Morgenshtern Explained

Morgenshtern
Native Name Lang:ru
Birth Name:Alisher Tagirovich Valeyev
Birth Date:17 February 1998
Birth Place:Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia
Years Active:2015–present

Alisher Tagirovich Morgenshtern (né Valeyev;; February 17, 1998), known mononymously as Morgenshtern (stylized in all caps), is a Russian rapper, singer, record producer, and songwriter.

He first gained fame in 2018 as the author of parodies of popular music artists of that time, publishing these videos on his YouTube channel.

Biography

Alisher Tagirovich Valeyev was born on February 17, 1998, in Ufa;[1] he changed his last name to Morgenshtern (Russian and Bashkir: Моргенштерн) as a teenager. His mother is of Russian-Jewish descent,[2] while his father was of Bashkir descent. His mother was a florist; his parents divorced and when Alisher turned 11, his father died of liver cirrhosis due to severe alcoholism.

He has been interested in music since his childhood,[3] and as a teenager he stated that he loved skateboarding.

He released his first music video in 2010.[4]

He attended university for some time, but shortly after starting, he was expelled due to his "frank activities on YouTube", as the rector of the university stated.[5]

Morgenshtern was also a street musician,[6] and was the head singer of the rock band MMD Crew, with whom he collaborated in a song with the Russian rapper Face.[7]

He is best known for his YouTube show "#EasyRap".[8]

In April 2021, Morgenshtern donated to the fund for helping orphans "Our Children" in Bashkiria. This is reported on the foundation's page in VKontakte. The organization clarified that the musician sent a total of 666,666 rubles, which was the largest donation to the NGO from a private person. This money will be spent on the development of the project "Mentoring".[9]

In May 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice put Morgenshtern on the list of foreign agents after receiving funding from the Israeli media company Yoola Labs and for his remarks about Victory Day. Morgenshtern later apologised on his Telegram channel and tried to appeal against the decision to put him on its foreign agents list, but still continues to be on the list as of March 10, 2023.[10] [11] [12]

Music career

On 17 January 2020, he released the album "Legendary Dust", which was recorded in a week on his live stream. The album became the most successful of Morgenshtern's career, gaining a million streams on VK in the first half-hour of release and five million streams in eleven hours.[13] In the first two days after the release, the album was listened to on VK more than 21 million times, which is a record for this social network.[14] On 30 January 2020 he visited the Evening Urgant show.[15]

On 5 March 2020, he released the track "" (ru: Малышка), collaborated with the Russian musician .[16] On 5 June 2020 he released the track "Pososi".[17] Official music video for this track, currently is the most disliked YouTube video in Russia.[18] On 9 June 2020 he released the track "", collaborated with Eldzhey.[19] On 31 July 2020 he released the track "Ice",[20] which went viral on social network TikTok.[21]

On 3 November 2020, Morgenshtern, as Russia's Most Successful Showman and Artist 2020, was interviewed by Yury Dud. The interview lasted almost three hours.[22]

In July 2021, Spotify named Morgenshtern the most listened-to artist from Russia.[23]

Shortly thereafter, Morgenshtern went abroad, and all of his previously scheduled concerts in Russia were canceled.[24] On December 10, Morgenshtern released the single "Domoy" about his leaving Russia for the UAE.[25]

Business

In 2020, Morgenshtern announced his plan to open a restaurant in the center of Moscow. On 25 June 2020, Alisher Morgenshtern and Eduard Popov, better known as an autoblogger "Janis Grek" and one of the members of the YouTube channel "Team A", registered Private limited company "KAIF".[26] In October 2020, Morgenstern opened a restaurant in an office building on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street.[27] In September 2021, he opened another restaurant on Nikolskaya Street.

In March 2021, Morgenshtern was appointed as the "youth director" of Alfa-Bank. It is assumed that he will be able to attract at least 100 thousand new customers from among his fans.[28]

Political views

Morgenshtern opposed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[29] His 2022 single 12 thematises this. In the chorus, Morgenshtern condemns Russian generals sending soldiers to the front lines of the war, singing "Big bosses will send [you] to the slaughterhouse, [and] bosses never give a fuck".[30] In May 2022, he was declared a foreign agent in Russia.

