Alexandru Ionuț Velea (Romanian pronunciation:[alekˈsandruioˈnutsveˈlea]; born 13 May 1984) is a Romanian singer, songwriter, television personality and actor from Craiova. Velea is a two-time recipient of the Romanian Music Awards "Best Pop Artist" prize and a one-time nominee at the MTV Europe Music Awards for the Best Romanian Act. He is one of the most iconic figures in the Romanian music industry, having released more than forty single hits and collaborating in more than fifty songs as a featured artist alongside various other notable artists such as Smiley, Connect-R, Puya, Grasu XXL and Anda Adam.[1]
He began his career as the winner of the 2003 edition of the Star Factory competition. Between August and December 2018, Velea worked as the co-host of the Romanian talk-show Acces direct alongside Simona Gherghe.[2]
Early life
Velea was born on May 13, 1984, in Craiova, Romania. He discovered his passion for music from an early age, starting to sing at the age of nine. At the age of eleven, he became a student at his hometown's Children's Palace. At the age of sixteen, he began to study classic canto for a total of four years. He is of Roma ethnicity.[3]
Musical career
Pop/HipHop career
Velea (far right) during a concert at Timișoara in May 2009.
A collaboration with Anda Adam followed for her second solo album, Confidential (2005). The song, entitled "Ce ti-aș face/Selecta (What I'd do to you/Selecta)" (2005) earned great success in Romania, being broadcast often on music stations. His debut album, entitled Yamasha,[a] was released in the fall of 2006. For this album, Alex collaborated with Smiley, Puya, Marius Moga, Connect-R, Matteo and Don Baxter. Four songs were promoted from the album: "Yamasha" (2006), "Dragoste la prima videre" (Love at first sight) (feat. Connect-R) (2006), "Când sunt cu tine" (When I'm with you) (feat. Mandinga) (2006) and "Doamna mea" (My lady) (2006). Yamasha brought him nominalizations at the "Best show", "Best male singer" and "Best new artist" categories at the 2007 edition of the Romanian Music Awards.[6]
In 2009, Velea released the songs "Doar ea" (Only her) and "Secret (discret)". In the same year, he joined the production team of the musical group Radio Killer, under the stage name "Crocodealer", sharing the nickname of one of the "seven killers" with his group mates.[7]
He also released the song named "Don't say it's over" which became the hit of year 2010, and whose video presented a choreography which generated one of the biggest flashmobs in Romania. It took place in Bucharest's Constitution Square, in June the same year.[8]
These songs reveal the real me to the public... This is me... I tried to write down my thoughts, feelings and experiences...'Yamasha' represents myself.
Velea on his song "Yamasha" album released in 2006.
In September 2011, he released the song "Whisper". 2012 is the year he has made a strong return to the Romanian music scene after a several year break. At the beginning of April, Velea released the song "Când noaptea vine" (When the night comes) which was widely received by the public. In June 2012, during the Romanian Music Awards event, he released a new hit, "Minim doi" (Minimun two). The song managed to collect millions of views on YouTube in a few days time. Shortly after, he released the music video for the song, a clip shot in Ferentari, a marginalized neighborhood of Bucharest. Also in June 2012, he won the award for "Best Pop" artist at the Romanian Music Awards. The song topped the Romanian music charts, occupying the fourth position in the top 10, and the 33rd position in Bulgarian charts.[9]
In 2013 he released the songs "E Marfă Tare" (It's cool stuff) and the continuation of the song in a collaboration with Pacha Man"Aia E (That's it)".
In 2019, together with Lino Golden, Mario Fresh and Rashid, Velea founded the band Golden Gang (which later became a label itself), with which they released their first album "10 out of 10" the same year.[10]
New musical styles
Following a challenge received in a creative training camp in Borșa, the artist composed, in just one hour, a manele song with electrifying lyrics named "Dau moda (I start the fashion)" (2020) whose lyrics start as: "Gucci, Gucci, Balenciaga/I'll buy you designer clothes, but you I want in a thong".[11] Being surprised by the audience's reaction and listening to the fans' requests, he later released the official version of the song as a featuring hit alongside fellow singers Jador and Lino Golden. It became an immediate success, despite being released amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming top trending on YouTube in that respective year, and collecting a total of 90 million views on the social platform.[12]
Encouraged by the success of the first song, Velea and Jador, release their second manea song, "Arde-mă, baby" (Burn me, baby) (2020), which also became an instant success and made it to the first place into the top trending songs on YouTube in less than a week from its release date. The song collected over 40 million views.[13]
Other media
Filmography
In 2009, Velea made his videography debut on the big screens, with the "Un film simplu (A Simple Movie)" (2008) pelicule directed by Tom Gatsoulis, where he played a negative role of himself alongside Simplu band members and various other notable autochthon actors.[14] He starred in several more pelicules such as Nașa (The Godmother) (2011),[15]Selfie (2014),[16]Zăpadă, Ceai și Dragoste (Snow, Tea and Love) (2021),[17] and Băieți deștepți (Wise guys) (2023).[18] He most recently played the role of "Bujor" in the 2023 picture "Tigru" (Tiger) alongside Paul Ipate and others.[19]
Reality shows
In 2007, Velea participated in the Dansez pentru tine show contest where he teamed up with his dance partner Cristina Stoicescu, fighting for a noble cause, and trying to help raise money for Stoicescu's ill husband. The team finished on the first place and obtained enough funds to financially sustain Stoicescu's family.[20]
The Romanian Music Awards is a yearly major Romanian musical event, awarding the best artists in Romania's music scene. Velea was nominated a total of eight times at five different categories and has won a total of two awards.
Velea was married to his first wife, Ana Maria between 2010 and 2014.[128] He is currently engaged to fellow singer Antonia Iacobescu since 2021. The couple have two sons, Dominic (born 2014) and Akim (born 2016).[129]
Notes
^A romanian slang for "take me like this" (Ia-mă așa).
