Hande Yener (born January 12, 1973 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish pop superstar. Over the past decade, she has introduced different styles to the ever expanding, Turkish pop music scenery. Each one of her albums have managed to generate a lot of interest as well as anticipation due to the different styles, genres and rhythms that she incorporates into her music. her controversial videos,image and great live performances. Besides the different experiments Hande tackles with music, her looks and image are also going through a constant change which arguably, blends in well with the sort of music she releases at the time. Hande was nominated for Best Turkish Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008, only to be beaten by Emre Aydın.
Hande’s debut album “Senden İbaret” (All About You) came out in 2000, with hit songs such as Yalanın Batsın and Yoksa Mani. The second release, “Sen Yoluna, Ben Yoluma” (Go To Your Way, I Will Go Mine, this album is also known as “Extra”), came out in 2001, with catchy hits such as Sen Yoluna, Ben Yoluma (Balon) and Küs.
Later she returned with “Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor” (Love Doesn’t Get Woman’s Soul) in 2004, her third album, which had six hits all-over Turkey; Acele Etme, Kırmızı, Acı Veriyor, Armağan, Hoşgeldiniz and Bu Yüzden, with radio hits such as Savaş Sonrası and Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor. “Aşk Kadın Ruhundan Anlamıyor” brought success to Yener in abroad too.
Although her previous album was a huge success, Hande decided to improve and refine her music style once more. She would then go on to incorporate a more dance-friendly Euro Pop sound, along with changing her appearance as well. She cut and dyed her black from blonde. The result was “Apayrı” (Totally Different), which came out in early 2006. Some of the hit singles that came out from “Apayrı”” included, “Kelepçe” (Handcuffs), “Aşkın Ateşi” (The Fire of Love) and “Kim Bilebilir Aşkı” (Who Can Guess What Love Is). Each of these singles featured different genres that simply wowed Turkey. “Kelepçe” had a groovy disco sound to it. “Aşkın Ateşi” was a sweet pop track and “Kim Bilebilir Aşkı” featured a Far-Eastern sound that had hints of techno felt throughout the song. It was claimed that this album sold 150,000 copies within 5 days. Other sources state that Apayrı sold 165.000 altogether in 2006.
Later on, as the popularity of “Apayrı” spread all around Turkey, Hande decided to release a maxi-single containing songs composed with her new musical style (which would be also her first maxi-single released). The result was “Hande Maxi”, which also gained popularity. “Hande Maxi” contained three new songs as well three remixes. The thrree new songs had a more trance sound in them, hinting another change in her musical style. One of the new songs, “Biraz Özgürlük” (A Little Freedom), have gained popularity.
Before the summer of 2007, Hande announced that her new album, “Nasıl Delirdim” (How I Went Mad) will soon be released. Sure enough, the album was released on May 15, 2007. The album included numerous tracks written and composed by,Sezen Aksu herself. The first single featured was called, “Kibir” (Arrogance). It featured a video clip that became an instant hit which had its electro dance dance beats placing a spell on Turkey. The song was predicted to be the summer hit of 2007 and sure enough, it became just that. The album was released with 72,000 copies and four different covers which included 3-dimensional artworks. The copies released later fashioned only one of these four covers. The album made headlines for both its musical genre and for having Hande contributing much to it by writing some of the lyrics that appear in the album. The album featured tracks that were mostly electronic-dance (similar to the new songs from “Hande Maxi”), erasing out the genres Hande has been generally known to sing when she first started off as an artist. The theme of the album was mostly about a woman’s worries about relationships dealing with about paranoia, letting go, being sad or mad and selfishness. The second single was almost obvious when the first single came out. It was called, “Romeo” and the seriously ‘loving’ lyrics were co-written by Hande Yener, dedicated to her boyfrined. The promotional video for the song got mixed reviews, mostly because of the weird appearance by her boyfriend but nevertheless, it was still above the standards of the Turkish music video industry. The third video was released in January of 2008 and it is also another track that is written by Sezen Aksu. The song is called, “Yalan Olmasın” (Without a Lie) and it later too become a hit. With her new electronic-sound and stage performances which came with this album, she’s called “Turkish Madonna” by media and listeners.
In April 2008, it was announced that Hande has finished working on her new studio album. The album, “Hipnoz” (Hypnosis), has been released in July 2008, while the title track served as the lead song.
Her latest album, “Hayrola ?”, came out on April 6, 2009. The album contains 10 tracks - mainly up-tempo / disco pop. Hayrola is the follow up to “Hipnoz” but this time even more rhythmic and with a significantly more daring style than it’s predecessor. The first single released from the album was the title track “hayrola” which translates into “what’s the matter?”. The album deals with subjects like women breaking down taboos and traditional values, the inabilty to embrace different lifestyles and the complex mechanisms of attraction. This time Hande has worked with electronic composer Erol Temizel, and 9 of the songs have lyrics written by Hande Yener herself (“Siz” was written by “rocker” Aylin Aslım) and “Hayrola?” is recorded in UK.
The album is absolutely recommended for dancing the night away. A fresh breath if you are getting a little bored with the usual euro-dance or just need some ethnic variety in electronic music.
