient Turkic king or title, meaning bold and strong (cf. Tarkhan). In 2009 it was discovered that Tarkan was in fact his middle name and his first name was Hüsamettin, which means "sword of faith".
His parents were part of the generation of Turkish immigrants that came to West Germany during that country's economic boom. His father's family has a decorated military past as war heroes that fought in the Ottoman armies in the Russo-Turkish Wars, while his mother's family comes from a long line of talented Turkmen folk singers. Tarkan chose to cover a song in 2003 by Turkish minstrel Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu as a nod to his roots. In the early stages of his career he was seen sporting a necklace with the crescent and star, the symbol of the Turkish flag, making it a fashion accessory amongst the Turkish youth - as the entertainer Madonna had done globally with the crucifix.
Tarkan has three older half-siblings named Adnan, Gülay and Nuray from his mother's first marriage, and a brother, Hakan, and younger sister, Handan from her marriage to his father. Although Tarkan was raised in Alzey until the age of 13, his father Ali suddenly decided to move the family back to Turkey in 1986. His father died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 49, and was buried in his home village of Rüzgarlı Köy, in the Turkish district of Ikizdere in the Rize Province situated in the Turkish Black Sea region. His mother later married an architect, Seyhun Kahraman. Tarkan keeps close ties with his family in Turkey and Germany. He still understands the German language though speaks little, since he has been living in the USA and Turkey for 20 years.
Tarkan has charted both in Europe and in the Americas with his definitive song "Şımarık" (Spoilt/Kiss Kiss/Chanson Du Bisou/Besos). As a result of its widespread success and immediately recognizable sound of Tarkan kissing on the track, "Şımarık" was reincarnated into English as "Kiss Kiss" by Stella Soleil and later Holly Valance (which notched her a UK number one hit), after the composer Sezen Aksu sold the music rights. It has been covered by various artists across the world in various languages. Another successful Aksu collaboration was the hit single "Şıkıdım" (Shake).His entry into the European musical consciousness started a Turkish pop boom in Germany and Turkey in the 1990s, with his European successes signalling that the musical borders between Turkey and Europe, more specifically Germany, were dissolving. Because of his success, he became the prime example of Turkish pop obtaining an audience outside Turkey.Over the years his works have maintained their popularity, with Tarkan's 2007 studio album Metamorfoz selling over a quarter of a million copies in the first two weeks of its release on December 25, 2007.
When the Tevetoğlu family relocated to Turkey, Tarkan began to study music in Karamürsel at high school, before being accepted at the Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti Academy in Istanbul.After his family moved to Istanbul in 1988, he began to prepare for University entrance exams in 1990, but had a difficult time in Istanbul with little money, and worked in low-paying jobs including a stint as a wedding singer.Music legend has it just as he was preparing to return to Germany, he met Mehmet Söğütoğlu, chairman of the record company İstanbul Plak Produced by Söğütoğlu, his debut album Yine Sensiz (Without You Again) sold 750 thousand copies after its release in December 1992 For the album he had teamed up with then little known songwriter-composer Ozan Çolakoğlu, who later co-produced his albums. Tarkan's debut provoked mingled feelings among the Turks, but it seemed that young people in Turkish cities who were satisfying their hunger with new sounds from Westerns acts such as Michael Jackson and U2 were looking for their own home grown idol. Considered rebellious for his lyrics, his dressing style and his earrings by traditionalists made him even more attractive to the young. Although his debut album was not extraordinary when compared to other pop albums of the period, what distinguished Tarkan from the earliest days of his musical career was his unique style and image.
The success of Tarkan in the early 90s was seen by some as a sign of growing admiration for Western music, and the artist's real success came two years later. Collaborating with Turkey's "little sparrow", prominent producer and songwriter Sezen Aksu,Tarkan's highly anticipated second album Aacayipsin (Oh - You're Something Else) sold more than two million copies in Turkey and 750 thousand copies in Europe. Such high European sales were a first-time feat for a Turkish performer. Aksu wrote two songs for the album, the radio friendly "Hepsi Senin Mi?", which was later relicensed as "Şıkıdım" (Shake) for the European market, and a pop-rock number "Şeytan Azapta". "Hepsi Senin Mi?" incorporated shaky Turkish rhythms and lyrics of pure slang, and in the video to the song Tarkan slanted his body to the rhythmic melody of the song while displaying a naked chest. This was considered to be bold and daring in the newly opening but still conservative Turkish music industry.Building on his taboo-breaking and rebellious image, the video to "Şeytan Azapta" incorporated scenes from the tour that followed, where dancers would strip Tarkan naked on stage. This erotic persona was enhanced by the artist posing naked and semi-naked for the most popular Turkish magazines of the period including becoming the first male to make the front cover of the domestic edition of the Cosmopolitan (Cosmo).
In 1994 he experienced a dip in the new found celebrity status the album had generated, when he made a live broadcast gaffe on private Turkish TV channel ATV's anniversary celebration during an interview. His response when asked how he was, captured live on camera, was "Çişim var, ağabey." ("I've gotta pee, man.") He was publicly criticised for the comment and only after performing traditional songs on another TV special did he endear himself again to the nation.