Timur Ildarovich Yunusov (born August 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Timati (Russian: Ти́мати), is a Russian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur.

Timati
Тимати
Timati in 2018
Timati in 2018
Background information
Birth nameTimur Ildarovich Yunusov
Born (1983-08-15) August 15, 1983 (age 40)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • actor
  • entrepreneur
Labels
  • Timati (since 2020)
  • Black Star Group (2006–2020)
  • SBA Production/Gala Records (2004–2013)

Biography edit

Early life edit

Timur Ildarovich Yunusov (Tatar: Тимур Илдар улы Юнусов, romanized: Timur Ildar Uly Yunisov, Russian: Тиму́р Ильда́рович Юну́сов) was born on August 15, 1983, in Moscow to an ethnically mixed family[1] of Tatar father Ildar Vakhitovich Yunusov and Jewish mother Simona Yakovlevna Yunusova (née Chernomorskaya); he also has a younger brother, Artyom. He grew up in a wealthy industrialist family, saying "I have very wealthy parents", but "I was never spoiled."[2][3]

He was raised mainly on Mira Avenue in Moscow. His current stage name "Timati" has stuck with him since he was young.[4] Yunusov also lived in Los Angeles for 3 years. At the urgent request of his grandfather, composer and conductor Yakov Chervomorsky, Timur graduated from violin class in music school.[5] He studied at the Higher School of Economics, and finished his third year, but left to focus on his music career. He later became associated with the YPS squad. His first single came out with Konaldo.

Career edit

 
Timati and Vladimir Putin

He became well known to the Russian community from the music reality show Star Factory 4, but before it he collaborated with Detsl. Member of the group Banda (Russian: Банда; lit. "Gang") and co-founder of VIP 77. Former owner of B-Club nightclub, the bar Black October and the stores Ё-Life. He is the CEO of his label called "Black Star Inc". In 2006, was featured in Heat produced by Fyodor Bondarchuk. In 2008, Timati was featured in a Fat Joe song called "Put U Take It", also featuring German rapper Nox and Raul, produced by Scott Storch, referencing Jacob Arabo. In 2008 Mario Winans featured Timati in the single "Forever". In the same year, Timati appeared in the comedy film Hitler goes Kaput!. Timati, in 2009, featured Snoop Dogg in the single "Groove On" although some make unverified claims that Snoop Dogg (and also Busta Rhymes) was simply paid for the collaboration.[3]

Michael 'Mike' David is currently Timati's UK producer. He is responsible for Timati's collaborations with foreign artists, such as Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Mario Winans, and much of Timati's popularity in the Western world.

In summer 2011, he topped the charts in Luxembourg, Poland, and Romania with the single "Welcome to St. Tropez" vs. DJ Antoine and feat. Kalenna Harper from Diddy – Dirty Money, shortly after being nominated for the best clip in Russia's Capital Moscow with "I'm on You" feat. P Diddy. The clip was created by Timati's old friend and partner, Pavel Hoodyakov, in the U.S.

In 2016, Timati gave his biggest solo performance in the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. The concert was attended by 15,000 people and featured a 3D installation, a car on stage and other spectacular show elements.[6]

On the night of June 21, 2018 Timati and Egor Kreed held an unauthorized mass event in Moscow on Bolshaya Dmitrovka by staging an impromptu performance right on the roof of a car, which caused a major traffic jam on the street.[7] This action was devoted to the opening of Timati's beauty salon. The next day, lawyer Alexander Khaminsky filed an application to initiate a case on this incident in the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tver and the Moscow State Traffic Safety Inspectorate.[8][9][10] The court was appointed on August 1, 2018.[11]

In 2021, Timati's music video ''Scandal'' featuring Hanza and Oweek received a nomination at the Berlin Music Video Awards for Best Visual Effects. The VFX company behind the music video is HoodyFX.[12]

Friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov edit

Timati calls the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov a friend and brother.[13][verification needed] In 2017, Timati shared an Instagram post of himself posing in Kadyrov's private jet.[14] When anti-corruption activists highlighted this, Timati removed the Instagram post.[14]