In June 2023, the government of Kyrgyzstan canceled his performance at the Alga Fest music festival in Bishkek. Kyrgyz authorities and politicians justified the decision by saying that Morgenshtern has a "bad influence" on young people, but the real reason may be that post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan is heavily dependent on Russia and under the influence of the Russian government.[31]

He supported the 2024 Bashkortostan protests and published a picture of the Bashkir national hero Salawat Yulayev on social networks.

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

EP

Singles

Awards and honors

Award Nomination Source
2020 Topical Style Awards 2020 Woman of the Year [32]
2020 GQ Person of the Year 2020 Musician of the Year [33] [34]

Notes and References

  1. News: "Изи фейм": Кто такой Моргенштерн и почему он уже едет в тур по стране . ru . Афиша . 2018-11-25 . 2018-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181126051002/https://daily.afisha.ru/music/8173-izi-feym-kto-takoy-morgenshtern-i-pochemu-on-uzhe-edet-v-tur-po-strane/ . live .
  2. News: Russian TV Star and Politician Ksenia Sobchak Receives Israeli Citizenship . Haaretz .
  3. Web site: 2018-02-06 . Самый свежий на YouTube: биография Моргенштерна . Newest on YouTube: Morgenshtern's biography . 2020-09-05 . VSRAP . Russian . 2019-12-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191214192207/https://vsrap.ru/biografiya-morgenshtern/ . live .
  4. Web site: Đžđ˝Ń‹Đš Morgenshternâ€"Đœń‹ Đ˛Ń‹ŃˆĐľ Đžđąđťđ°Đşđžđ˛ . YouTube . 25 December 2017. 2022-02-12 . 2021-11-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211118132821/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqJmaUaTDvU . live .
  5. Web site: 2019-12-18. Алишер Моргенштерн: биография, фото, личная жизнь. Сергей. Гузенков. 2023-05-26. nur.kz. ru. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200726081013/https://www.nur.kz/1832280-aliser-morgenstern-biografia-foto-licnaa-zizn.html. 2020-07-26.
  6. Web site: MORGENSHTERN . КАК Я ПЫТАЛСЯ ЗАРАБОТАТЬ НА ЖИЗНЬ / СКОЛЬКО СЕЙЧАС ПРИНОСИТ КАНАЛ? . YouTube . 23 November 2017 . 2018-12-08 . 2019-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191130105603/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=junXLk2-kV0 . live .
  7. News: 12 фактов про Morgenshtern — видеоблогера, пародирующего русский рэп . ru . The-Flow.ru . 2018-11-25 . 2018-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181126005613/https://the-flow.ru/features/morgenshtern-12-facts . live .
  8. Web site: "Изи фейм": кто такой Моргенштерн и почему он уже едет в тур по стране. 2020-08-18. 2018-11-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20181126051002/https://daily.afisha.ru/music/8173-izi-feym-kto-takoy-morgenshtern-i-pochemu-on-uzhe-edet-v-tur-po-strane/. live.
  9. Web site: Моргенштерн направил на поддержку детям-сиротам 666 666 рублей. 2021-04-11. Газета.Ru. ru. 2021-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20210411030056/https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/news/2021/04/10/n_15846512.shtml. live.
  10. Web site: Scott . Forced to speak? Morgenstern, recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation, apologized for the words about May 9 – Global Happenings . 2023-03-10 . globalhappenings.com . en-US.
  11. Web site: Rapper Morgenshtern appeals against decision to put him on foreign agent list . 2023-03-10 . TASS.
  12. Web site: Israel . David . Russian Rapper Morgenshtern Appeals Foreign Agent Designation over Ties with Israeli Media Group . 23 May 2022 . 2023-03-10 . en-US.
  13. Web site: Morgenshtern выпустил экспресс-альбом "Легендарная пыль" . 2020-01-17 . tntmusic.ru . ru . 2020-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200201100128/https://tntmusic.ru/11831-morgenshtern-vypustil-ekspress-albom-legendarnaya-pyl/ . live .
  14. Web site: Как Моргенштерн выбесил всех и вылез в топы . 2020-04-27 . Афиша . 2020-01-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200127055858/https://daily.afisha.ru/music/14232-kak-morgenshtern-vybesil-vseh-i-vylez-v-topy/ . live .
  15. Web site: 2020-01-27 . Леонид Слуцкий и Моргенштерн придут в "Вечерний Ургант" . 2020-02-04 . www.intermedia.ru . 2020-01-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200127113408/http://www.intermedia.ru/news/343753 . live .
