"Center" is a group from Russia that releases rap and hip-hop tracks. It includes famous artists Ptah, Slim and Guf.
The history of the creation of the group
The history of the "Center" group is similar to the widespread legend about how the guys from an unknown group grew to stars, and how, after amateur concerts in the garage, the musicians stubbornly conquered more and more large-scale scenes. Two Moscow rappers, known under the pseudonyms Rollex and Principle, recorded several tracks and combined them into the "Gift" album. It was not a major multi-copy album release. The musicians made only thirteen discs and gave them away to friends. In 2000, the rapper Ptah joined the group. In 2002, a member of the "Smoke Screen" band with the pseudonym Slim recorded a joint track called "Wedding" with the "Center" group, and after the release of the song he joined the line-up. Two years later, the group took a break from creativity due to the imprisonment of "Principle". In 2005, the team was reunited. Rollex later changed his stage name to Guf.
Creative activity and success of the group
The musicians began to revive their creative activity with the re-release of their first unofficial album called "Gift". In 2006, the center group released the song "Heat 77", which became the soundtrack for a movie called "ZHARA". At the same time, a track called "Muddy muddies" was released.
In 2007, the band had to change the spelling of their name to "Centr", because the musicians had claims regarding the copyright for the brand name. In the USSR, there was already a group "Center", which was very popular. In October, an album called "Swing" was released. During the year, the group, together with rapper Basta, recorded the song "My Game", which became the soundtrack for the movie "Shadow Boxing 2: Rematch".
In 2008, the A-ONE TV channel, which specialized in alternative music, changed its format: instead of rock, the air began to broadcast the works of rap artists. In September, Centr starred for A-ONE in a television show called Artist Day. During this year, the band recorded and released an album titled "Ether is Normal". This disc includes songs that reveal the themes of problems with the law. This year brought the group not only a lot of new songs, but also the first significant award - the MTV RMA award for the song "City of Roads", recorded with the participation of Basta.
Label creation
In the winter of 2006, the musicians became the founders of a music label called "CAO Records". The first group to release a full-length album on the label was "Smoke Screen". Guf soon also released his album City of Roads on this label. Ignatiy Raazhnikov was appointed the chief sound engineer and composer at the studio. In addition to the studio, a store "CAO Shop" and a tattoo workshop "CAO Tatoo" were later opened. On the basis of the company, a competition for musicians "CAO Battle" was organized. Famous artists in the field of domestic hip-hop collaborated with the label: Basta, 5Plyukh, "43 degrees", Decl, "27/17", Bledny, Katya Sambuka and other artists.
The breakup of the group and the solo work of the participants
In the summer of 2009, Guf decided to leave the band. This announcement immediately triggered the spread of rumors about the group's breakup. The group even won the Hip Hop Event of the Year award from the Russian Street Award. The members started releasing tracks on their own around this time. Slim released an album called Cold. Guf has presented his new album, which is called "Home". Ptah released an album called "About Nothing."
In the winter of 2010, Ptah announced that the group no longer existed. Nevertheless, Ptakha and Slim played concerts this year under the former name of the band. The agreement with the label forced the musicians to continue their joint activities. The "Centr" group was obliged to release two videos for songs for the album entitled "Ether is OK", so the video "Is it easy to be young" was released. On the set, the musicians did not even intersect, because they were filmed in different locations.
In the summer of 2010, the group performed at the large-scale Moscow concert venue "Arena Moscow Wu-Tang Clan", which made its fans very happy.
A year later, the album "Legends about Centr" was released, in the recording of which the musical project "Legends about…" also participated. For this album the musicians received the "Stadium RUMA" award. As fans hoped for a final reunion of their idols, the members again announced that they were suspending the group's existence.
Group members biographies
Slim is a rapper and composer in the band. His real name is Vadim Motylev. The future rapper was born in Moscow in 1981. Vadim has been interested in hip-hop since childhood. His first group was called The Smoke Screen. In 2000, the band released the album "Without Contraception". The famous musician Dolphin took part in his recording. In 2005 he became a member of the "Center" group. While working in the "Center" group, Vadim did not abandon his project: the albums "Veils" and "Etazhi" were released.
After the breakup of the group Slim continues to release solo albums and video clips, to give concerts. The artist's discography includes five solo albums, four mini-albums and ten singles.
Vadim has a wife - Elena Motyleva. They had a son, who was named Leon.
Ptah is a rapper in the group. His real name is David Nuriev. The future rapper was born in the capital of Azerbaijan in the family of an Azerbaijani and an Armenian. At the age of nine, his parents, along with their son, changed their place of residence to Moscow due to the military conflict in their native country.
David began to take an interest in hip-hop at the age of thirteen. To create a pseudonym he was inspired by a film about hip-hop called "Above the Ring", where the name of the main character is translated into Russian as "bird". David was not an exemplary boy, but he was independent and created his first musical group "BJD" when he was still in school. Later, the aspiring musicians changed their name to Les Miserables and released an album called Archive. Ptaha left the band to create tracks on his own. His first product was the track of emptiness, a collection of songs. The artist's first significant success is associated with his participation in writing music for the film "ZHARA", for this motion picture famous personalities Timati, Basta and DJ Smash provided their tracks. This contributed to the integration of the artist into big and real show business.
In 2007, Ptakha joined the Center project. A year later, the rapper took part in the filming of the film "Inhabited Island" as an actor. After the announcement of the breakup of the group, Ptah developed a solo project under the pseudonym Bore. In 2011, David became the founder of the Three Whales group. In 2016, the rapper released an album called "Bouncy". A negative event happened in Ptah's career - he and Guf met in the "Versus" rapper competition. Ptakha lost the battle.
David prefers to hide his personal life from public attention. The name of Ptah's ex-wife is Karina, they have a daughter named Nika. David briefly met with Maria Kurkova, a famous actress. Later, the rapper started a romantic relationship with Lana Reutova, who works in a modeling agency.
Former members
Guf is a rapper in a band. Formerly known under the pseudonym Rolex. The real name of the musician is Alexey Dolmatov. The rapper is a native Muscovite. When he was in school, his family moved to China. In a foreign country, Alexei received his secondary and first higher education. He received his second degree in economics in Moscow. The musician recorded his first track before entering the institute. Because of his studies, he had to take a break from creativity. In 2000, Alexey created a group called "Rollex". After the collapse of the band, the rapper takes his name as his personal pseudonym. In 2004 Alexey joined the Center group. Even when the group was active and successful, the rapper recorded joint tracks with Noggano, AKK-47, Smokey Mo and other artists. In 2009 Guf left the band. In the same year he received the Best Video and Best Album awards from the Rap.ru website. In 2011, the rapper received the "Best Project of the Year" award from the MUZ-TV channel. In 2014, Guf starred in the film "Gas Holder". A year later, the premiere of his album entitled "More" took place.
The artist had a wife named Isa. In 2010, they had a son, Sami. The couple divorced three years later. The rapper spoke about the troubles in the family sphere in the song Letter Home.
The principle is a rapper in a team. His real name is Nikolai Nikulin. He was born in the capital of Russia in 1984. Nikolay was not a law-abiding citizen, which led to his imprisonment right during the rise of the "Center" group. The musician left the band, but continued to compose tracks. In 2009, the performer went to prison again. In 2010, the musician participated in the filming of the video "1000 term", which was created by Guf. In 2011, the musician released the track "Islands" together with Archi.