Support for Vladimir Putin edit

He participated in a political video to support Vladimir Putin during the 2012 Russian presidential election.[15] During the 2018 Russian presidential election, he endorsed and was an official supporter of Vladimir Putin.[16]

During the repression of candidates for the election of the Moscow State Duma, police brutality was used to hold back protestors and Timati collaborated with another rapper "Guf" to make "Москва" (Moscow), a song including the chorus "my best friend is President Putin", dissing the protesters and Russian opposition movement while praising the mayor of Moscow, the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin and the video amassed 1.48 million dislikes on YouTube, the highest amount for a Russian video on YouTube before Russian rapper MORGENSHTERN broke the record for a music video for song "Pososi". Later, Timati deleted the "Moscow" video due to a "wave of negativity".[17][18][19][20][3][21][22][23][24]

On 18 March 2022, Timati sang at Vladimir Putin's Moscow rally, celebrating the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation from Ukraine and justifying the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[25]

AliExpress Scandal edit

On Timati's merchandise store, Black Star Wear, Timati collaborated with the Russian Army with military-style clothes but users found nearly identical clothing being sold on Chinese online marketplace AliExpress being rebranded and price gouged on Black Star Wear. Similarly, the wireless earphones also sold on Black Star Wear that were branded as "unique" also were traced back to near identical AliExpress counterparts. Timati then did a brand deal with AliExpress, making a short rap video promoting AliExpress, praising AliExpress for delivery speed and good deals on the website.[26][27][28][29][30]

Books edit

  • 2008 – "The Moor"[31] – producer books
  • 2009 – "Audio of Audi. History of the brand"[32][33] – Executive audiobooks
  • 2010 – "Tatar folk tales" – Executive audiobooks
  • 2012 – "A boy of twelve. Tatar folk tale" – Executive audiobooks
  • 2012 − "A white serpent. Tatar folk tales" − Executive audiobooks
  • 2012 − "Kamyr-Batyr. Tatar folk tales" − Executive audiobooks

Business edit

Timati has several successful businesses including:

Concert tours edit

  • 2009–2010 – The Boss Tour
  • 2011 – Carrera Tour 2011 [30]
  • 2015 – GTO (with L'One)
  • 2016 – Olimp tour

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

Collaboration albums edit

  • Noviye Lyudi (New People) (2004) – with Banda
  • The Album (2006) – with VIP77

Singles edit

As lead artist edit

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
AUT
[39]
BEL
[39]
FRA
[40]
GER
[41]
NED
[42]
SPA
[43]
SWI
[44]
"Groove On"
(featuring Snoop Dogg)
2009 21 62 88 The Boss
"Welcome to St. Tropez"
(featuring Blue Marine)
2010 45
"Welcome to St. Tropez"
(DJ Antoine vs. Timati featuring Kalenna)
2011 4 9 7 3 7 16 2 2011
"I'm on You"
(featuring P. Diddy, Dirty Money and DJ Antoine)
2012 50 62 SWAGG
"Not All About The Money"
(with La La Land featuring Timbaland and Grooya)
32 29 7
"Sex in the Bathroom"
(featuring Craig David)
"London"
(with DJ Antoine featuring Grigory Leps)
2016
"El Problemá"
(with Morgenshtern)
2020
Others
  • Forever
  • Love You
  • Money in the Bank
  • Top of the World
  • Not All About The Money

As featured artist edit

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
US
"Lazerboy"
(Sergey Lazarev featuring Timati)
2008 Electric Touch
"Фокусы"
(DJ Smash featuring Timati)
2011 Twenty Three
"Moscow to California"[45]
(DJ M.E.G. featuring Sergey Lazarev and Timati)
2012 Lazarev.
"8 Days a Week"
(Jean-Roch featuring Timati)
Music Saved My Life
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards edit

Berlin Music Video Awards edit

  • Best Visual Effect ''Scandal'' - 2021 (nominated)

MTV Russian Music Awards edit

  • Best Hip-Hop Artist – 2007 (nominated)
  • Best Hip-Hop Artist – 2008 (nominated)
  • Best Artist – 2008 (nominated)
  • Best Male Act – 2008 (nominated)

