Lola

Lola

Published: October 21, 2016

Lola Yo’ldosheva (or Лола Юлдашева; and she often uses the Roman transliteration of this name, Lola Yuldasheva, rather than the Uzbek spelling) is an Uzbek pop singer, actress, and songwriter. She usually goes by her stage name, simply Lola. She sings most often in Uzbek, but sometimes in Russian as well.

Lola was born in 1985 in Tashkent. She started singing young, and she gives some credit to her parents for supporting her. She performed her first concert when she was only 11. She didn’t take a straightforward path to show business, though, studying business and law in London, Moscow, and Tashkent even as she began to draw notice as a singer.

She began her rise to fame in the early 2000s, when she several popular songs in Russian under the stage name Maya. For one of them, “Maybe” (“Netayin”), she won the Song of the Year award. She began to turn back toward Uzbekistan in 2003, when she played a role in the Uzbek film Sevinch, alongside fellow Uzbek pop singer Shahzoda. Her Uzbek singing career also picked up then, as she found a hit with her 2003 song “My Love” (“Muhabbatim”). She racked up several prizes in 2004 and 2005 at the Tarona music awards, and in 2005 was awarded the Uzbek state prize Nikhol. She also acted in several more films in those years.

Lola took a long break from show business to focus on her family after that, but she returned to the public eye in 2011. She released several additional new albums, including For You (Senga), named after the concert tour she performed after her return to show business. She also acted in a number of new films, including Interesting Dreams (G’aroyib orzular), a musical in which she played herself.

But her return to glory was tempered by scandal: in 2015 her license to perform concerts in Uzbekistan was revoked by the agency Uzbeknavo (though they returned it after about six months). The reason for the trouble was that in a 2015 performance she wore a dress that the authorities considered too revealing—it showed most of her back—and for recording a music video with singer Rayhon that was considered to have lesbian overtones, both of which were violations of the national spirit of Uzbekistan. Lola has said that she does not regret wearing the dress and defends her choice to this day. She also says that the duet with Rayhon was a “song about love, about fear, about female solidarity. I wrote it for myself” (Redpen.uz).

These days, Lola is working with UNICEF, fighting for the rights of children in Uzbekistan. She is also planning a new album.

Find Lola Yuladasheva on Amazon

 

“Miss” (“Sog’indim)”:

 

Lyrics for “Sog’indim”:

Sen bergan sof mehringni,
Sening aytgan shirin soʻzlaringni
Sogʻindim.
Sen bilan oʻtkazgan damlar,
Oʻsha shirin orzularni, jonim,
Sog’indim.

Jonim, sogʻindim yomon-yomon,
Qalbimda armon, armon, armon,
Qaydasan? Qachon? Qachon? Qachon?
Sogʻindim yomon-yomon! (2x)
Sogʻindim yomon.

Hamon yodimdan ketmaydi,
Oʻylasam yurak yigʻlaydi,
Jonim, sogʻindim.
Qaniydi boʻlsam sehrgar,
Vaqtni qaytara olsam gar
Sendan kechmasdan, bir zum.

Jonim, sogʻindim yomon-yomon,
Qalbimda armon, armon, armon,
Qaydasan? Qachon? Qachon? Qachon?
Sogʻindim yomon-yomon! (3x)
Sogʻindim yomon.

 

“Find Out” (“Xabar ol”):

 

Lyrics for “Xabar ol”:

Dardu dard ezar, dardimni kim sezar?
Kecholmadim seni sevib-sevib.
Seni ko`rgim kelar, yana sevgim kelar,
Muhabbating, jonim, sezib-sezib.

O xayol, nelarni o`ylaysan?
Xabar ol, xabar ol mani dardu holimdan,
Xabar ol, xabar ol mani xasta dilimdan.
Nazar sol, nazar sol, mani asta yo`limga,
Xabar ol, sog`inchim “yana kelgin”, deydi,
Meni sevgin, deydi.

Qanchalar yondi yuraklar,
Seni sevib menday, xuddi menday.
Lek yana qayta yuragingda bo`lgim kelar.

Dardu dard ezar, dardim yana qiynar,
Unutolmay seni sevib-sevib.
Sendan baxt kutaverdim, mehring sezolmadim,
Balki ko`nglingni topa olmadim?

Xabar ol, xabar ol mani dardu holimdan,
Xabar ol, xabar ol mani xasta dilimdan.
Nazar sol, nazar sol, mani asta yo`limga,
Xabar ol, sog`inchim “yana kelgin”, deydi.

O xayol, shirinsan, shirinsan … Xabar ol …

Xabar ol, xabar ol mani dardu holimdan,

Xabar ol, xabar ol mani xasta dilimdan.
Nazar sol, nazar sol, mani asta yo`limga,
Xabar ol, sog`inchim “yana kelgin”, deydi,
Meni sevgin, deydi.

 

Find Lola Yuladasheva on Amazon

About the author

Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

View all posts by: Julie Hersh