  16. Web site: Morgenshtern, Шарлот "Малышка" . 2020-06-09 . The-Flow.ru . ru . 2020-06-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200609185125/https://the-flow.ru/videos/morgenshtern-sharlot-malyshka . live .
  17. Web site: "Пососи" — это новый клип Morgenshtern . 2020-06-09 . The-Flow.ru . ru . 2020-06-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200604234936/https://the-flow.ru/videos/morgenshtern-pososi . live .
  18. Web site: Новое самое дизлайкнутое видео на российском ютьюбе — последний клип Моргенштерна . 2020-06-09 . Афиша . 2020-06-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200609180454/https://daily.afisha.ru/infoporn/15890-novoe-samoe-dizlayknutoe-video-na-rossiyskom-yutyube-posledniy-klip-morgenshterna/ . live .
  19. Web site: Morgenshtern и Элджей выпустили фит Cadillac . 9 June 2020 . 2020-06-10 . Собака.ru . 2020-06-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200610002721/http://www.sobaka.ru/ufa/entertainment/music/110094 . live .
  20. Web site: Morgenshtern выпустил трек "Ice" . 2020-07-31 . The-Flow.ru . ru . 2020-09-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200914080111/https://the-flow.ru/news/morgenshtern-feat-morgenshtern-ice . live .
  21. Web site: "Эй, м, м, айс": американцы пытаются понять, что поет Моргенштерн в песне "Ice". 2020-11-15. 2020-11-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20201116222439/https://daily.afisha.ru/infoporn/17170-ey-m-m-ays-amerikancy-pytayutsya-ponyat-chto-poet-morgenshtern-v-pesne-ice/. live.
  22. Web site: Вышел "вДудь" с Моргенштерном . 2021-09-07 . The-Flow.ru . ru . 2021-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211124160337/https://the-flow.ru/news/vdud-morgenshtern . live .
  23. Web site: В Spotify назвали самых прослушиваемых в России исполнителей. 2021-09-07. TASS. Russian. 2021-09-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20210907091901/https://tass.ru/kultura/11906731. live.
  24. News: Бастрыкин обвинил Моргенштерна в торговле наркотиками . 2021-12-03 . 2021-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211126082355/https://www.rbc.ru/society/23/11/2021/619d13a29a794748264c2fe5/ . live .
  25. Web site: Новый клип Моргенштерна собрал полтора миллиона просмотров за первые часы. Morgenshtern's new music video garnered a million and a half views in the first hours. Russian. RIA Novosti. 2021-12-10. 2021-12-10. 2021-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210091935/https://ria.ru/20211210/morgenshtern-1763072496.html. live.
  26. Web site: Моргенштерн зарегистрировал фирму-общепит. 2020-12-16. 2021-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210128082025/https://daily.afisha.ru/news/40996-morgenshtern-zaregistriroval-firmu-obschepit/. live.
  27. Web site: Каким получился ресторан Моргенштерна Kaif Provenance. 2020-12-16. 2021-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210128171248/https://style.rbc.ru/impressions/5fa025ed9a79478588929659. live.
  28. Web site: Альфа-банк нанял на работу Моргенштерна. ru. 2021-03-15. RBC. 2021-03-22. 2021-03-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323153702/https://www.rbc.ru/finances/15/03/2021/604dae339a79472d87188d9e. live.
  29. Russia's Biggest Rappers Are Going Hard Against Putin's War . Rolling Stone . 17 March 2022.
  30. Web site: "Большие дяди отправят на бойню" — Моргенштерн выпустил клип "12" . 2022-06-01 . The-Flow.ru . ru.
  31. News: Russian Singers -- Whether For Or Against The War In Ukraine -- Unwelcome In Central Asia . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . 23 June 2023.
  32. Web site: "Бабы перевелись": Моргенштерн признан "женщиной года". 2020-12-16. 2021-03-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323145606/https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2020/09/09/a_13244780.shtml. live.
  33. Web site: Все победители премии «GQ Человек года» 2020. 12 November 2020. 16 December 2020. 25 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210125154659/https://www.gq.ru/success/moty-2020-winners. live.
  34. Web site: Моргенштерн, Богомолов и Ко: чем запомнилась премия "GQ Человек года". 13 November 2020. 16 December 2020. 18 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201118094330/https://ria.ru/20201113/chelovek-goda-1584461297.html. live.