Selahattin Özdemir

Selahattin Özdemir — Biography

Selahattin Özdemir was an arabesque singer, lyricist and composer remembered for a voice full of rebellion and sorrow; fans called him "Selo Baba". His bleak songs of youth found a new audience online long after the fact: the depressive mood of those songs became the subject of a sketch bearing his name on the Deep Turkish Web channel, which reached 12 million views by 2025.

Born in Adana, he first worked as a lathe operator. Hearing Orhan Gencebay records played by his elder brother shaped his taste, and with another brother's help he learned the darbuka and began singing at weddings. His first album, Umut Sandalı, came out in 1986 (some sources place his debut in 1982), and further albums followed in quick succession. His 1996 release Şimdi Yanımda Olacaktın drew wide attention. He spent many years working in Istanbul and founded the company Sözdemir Müzik. In 1992 he turned toward spirituality, and songs of love and faith replaced the rebellious ones; an "English arabesque" project he later floated attracted little interest.

He voiced regret over four songs from his youth, Yanlış Yerde Doğmuşum, Yaşamam Artık, Esrar Perdesi and Hem Yaratıyorsun Hem Unutuyorsun, and applied to the Adana State Security Court to have them removed from cassettes and kept off the radio. His last song, Yalnızlar Kralı, was released on YouTube. Working as a businessman in Mersin, Özdemir died there of a heart attack on 27 August 2019, aged 56, and was buried at Menteş Cemetery in Yenişehir.