MUZ-TV Awards edit

  • Best Hip-Hop Artist – 2009 (nominated)
  • Best Hip-Hop Artist – 2010 (won)
  • Best Album "The Boss" – 2010 (won)
  • Best Video "Love You" – 2010 (won)
  • Best Video "I'm on You" – 2011 (won)

MTV Europe Music Awards edit

  • Best Russian Act – 2009 (nominated)
  • Best Russian Act – 2010 (nominated)
  • Best Russian Act – 2011 (nominated)

Golden Gramophone Award edit

  • Award winner for the "I love you..." song – 2008
  • Award winner for the "Moscow Never Sleeps..." song − 2009
  • Award winner for the "London" song (together with Grigory Leps) − 2013

Night Life Awards edit

  • Best club hit – 2003
  • Best club figure of the year − 2007

World Fashion Awards edit

  • Best R'n'B artist – 2007
  • Fashion R'n'B project − 2008

Other awards edit

  • 2008 − MTV RMA Award (Best club project for the Black Star Club)
  • 2009 − In Da Awards (Best album according to Indarnb.ru)
  • 2010 − Love Radio Awards (Best artist according to Love Radio)
  • 2010 − "Trud" newspaper award - (Best-looking man)
  • 2014 − World Music Awards (Best Russian Artist and Best RnB Artist of Russia)

Other achievements edit

His 2019 pro-Kremlin and anti-gay music video "Moscow" became the most disliked Russian video on YouTube, with 1.48 million dislikes before it was removed from YouTube.[46]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he argued in favor of the Russian attack.[47]

Filmography edit

  • 2004 − Countdown
  • 2006 − Heat
  • 2008 − Albania!
  • 2008 − Monday Twist
  • 2008 − Daddy's Daughters
  • 2008 − Hitler Goes Kaput!
  • 2009 − Little Red Riding Hood
  • 2010 − How the Cossacks...
  • 2012 − My path to success (a videoseminar)
  • 2013 − Odnoklassniki.ru
  • 2014 - Capsule
  • 2015 − Zero
  • 2016 − Russian Hip Hop Beef
  • 2019 − Hot!
  • 2019 − Mafia
  • 2020 − Mafia 2

Translation dubbing:

Personal life edit

Timati was in a relationship with Alexa – his colleague from the “Fabrika Zvyozd” – a popular Russian television talent show. The pair split up in 2007.

He was also in a relationship with model Alena Shishkova. They share a daughter named Alisa (born 19 March 2014).

