Melinda Ademi

Melinda Ademi, known simply as Melinda, is a Kosovar-American rapper and singer who raps and sings mostly in Albanian. She was born on 19 November 1995 in Mitrovica, Kosovo, into an Albanian family, and that is why she is on Muzika-Balkan under Kosovo. When she was a child the family left Kosovo as refugees during the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War and settled in Yonkers, New York, where she grew up.

Her first steps were on American television. In 2011 she took part in the talent show American Idol, and two years later she came back to the same contest and reached the semi-finals. In 2015 she released her first single, "Purr".

The breakthrough came in 2018 with "Lulija", recorded with Seven Saraqi, which made her name across the Albanian-speaking world. From then on she released a steady run of singles, among them "Palo", "Karma", "Çifteli" (named after the two-stringed Albanian folk instrument) and "Pika Pika". "Pika Pika", "Melodia" and "Milano", the last with Finem, all reached number one on the Albanian chart, and "Mekatare" went to number two.

Melinda often works with other artists from Kosovo and Albania. She sang "X5" with Gjiko, "Ay Caramba" with Nora Istrefi and Gjiko, and "A m'ke dasht" with Ledri Vula, and later songs with Bardhi, Skerdi and Rina. In 2026 she released her album Bad Diva, with songs such as "Xhiro" with Elinel, "Ça mbone" with Ronela Hajati and "Okej Okej" with Gjesko.

Her music mixes rap with pop and R&B. The playlist gathers her videos, from the hits that made her known to the songs from Bad Diva.