Baja Mali Knindža

Baja Mali Knindža
Baja on 1999 album cover
Born	Mirko Pajčin (1966-10-13) 13 October 1966 (age 50) Gubin, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Occupation	Serbian folk singer
Years active	1989–present
Musical career
Genres	Disco Pop-folk
Instruments	Vocals

Mirko Pajčin (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирко Пајчин; born 13 October 1966), known by his stage name Baja Mali Knindža (Баја Мали Книнџа) which means "Baja Little Knin-Ninja" (referring to the nickname of the Serbian Red Berets), is a Serbian folk singer and songwriter. He is often described as part of the turbo folk scene, and is known for his Serbian nationalistic lyrics. His cousin was the pop-folk recording artist Ksenija Pajčin.

Baja Mali Knindža is not to be mistaken with Nedeljko Bajić Baja (to which he owes his nickname due to their physical resemblance), who is another Serb folk singer.

Born as Mirko Pajčin into a Bosnian Serb family in the village of Gubin, near Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His cousin Ksenija Pajčin, pop-folk recording artist, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend 16 March 2010. Later that same year Knindža released the song "Spavaj, kraljice" (Sleep, Queen) in her memory. He said that he was very "shaken" by her death.

Pajčin moved to SR Serbia in 1980, and began singing in 1984 in Surčin.

Baja won a 1989 competition for amateur singers in Livno and released his first album in 1991. His career began just as Yugoslavia was breaking up. Throughout the 1990s, he was known for his strong Serbian nationalism and nationalist songs supporting the Serbs during the Yugoslav wars. His first professional success was the song "Bpaти се Војводо" (Come Back, Voivode), in which he appealed to Serbian World War II Chetnik commander Momčilo Đujić to come back to the areas of the Croatian Krajina and help lift the spirits of the Croatian Serbs. He said that he would never consider going to Croatia because he claimed that some Croatian soldiers burned down his house and desecrated his ancestors' graves.