Robert Šoko (pronounced Robert Shoko) is a DJ and party organiser from Berlin. Originally from Bosnia, he emigrated to Western Europe at the beginning of the 1990s and after a brief stay in Rotterdam, ended up in Berlin. After working several years as a construction worker and taxi driver, he became a DJ by coincidence. He also spent a number of years as an announcer and presenter for Deutsche Welle radio and TV.Robert Soko began his career as a DJ in the Kreuzberg club Arcanoa in 1993. His idea was to organise parties in Berlin for the multitude of his countrymen from the former Yugoslavia. At the time, these events still had no name in common. Soko played rock, punk and pop hits from his homeland, calling it all Culture Recycling. Eventually, the newly emerging ethno sound of Goran Bregovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia and the like arrived on the scene and the parties became increasingly popular. Around the turn of the century, Soko came up with the term BalkanBeats and from then on named his parties and music style so. BalkanBeats is now a genre in its own right and much to Robert Soko’s delight, has become established worldwide as both a term and style of music.
In his eclectic DJ sets, Robert Soko plays with music from the Balkans and all of Eastern Europe, but also goes way beyond that. Roma music, Arabic tunes, wild brass sounds and world grooves meet electro, ska and dancefloor beats, with a resulting sound that couldn’t be sexier or more danceable.
In the meantime, Robert Soko is in high demand as a DJ at BalkanBeats parties worldwide. He makes regular appearances in Berlin, Paris, London and a number of other cities around the globe.
Robert Soko has also mixed and put together the following compilations: BalkanBeats Vol. 1 (2005), Vol. 2 (2006), Vol. 3 (2008), Balkan Brass Noir (2007), Balkan Beats a Night in Berlin (2009) and Balkan Beats Soundlab (2012).
Most recently, Robert Soko has performed as a member and DJ of the Berliner band Berlinski Beat.
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