Translated material
"Dirt" and Superotosk
The Mud Group was founded in 2011 by two Mogilev friends - Raper Denis Astapov (Denis “Dirt”) and Bitmeaker Roman Sashchenko, better known as Roma British. Soon after, in 2012, the novel began to cooperate with the Minsk rap artist Oleg Savchenko, as a result of which a new project was formed-“LSP”. Over the next years, the duet rapidly gained popularity, becoming one of the most successful phenomena in the Russian -speaking rap. The Englishman did not have much time left for the “dirt” and on another joint project with Denis, but his friends did not lose their connection-they recorded the singles, continued to have fun, and in 2016 they moved together from Mogilev to St. Petersburg. Denis actively participated in LSP's life-wrote to the novel for Kuplets, acted as a BEK-MS during a tour, starred in clips and worked as a group manager. Everything changed dramatically on July 30, 2017, when the Englishman Roma did not come right before the largest round of LSP at that time. Denis was heavily experienced by the death of a close friend, thundered in a psychiatric hospital for more than two weeks and was fired from the team. Having come to his senses, Astapov revived the “dirt” and began to record with tripled energy: in two years, three full -format albums came out with strong in the impact of gloomy household stories, the contents of which can be described by the known line from the song “Hedundice” - “no hell, besides that is near”. Alexander Nurabaev met with Denis Astapov and tried to find out where in his songs so much pain and longing.
- I listened to all the releases of “dirt” in a row and, I think, will not be original if I say that you have rather gloomy music and texts. They have so many hopeless existential hopelessness. At the same time, you do not make the impression of a gloomy, dissatisfied with the life of a person. Where does it come from in you?
-I am always looking for some positive moments, but in my work there is always a gloomy topic, and I can’t do fun. I am trying - it doesn’t work out for me. In life, I’m not that cheerful, but I'm trying to block the bad and have fun. Home clown for yourself.
- If we talk about the nature of the popularity of your songs ...
- Does this nature exist?
- In my opinion, yes. Agree that in our song - and indeed cultural - tradition can be traced for longing. There are a lot of such songs - from the “Black Raven” to the “glass of vodka on the table”, and it is their people who most often sing in karaoke and at the table. You didn't think, why so?
- I did not think, because I was born in this longing, I live in this longing. I went abroad several times, looked at funny people for a week. There is an unusual environment for me. Therefore, I write about what is. I did not know another life, I’m not used to another life, so I have no particular choice.
- On the recent album "DK Dance. Evening No. 2 ” There is a line“ City of graves, where Leo buried his kakahi ” - you are talking about his native Mogilev. What does this line mean?
- (Laughs.) All are dug up to this line. The word "kakahi" is very exciting their minds. Mogilev is my city, and it is like a “lion grave”. We have a huge mound. There is [there] the square, and, according to legend, there was buried either the real lion or some kind of dude. But I thought so that the grave of Leo is where Leo buried his shit. Somehow this line came up with, and it seems ridiculous and ridiculous to everyone. Maybe me too.
- In your songs, Mogilev appears so harsh and “Balabanovsky” in the atmosphere and texture of the city.
- As elsewhere, there is a center, and there are outskirts. When you are in the center, everything is cool and you do not see this [this back]. But I was just born in a hard place, moved to the second hard place, and the second place is where I started going to kindergarten. There were built houses for convicts that arrived from prison and who do not have the opportunity to do something. They work somewhere, and the new houses that were built in the area-they settled there and lived there. I went to kindergarten with these children, these parents took them from kindergarten, and we walked together one into one. My parents were also in search of a better life: we moved to another area, and he was no better than where we moved. I constantly wandered around the districts and saw what I saw. And my cool life was known by me when I was already aged after the university. And so all the time I stayed in the areas. I was cool, but all these stories come from there.
- What was your very first track about?
- I composed the first track about a dude in my area, he was a rapper. There used to be hard caste divisions - who is a rapper, who is a nirvanist, who is an acidic. He was on Kutepov (the area in Mogilev, where Denis grew up. - Ed. ) - it was my area where I spent a conscious life. But there it was not very respected. Probably, rappers were not very respected everywhere. There were several of them in the area, but these were bold dude. We had hoodies - we hid them under the jackets. He wrote rap on the children's program, I came, looked and thought that the dude did it cool. I found minus Baste on the Internet, downloaded and read it under it. He said that I did well. Then I meet the Chuvakov at the gas station: they smoke, have fun, and they constantly poke a rapper. I came and sophisticated under some minus. We made friends with them: every evening they came to my stop, took me, and I spent time with them. Once - "Boys, I can do everything, but there is no music." One of them says: "I have a friend, but he is quite crazy." And he led me to Roma.
