Decl stands at the very origins of Russian rap. His star lit up in early 2000. Kirill Tolmatsky was remembered by the audience as a singer performing hip-hop compositions. Not so long ago, the rapper left this world, reserving the right to be considered one of the best rappers of our time.
So, under the creative pseudonym Decl, the name Kirill Tolmatsky is hiding. He was born in the capital of Russia - Moscow, in 1983. The boy was greatly influenced by his father. Alexander Tolmatsky worked as a producer. He promoted new musical groups, and did everything to ensure that the name of the rapper Decl was heard by the whole country.
Cyril belonged to the so-called "golden youth". He graduated from the prestigious British International School in the capital and went to continue his education in Switzerland. It is abroad that the future star gets acquainted with such a musical genre as rap. Decl shares with his father an idea regarding a musical career.
The father supported Cyril's desire to make music. Alexander Tolmatsky had connections. In addition, he understood in which direction he should swim in order to put his son on his feet, "blinding" a worthy musical career.
The beginning of Decl's musical career
On the recommendations of his father, Kirill Tolmatsky learns to break dance and makes himself dreadlocks. The new image allows the young singer to "be in the know." The appearance attracts young people, who will soon become interested in the work of Tolmatsky Jr.
At the dance school that Kirill attends, he meets another future rap star, Timati. However, young people, despite their common interests, did not develop friendly relations. The guys were in close contact for several years, and after that a conflict occurred between them, which forever put an end to communication.
With the support of Alexander Tolmatsky, Decl recorded his first musical composition "Friday". This track made a loud debut at the Adidas Street Ball Challenge Youth Festival. Rap fans warmly accepted the work of Kirill Tolmatsky.
Initially, the rapper did not perform under the creative pseudonym "Decl". And only in 1999 the singer came up with this creative pseudonym. The name Decl first appeared on the cover of PTYUCH. From that moment on, the musician's name begins to shine on the covers of youth magazines. The rapper has a whole army of fans. But, by the way, it was not without those who were strained by Decl's tracks.
The beginning of a musical career was accompanied by the release of clips that were played on well-known music channels. The fame of the rapper grew rapidly. By 2000, the artist released his debut album “Who? You". The release of the first album is accompanied by the receipt of the prestigious Record 2000 award. The record was called the best debut album of the year.
Alexander Tolmatsky made sure that video clips were recorded for the tracks "Party", "My Blood", "Tears", "My Blood, Blood". Musical compositions became hits and got into rotation.
Debut album release
The debut album sold a million copies. And while Decl was at the peak of popularity, the second studio album was released, called "Street Fighter". The second disc - and the second hit in the top ten. The presented album brings Cyril such awards: "Stopud hit", "Muz-TV" and "MTV Music Awards".
Music critics call the second album provocative and scandalous in the artist's creative biography. The musical compositions that were included in the record touched upon international problems, and also concern people from different segments of the population. Cyril wrote most of the texts on his own.
Many listeners were touched by the song "Letter". In 2001, the musical composition received the prestigious Golden Gramophone award. It was in 2001 that the artist's popularity peaked. In the same year, Kirill signed a contract with Pepsi.
The popularity of the artist gradually begins to fade. All the fault of disagreements with his father and producer Alexander Tolmatsky. Due to a conflict with his father, Kirill leaves the recording studio and tries to develop his career on his own.
Later, Kirill admits that he did not want support from his father, because Alexander Tolmatsky would betray his mother and go to his young mistress. This was for Cyril a great tragedy in life. After this act of his father, Cyril will never communicate with him again.
Search for a creative nickname
Independent activity does not bring Kirill Tolmatsky any result. The rapper makes attempts to change the creative pseudonym to Le Truk.
In early 2004, the artist released the album "Detsla.ka Le Truk". Some of the songs included in this disc become hits. However, the success of "Decl" with the first two albums, "independent Kirill" failed to repeat.
The top composition of the album presented above is the track "Legalize". However, the scandalous overtones do not allow the musical composition to achieve success in the rotation. And even the clip was banned from showing on local television channels.
In 2008, the rapper began to be called "Decl". In winter, he released another album, which was called "Mos Vegas 2012". The album was recorded with the musician Beat-Maker-Beat from St. Petersburg and received rather warmly, although there was no talk of popular love.
The decline in the popularity of the artist Decl
Kirill Tolmatsky is accompanied by a series of bad luck. His popularity gradually begins to fade, although he tries to maintain it with the release of new albums. In 2010, the performer released another disc "Here and Now".
Thanks to the release of this album, the rapper is invited to take part in the popular Battle of the Capitals festival. He appeared at the festival as a jury.
2014 was a more successful year for Decl. The rapper releases 2 albums at once - "Dancehall Mania" and "MXXXIII". Rappers from America, Asia and Europe take part in the creation of these musical compositions.
These are planned 2 albums from a trilogy under the general name "Decillion". Decl promises that very soon fans of his work will see the third disc from this trilogy.
Despite their promises, the third album was never released. However, the rapper's next album was born in the music world, called the Favela Funk EP.
The musical compositions included in this album are presented in a mixed genre. Here you can hear tracks in the style of rap, reggae, funk, samba. In this album, Decl was able to demonstrate all his musical potential. This is one of the brightest works of the Russian singer.
Scandal: Decl and Basta
In 2016, Kirill Tolmatsky sues one of the most famous Russian rappers Vasily Vakulenko (Basta). The lawsuit was registered by the Basmanny Court of Moscow.
Decl was forced to file a lawsuit against Vakulenko due to insults. Kirill, in one of his social networks, expressed the opinion that Vasily's music plays very loudly in the club, and in such situations it is impossible to relax. Basta reacted very aggressively, calling Tolmatsky an obscene word.
Decl demanded about a million from Basta for moral damage. In addition, Cyril wanted him to publish a record refuting his words. But, Basta was unstoppable. After Tolmatsky filed a lawsuit, there were much more posts about Kirill on his Twitter, and all of them, to put it mildly, were not “laudatory”.
As a result, Kirill Tolmatsky won the trial against Basta. True, the rapper was compensated for only 350 thousand rubles. Basta and Decl never came to a peaceful resolution of the situation.
Personal life
At the beginning of his musical career, many were interested in the rapper's personal life. He was hunted by thousands of attractive female fans, but Kirill gave his heart to a model from Nizhny Novgorod, Yulia Kiseleva.
In 2005, the couple had a long-awaited child. Many have not seen this couple together. But, Julia was with Cyril to the last.
Despite the busy schedule, Cyril paid a lot of attention to his family. He often told reporters that the family is his personal source of inspiration.
And when asked if he wants his son to study music, Cyril answered: “Unlike my father, I want my son to do what will really give him pleasure.”
Death of Kirill Tolmatsky
In the winter of 2019, Alexander Tolmatsky, on his Facebook page, wrote "Kirill is no longer with us." This post appeared on the page of Pope Decl at 6 o'clock in the morning. Many fans could not believe that this was true.
After performing in one of the clubs in Izhevsk, the rapper became ill. For a long time, journalists were not given information about the cause of death of the performer. But a little later it turned out that Cyril died of heart failure.
He never reconciled with his father. There are still posts on social networks of Alexander Tolmatsky in which he regrets that he did not reconcile with his son. “I hope that we will meet soon and be able to talk,” Father Decl writes.
The death of the Russian rapper was a great tragedy for his fans. On federal channels, 2 programs were released, dedicated to the memory of the great rapper. They voiced some biographical facts from the life of Cyril, the cause of death and the conflict with his father and former producer Tolmatsky. His work deserves respect!
