Timur Ildarovich Yunusov (born August 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Timati (russian: link=no, Ти́мати), is a Russian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur.

Biography

Early life

Timur Ildarovich Yunusov ( tt-Cyrl, Тимур Илдар улы Юнусов, russian: link=no, Тиму́р Ильда́рович Юну́сов) was born on August 15, 1983, in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to an ethnically mixed familyKamenev, Marina (January 18, 2008).
The word on the street
". '' The St. Petersburg Times''. Retrieved 2009-06-14. of

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

father Ildar Vakhitovich Yunusov and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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." He was raised mainly on

Mira Avenue Prospect Mira (russian: Проспект Мира, "Avenue of Peace") is a major arterial avenue in the north-east of Moscow. Until 1957, different sections of the avenue were named 1st Meschanskaya Street, Trinity Highway, Great Alekseevskaya Str ...

in Moscow. His current stage name "Timati" has stuck with him since he was young.Redeeva, Elena (December 25, 2006).
Тимати: Я совершенно уникален!
(in Russian). '' Moskovskij Komsomolets''. Retrieved 2009-06-14. Yunusov also lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

for 3 years. At the urgent request of his grandfather, composer and conductor Yakov Chervomorsky, Timur graduated from violin class in music school. He studied at the Higher School of Economics, 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

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: link=no, 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 own label called "Black Star Inc". In 2006, was featured in ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

'' produced by

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk (russian: link=no, Фёдор Сергеевич Бондарчук ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, TV and film producer, clipmaker, TV host, founder of production company Art Pictures Studio. ...

. In 2008, Timati was featured in a

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

song called "Put U Take It", also featuring German rapper Nox and Raul, produced by

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Phi ...

, which references

Jacob Arabo Jacob Arabo (born Yakov Arabov or Jacob Arabov on June 3, 1965; also frequently known as "Jacob the Jeweler") is an American jewelry and watch designer who founded Jacob & Company in 1986 and grew it to become an international luxury brand. He be ...

. 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 Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

in the single "Groove On" although some make unverified claims that Snoop Dogg (and also

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

) was simply paid for the collaboration. Michael 'Mike' David is currently Timati's UK producer. He is responsible for Timati's collaborations with foreign artists, such as Snoop Dogg,

, and Mario Winans, and much of Timati's popularity in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

. 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 to date in the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in Moscow. The concert was attended by 15,000 people and featured a 3D-installation, a car on stage and other spectacular show elements. 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. 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. The court was appointed on August 1, 2018. 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.

Friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov

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

Support for Vladimir Putin

He participated in a political video to support

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

during the 2012 Russian presidential election. During the 2018 Russian presidential election, he endorsed and was an official supporter of

. During the repression of candidates for the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

of the Moscow State Duma,

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to ...

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 The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

, and

and the video amassed 1.48 million dislikes on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, the highest amount for a Russian video on YouTube before Russian rapper MORGENSHTERN broke the record for a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for song "

Pososi "Pososi" (russian: Пососи, en, link=no, Suck it, stylized in all caps) is a song by Russian rapper Morgenshtern released by Zhara Music on June 5, 2020. A Russian hip hop song, it was written by Morgenshtern and its producer Slava Marlow. ...

". Later, Timati deleted the "Moscow" video due to a "wave of negativity". On 18 March 2022, Timati sang at

's Moscow rally celebrating the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv t ...

from Ukraine and justifying the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

AliExpress Scandal

On Timati's merchandise store, Black Star Wear, Timati collaborated with the Russian Army with military-style clothes but users found near identical clothing being sold on Chinese

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

AliExpress being

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investor ...

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.

Books

* 2008 – "The Moor" – producer books * 2009 – "Audio of Audi. History of the brand" – 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

Timati has several successful businesses including: * "Black Star Wear" -

clothing line Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

. * "Black Star Burger" - restaurant opened in 2016 in Moscow, it later became a franchise with several locations such as

and Cheljabinsk. The burger restaurant is popular among the youths in Russia. * "13 by Black Star" - barber shop and a

tattoo shop A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

in Moscow. * "

Stars Coffee A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth mak ...

", taking over the former

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...

coffees in Russia after the company withdrew due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Concert tours

*2009–2010 – The Boss Tour *2011 – Carrera Tour 2011 0*2015 – GTO (with

L'One Levan Emzarovich Gorozia ( ka, ლევან ემზარის ძე გოროზია, ) also known professionally as L'One and more recently as Levan Gorozia is a Georgian-Russian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for his solo ...

) *2016 – Olimp tour

Discography

Studio albums

*''

Black Star Black Star or Blackstar may refer to: Astronomy *Black star (semiclassical gravity), a theoretical star built using semiclassical gravity as an alternative to a black hole *Saturn, referred to as "Black Star" in ancient Judaeic belief Literature ...

'' (2006) *'' The Boss'' (2009) *'' SWAGG'' (2012) * ''13'' (2013) * RELOAD (2013) * Audiokapsula (2014) * G.T.O. (With

) (2015) *'' Olimp'' (2016) *''Tranzit'' (2020) *''Шипы и Розы'' (2021) *''Banger Mixtape'' (2021)

Collaboration albums

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

Singles

As lead artist

;Others *Forever *Love You *Money in the Bank *Top of the World *Not All About The Money

As featured artist

Awards

Berlin Music Video Awards

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

MTV Russian Music Awards

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

MUZ-TV Awards

* 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 Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
s

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

Golden Gramophone Award

* 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

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

World Fashion Awards

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

Other awards

* 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

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. During the

, he argued in favor of the Russian attack."What Russian Rap Can Teach Us About Russian (Anti-)War Discourse"
Jordan Russia Center, 17 May 2022

Filmography

*2004 − ''Countdown'' *2006 − ''Heat'' *2008 − ''Albania!'' *2008 − ''Monday Twist'' *2008 −

Daddy's Daughters ''Daddy's Daughters'' (russian: Папины дочки, Papiny Dochki) is a Russian TV series produced from 2007 to 2013. Made by "Kinokonstanta" (episodes 1 to 60) and "Kostafilm" (since episode 61) film companies, it is characterized by various ...

*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: *2006 − '' Arthur and the Invisibles'' *2007 − '' Surf's Up'' *2009 − '' District 13: Ultimatum'' *2009 − '' Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard'' *2014 − ''

Brick Mansions ''Brick Mansions'' is a 2014 action film starring Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, also starring Goûchy Boy, Catalina Denis and Carlo Rota. The film was directed by Camille Delamarre and written by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen and Bibi Naceri. ...

Personal life

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.

References

External links

*
Timati at the Forbes
*
Timati lyrics
* * * {{Authority control 1983 births Russian hip hop Russian hip hop musicians Living people English-language singers from Russia Volga Tatar people Jewish rappers Rappers from Moscow Russian Jews Fabrika Zvyozd Tatar people of Russia Jewish hip hop record producers Russian record producers Universal Motown Records artists Russian people of Jewish descent