I'm starting to make darkness in the verses.
- You were already inclined to gloomy philosophizing?
- Not at all then. I then came a puppy and say: "Let's write something." He: "Come on, but my minus costs $ 30." I think: where to get these $ 30 at all? He also said: "I will not sell it to you, if you have a text - shit." I wrote some kind of text, he looked it and said: "This is complete shit, nothing will work out." I say: “Let's rewrite. Explain what is needed to be there. ” I swam in such space and wrote lines at random. He says: "I can’t explain, because I don’t rummage about it, but I know how it should be." As a result, I have developed the same system. If they show me a track, I do not know either style or direction, but I know whether this is or not.
- How much time has passed before you got the text that Roma liked?
- Year! Every week I showed him, then he at the university gave me the works of some dude and said: "Read." I read, and he - "And what do you understand?" And I did not understand. "Read again." He explained to me, developed and did not say what exactly to do. He wanted me to understand what to do.
- The “dirt” project was founded by you and Roma even before he began to cooperate with Oleg LSP. You immediately decided how everything should sound and look?
- We got drunk once: you always want fun, especially when you are a young guy. We got drunk, and he said that this topic (Denis's texts. - Ed. ) Does not go through and we need a kid's rap. And he says: "Write to yourself." I wrote, and he says: "Here, this is normal." And then: "How will we call the group?" “Let there be“ dirt ”.” Well, no one was bothering - “dirt” and “dirt”.
- To date, who is part of the group?
- I, drummer Anton Sagachko and guitarist Artem Kudryashov. This is a group, and so there is a bunch of people who help us.
-Did you listen to rock music in childhood?
- Yes, I started with her. I was shit: the first group I listened was Linkin Park , then Limp Bizkit , then Tool . I arrived in America, lived there in the summer, and the mistress’s son took me to the Tool charitable concert, which you could go to if you bring any canned food - corn or beans. You bring two cans, put in a box and pass. All this was then given to those in need. Then I went crazy - I came, he immediately bought me a cassette, bought a player. I came, the hostess read what on the cassette, and said: “This will not happen in our house” - and threw it away. But I do not understand what is [inappropriate] - it is cool in music.
- How do you like the last, long -awaited, album Tool ?
- He (James Kinan. - Ed. ) Was engaged in winemaking, and now he returned to music again. Well, I don’t know ... I kind of downloaded, listened, but the album that I listened in childhood ( ænima . - Ed. ), I turn on, and he causes feelings. Maybe this is due to the same.
He ran away - and maybe not only from a conversation with himself.
-Tell me a little about the period when you were a LSP tour manager. Everything took place in the "Trash and Ugar" mode?
- Absolute.
-Surely there is some indicative story.
- We move out, then we fly home with Roman. We wake up in complete inadequate. I can’t wake up through, because my alarm clock calls. Buyu Roman, he says that he will sleep next. I say: "Dude, we have a plane in half an hour." We sit down, fight in the room: he hit me in the face, but I will always give a change. In general, we have a kneading. At this time, Oleg is sitting in the car, he comes, and begins - "You do not work with us anymore." We come, he puts up with me along the road, we go to the airport, he lies on the floor at the entrance and lies. The guard comes up and says: “Young man, get up. You cannot lie here. ” He says: “Why can't we lie here? My bag is lying and I will lie. ” There is a vataga of police officers, he is lying, and you must do something. He lies because he wants to relax. It was all the same for everyone what was happening, we did what we wanted. Then he woke up at the concert - we say: "Roman, after 10 minutes a concert." He asks: "What city?" - "Samara." “That's it, I'm ready.” In this mode, everything passed.
- As I understand it, the novel was your closest friend.
- Yes.
- How long after two years have you recovered from that tragedy? And how is this manifested in creativity?
-I recovered normally, but I get as an old man and begin to remember some moments, I begin to properly sentiment. At the time of death, the first time after this was not, but now SuperToska appears.
- I was not familiar with the novel personally, but in the process of preparation I watched different videos with it - almost everywhere he is either drunk or under high. I got the impression that this was a kind of protection from what was happening inside him. A man ran away from a conversation with himself ...
“You're right, he ran away - and maybe not only from a conversation with himself.” He ran away from many conversations, but with all the people who were constantly around him, he was always alone. 40 people will sit, he will be in the center - and still one.