Since 2015, Timati has been dating Russian model Anastasia Reshetova. On October 16, 2019, the couple had a son, named Ratmir.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Kamenev, Marina (January 18, 2008). "The word on the street Archived September 18, 2012, at archive.today". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  2. ^ Timati: I'm totally unique! December 25, 2006
  3. ^ a b c d Timati: The WORST Russian Rapper, archived from the original on December 14, 2021, retrieved April 25, 2021
  4. ^ Redeeva, Elena (December 25, 2006). "Тимати: Я совершенно уникален!" (in Russian). Moskovskij Komsomolets. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  5. ^ Gasparyan, Artur (November 18, 2009). "Тимати: понты юция[permanent dead link]" (in Russian). Moskovskij Komsomolets.
  6. ^ "Тимати покорил главный Олимп страны - Музыка Первого". www.muz1.tv.
  7. ^ Алексеева Руслана (July 21, 2018). "После бессовестной выходки Тимати грозит арест". Дни.ру. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  8. ^ "На Тимати и Крида завели дело за пробку в центре Москвы". Московский комсомолец. July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  9. ^ Береснев Вячеслав (July 20, 2018). "Тимати и Егору Криду грозит арест". Ура.ру. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  10. ^ Еленин Семён (July 13, 2018). "Тимати и Егора Крида, станцевавших на крыше внедорожника в Москве, могут арестовать на 15 суток". Комсомольская правда. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  11. ^ "Искусство или хулиганство? Творчество Тимати и Егора Крида оценит полиция". Вести.ру. July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  12. ^ Berlin Music Video Awards (April 30, 2021). "2021 Nominees". www.berlinmva.com.
  13. ^ "Звездный скандал: за Тимати вступился Кадыров, за Билана - Басков". vesti.ru (in Russian). November 11, 2014. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Rothrock, Kevin (March 8, 2017). "Opulence, Chechnya's Ruler Has It". The Moscow Times. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  15. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Тимати: Я голосую за Путина". YouTube.
  16. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Путин - о Тимати". YouTube.
  17. ^ "Pro-Putin rapper sets record for unpopularity on Russian YouTube". the Guardian. September 10, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  18. ^ Саша Чест feat. Тимати - Лучший друг (Премьера клипа, 2015), archived from the original on December 14, 2021, retrieved April 25, 2021
  19. ^ "Timati - Лучший друг (Lučšij drug) lyrics + English translation". lyricstranslate.com. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  20. ^ "Pro-Putin Rapper Pulls YouTube Video After Backlash". The Hollywood Reporter. September 13, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  21. ^ "Moscow rap becomes most-disliked Russian YouTube video". BBC News. September 10, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  22. ^ Times, The Moscow (September 9, 2019). "Pro-Government Rap Video Smashes Russian YouTube Record With 1M Dislikes". The Moscow Times. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  23. ^ САМОЕ ХУДШЕЕ ВИДЕО НА РУССКОМ ЮТУБЕ (Тимати, Гуф, Москва), archived from the original on December 14, 2021, retrieved April 25, 2021
  24. ^ "Новое самое дизлайкнутое видео на российском ютьюбе — последний клип Моргенштерна". Афиша. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  25. ^ "По приколу пошли, не всерьез". Meduza (in Russian). March 18, 2022.
  26. ^ Guzeva, Alexandra (July 12, 2019). "Who is Timati, the Russian rapper behind Black Star Burger's global ambitions?". www.rbth.com. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  27. ^ Щербаков, Александр (March 21, 2019). "На AliExpress нашли наушники "от Тимати". Цена удивляет". hi-tech.mail.ru. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  28. ^ "Пользователи Сети уличили Тимати в подделке наушников с AliExpress". teleprogramma.pro (in Russian). March 22, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  29. ^ "Тимати выпустил наушники за 7000 рублей. На AliExpress такие стоят 2000". iguides.ru/. March 21, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  30. ^ "Тимати уличили в подделке наушников с AliExpress и продаже втрое дороже". point.md (in Russian). Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  31. ^ "Тимати сыграет в кино Мавра". Кино Mail.ru. September 1, 2008.
  32. ^ "На книжной ярмарке в Москве Audi представит аудиокнигу". 5koleso.ru. July 13, 2009.
  33. ^ "Audi выпустила аудиокнигу про Audi". 5koleso.ru. September 30, 2009.
  34. ^ "Black Star Burger LA". Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  35. ^ "Who is Timati, the Russian rapper behind Black Star Burger's global ambitions?". www.rbth.com. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  36. ^ Putin-Fan und Rapper Timati eröffnet erste Caféfiliale in Moskau, Spiegel Online, (in German), August 19, 2022
  37. ^ "L'One: "Не знаю, можно ли об этом говорить — пишем альбом с Тимати" | RAP.RU". www.rap.ru.
  38. ^ "Тимати выпустит новый альбом под названием "Олимп" | RAP.RU". www.rap.ru.
  39. ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "DJ Antoine vs. Timati feat. Kalenna - Welcome To St. Tropez". austriancharts.at.
  40. ^ "lescharts.com - DJ Antoine vs. Timati feat. Kalenna - Welcome To St. Tropez". lescharts.com.
  41. ^ sds
  42. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Timati feat. Snoop Dogg - Groove On". hitparade.ch.
  43. ^ "Timati – Welcome To St. Tropez". αCharts. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  44. ^ "DJ Antoine vs. Timati feat. Kalenna - Welcome To St. Tropez - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch.
  45. ^ "DJ M.E.G. ft. Ñåðãåé Ëàçàðåâ & Òèìàòè "Moscow to California"". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  46. ^ "Everyone hates this Russian rapper’s pro-Putin music video", Daily Dot, 17 September 2019
  47. ^ "What Russian Rap Can Teach Us About Russian (Anti-)War Discourse", Jordan Russia Center, 17 May 2022

External links edit