Nicolae Guță (Romanian pronunciation: , born Nicolae Linguraru on December 19, 1967 in Aninoasa, Romania is a Romani manele singer.

Musical career

Guță started as a singer and accordionist in the late 1980s, singing the lăutărească music. He released his debut album in 1992. Two years later, he released his first mainstream hit – "De când te iubesc pe tine" (Romanian: "Since I've Been Loving You"), featured on his second long-play record. His first album for a foreign audience was released in France, in 1996; while Romanian musical critics hardly had any reaction towards his music, the journalists abroad would show their appreciation and dub his music a very modern fashion of Gypsy jazz (including electric guitars and synthesizers).

However, starting around 1998 Guță developed a growing interest in manele music, a fast-paced subgenre of Balkans folk music somewhat resembling to Arab pop. Guță had an important role in the advancement of manele (which were a fairly new musical trend at that time) and brought in influences from Western pop and hip hop music. Some of his songs are: "Aş renunţa", "Am greșit și eu", "Dacă vrei", and "Doar tu". In 2007, Guță released a cover version of Hari Mata Hari's "Lejla", the third-placed entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, renaming it "Cine ești?" (Who Are You?).

References ^ Keefner, Kurt. The Greatest Living Gypsy Voice, allmusic.com (retrieved May 5, 2010) ^ The Greatest Living Gypsy Voice, cdroots.com (retrieved May 5, 2010) v t e Manele Related genres Arabesk Chalga Čalgija Laïko Rebetiko Sevdalinka Tallava Turbo-folk Artists Classical manele Acustic (fmr. Albatros) Aurel Gore Azur Gabi Luncă Generic Miracol C Odeon Romica Puceanu Victor Gore Zorile Modern manele Adrian Minune Alessio Asu BoDo Carmen Șerban Claudia Costi Ioniță Cristian Rizescu Dan Armeanca DeMarco DeSanto Denisa Florin Salam Liviu Guță Mr. Juve Nek Nicolae Guță Șușanu Vali Vijelie