- Change the subject. It seems to me that you are favorably distinguished from many rappers - this is the absence of any bravado and show -off. Well, you know-“Bitches, Cars, Drugs” and other attributes of a young rap star. Each of your song is a life story told from the perspective of a vulnerable person, worried. These stories are therefore close to the listeners that many see themselves in the place of your lyrical hero. Behind these stories there is personally experienced experience or are you more acting as an observer?
- This is a vinaigrette from the personal. When I write, I have pictures in my head. I always tried to write as if I listened and came to me. So that I listen to the track so that I had a painting in my head - as I watched a three -minute film. I tried to write in the same way, tried to represent every frame, what the hero’s behavior will be. When I write, my personal one in an incomprehensible way mixes with “not mine”, then goes into an invented story, which in the end goes into my personal. The admixture of the personal is always present-uneven, but somewhere there is everywhere.
Why do I not listen to rap - boobs, pussy, boobs, pussy, Merce. This is nothing.
- Come on a visual example. Consider the songs from the new album - for example, Four High Schools.
-I generally wrote this about the area of our concert director-he has an apartment in St. Petersburg. We smoke on the 21st floor-there are four skyscrapers, a kindergarten is being built in the middle, a school is being built nearby, and I think: figure out, a person is born here, here he will go to kindergarten, to school-and all within the square. Then he will grow up, go to work, just like his dad, and will not leave this circle. And I, based on this, imagined how to live in such a place.
- A typical multi -storey anthill.
- Yes. It seems normal for people, but if you think about it, you won’t even be able to take a walk and be a hooligan guy at least a day, because your parents will look from the window-they will watch you beat, humiliate, and can not do anything. There is still a night store at this school.
- Another track - "This summer will kill you." A very soulful story. It is difficult to believe that it has nothing to do with you.
- It is related. In general, this is a very long -standing text - I do not remember under what circumstances I wrote this, but this is very connected with me and the cottage where I was in childhood. All these pictures surfaced from me, I united them into one, and other heroes were still present there. These characters are already further from my future - they developed in one story, and all this happened.
- How do you assess the new album regarding the previous ones? What is the group "Dirt" significantly added?
- I don't even know. Judging by the comments of the audience, she reduced. But here it was always "before it was better." When the album “The Dead Street” was released, they told me: “What is the shit?” And then on The Flow he entered the list of albums of the year. The first “Dance Dance” comes out, and they say: “Return the“ dead man ”” (which was a shit month ago). The second part comes out - and "return the first part, which was phenomenal." I don’t look at this at all - I just write how I write and do not follow what I am adding or not adding. I write and let me listen.
- How do you accept new material at concerts?
- Greatly accept. Some girl wrote on Instagram that there were 150 people at the first concert, there was a turn in the second, and on the third-a soldier. When we played, we still did not have this album on the network, and I presented half the tracks for the first time. And people react very well. Even if you look at how many people wrote to me on VKontakte, on Instagram, I think that [material] came very well.
- The end of the year is the time to take stock. What is the top 3 rap albums of this year.
- Can I look into my music? I don’t really listen to rap (looks at the smartphone) . I really liked Maxim Freedom from "Songs" on TNT. He had an album - I don’t know why, but I liked him. I see that I will play most of all: I liked him, I liked gross. I don’t like the “Caspian cargo” at all, but he went out, I listened - he has cool rhymes. Eighteen , if you know this. You asked about the same Tool album (shows the phone screen) ? Well, here I have them in the phonotext. I have them here, so I listen to them.
- Group "Dirt" is another example of Belarusian musical exports to Russia.
- We export sadness (smiles) .
- Why does Belarusian artists manage to make popular music?
- Don't know. Why do I not listen to rap - boobs, pussy, boobs, pussy, Merce. This is nothing. Well, Merce, well, boobs - so what? And you listen to this from the track to the track for each performer. What universe do you open? This is not interesting. The form in which you serve is different. The content is the same. I did not try to do so that there was something else. I do what I feel and it turns out that the guys from Belarus do - what's the "LSP", what is the cake.
- The last question. When to expect a cheerful and sunny song from you?
- Recently I wrote a dude to me and offered the bats. I listened and found one sunny song, very fashionable and in a style in which I have not yet worked. I have already come up with a chorus, I still think over the person. But the chorus turned out to be too cheerful, and I already think that it needs to be overshadowed. I'm starting to make darkness in the verses. Now I can handle it, lay out, and then you will say whether it is normal or not.