The Russian rap group "Grot" was created in 2009 on the territory of Omsk. And if the vast majority of rappers promote "dirty love", drugs and alcohol, then the team, on the contrary, calls for a correct lifestyle.
The work of the team is aimed at promoting respect for the older generation, giving up bad habits, as well as spiritual development. The music of the Grotto group can be recommended with 100% probability for listening to the younger generation.
History and composition of the Grotto team
So, 2009 was the year of birth of the Grot group. The first team included: Vitaly Evseev, Dmitry Gerashchenko and Vadim Shershov. The latter did not last long in the group and left almost immediately. Shershov took up a solo career. Now he is better known under the pseudonym Valium.
The team presented their debut releases and albums in a modest duet - Vitaly and Dima. Despite the lack of support and experience, the musicians soon released the mini-album "Nobody But Us".
The album made rappers popular. Interestingly, Dima and Vitaly did not believe in the success of the debut collection and were skeptical that when the first number of rap fans began to leave laudatory reviews.
A few years later, Matvey Ryabov joined the group, who became the team's full-time beatmaker. And in 2017, a talented girl named Ekaterina Bardysh joined the "men's club". Katya was responsible for the musical component. In addition, she took on some of the vocal parts.
Music group "Grot"
The collection "No one but us" was highly appreciated not only by rap fans, but also by popular performers. Soon the group "Grot" began to cooperate with the label "ZASADA Production". Its organizer was Andrey Bledny, a member of the 25/17 rap group.
In 2010, the Grot group, with the participation of Andrey Bledny, released another mini-album, Power of Resistance. The presentation of the record took place in one of the local clubs. There were so many people wishing to attend the performance that not everyone could be present in the building. As a result of this, the group organized a separate performance for fans.
Under the aforementioned label, the disc “Ambush. Spring for everyone!”, and later - the solo work “Grota”, which was called “The Arbiters of Fates” and was warmly received by the fans of the musicians.
In 2010, several concerts “Ambush. Last autumn. The performances of rappers took place on the territory of St. Petersburg and Moscow. After a number of concerts, the label suspended its existence.
Growing up of the team
Former members of "ZASADA Production" went on an independent "voyage". Soon the Grotto group released a CD with D-man 55 "Tomorrow". The collection was recorded with the participation of Matvey Ryabov. Soon Matvey joined the team on a permanent basis.
The group's debut records were filled with patriotism. Not without the labels pasted by society. There were rumors about the musicians that they were right-wing, fascist and racist. Fuel to the fire was added by the fact that radical listeners came to the performances of the Grotto group.
The musicians talked about the fact that football “fans” were the most nationally oriented, and then “ridges” began to appear in the hall here and there. The peak of this behavior was in 2010, and then it just stopped.
Since 2010, the musicians have been actively performing in their native Russia. In addition, they were warmly welcomed by fans from Ukraine and Belarus. At the same stage, the group's discography was replenished with the collections "On the way in the opposite direction" and "More than alive."
A few years later, the Grotto group, together with Valium, M-town and D-man 55, presented a joint song "Everyday Heroism". In 2012, the Omsk rap group was nominated for the Stadium RUMA award in two categories at once: "Best Artist of the Last Year" and "Best Record of the Last Year".
2013 was no less eventful. The group's discography has been replenished with the new album "Brothers by Default". At the same time, the team became a participant in a charity concert organized by the Live, Baby Foundation.
In 2014, the team celebrated its first small anniversary. The group is 5 years old. The musicians timed the mini-disc "In touch" and the release of the film "5 years on the air" to this festive event.
Collaboration with Respect Production label
Since 2015, the team has been working closely with the Respect Production label. The founder of the popular Russian label is rapper Vladi, the lead singer of the Kasta group. The Grotto group fell into the hands of professionals. Under the roof of the Respect Production label, such performers as: Max Korzh, Smokey Mo, Kravts, "Yu.G." and etc.
In 2015, the group won the nomination "Hip-hop artist". The Grotto group was not only able to hold the Golden Gargoyle award in their hands, but also put it on their shelf.
In the same year, the group's discography was replenished with a new album, Earthlings. This album has changed the sound of musical compositions. The team for the first time departed from the usual style of presenting tracks.
The record was recorded with the participation of beatmakers Diamond Style. There were several joint songs on the collection. With Musya Totibadze, the musicians recorded the song "Big Dipper", and with Olga Marquez - the song "Mayak".
2015 was the year of musical innovations. This year, the musicians presented the composition "Smoke", which was released in 2010. Then the song was called extremist and entered into the so-called "black list". The distribution and performance of this track is punishable by law.
Political subtext in the work of the Grotto group
In the last verse of the song "Smoke", the singers talk about some "oil-owners" and declare that it's time to "do" something with them. Music critics suggest that it was the last verse that caused the track "Smoke" to be blacklisted. Most likely, the judge mistook the words “ignite the fire” for extremism, although this phrase cannot be taken literally.
"Smoke" is a joint track with the band "25/17". The composition at one time was included in the album "The Power of Resistance". After the ban on the performance of the song, Andrey Bledny, the frontman of the 25/17 group, commented on the situation.
Music lovers were very surprised by the information that one of the songs of the Grot group was recognized as extremist. Fans were most outraged by the fact that the team has always opposed extremism and various forms of hatred. According to the "fans", the accusations of the authorities were inappropriate.
In 2016, the team presented a joint track with rapper Vladi. In the same 2016, a video clip was shot for the song "Endless". The clip mostly consisted of cuts from concerts. There were also inserts by rapper Vladi, who was cycling around the city.
A year later, the musicians presented a new member to the fans. The place of the soloist was taken by Ekaterina Bardysh. She, like the rest of the musicians, was also from Omsk. Katya was fond of music from the age of 5 and was an ideological musician in the team. The men were sure that Bardysh could bring a "breath of fresh air" to the tracks.
In 2017, the rappers recorded a new track called "Liza". Later, the musicians recorded a video clip for the composition. The song "Grot" was dedicated to the search and rescue squad "Lisa Alert". When editing the clip, fragments of the film "Loveless" by Andrey Zvyagintsev were used.
Thus, we can say that the video clip "Lisa" is based on real events. Some commentators commented that the music video was too dark. But such works touch the soul and do not leave the public indifferent.
Album “Icebreaker “Vega””
In 2017, the band's discography was replenished with a new album "Icebreaker" Vega "". In 2018, in honor of the release of a new collection, the Grotto group went on tour.
By the way, in an interview with The Flow, the musicians said that sometimes some establishments inflate the cost of rent for the performance of the Grot group. At the band's concerts, the proceeds from the bar were small, while there were a lot of people in the nightclub. Rappers promoted a healthy lifestyle, so it is not surprising that the musicians have gathered a mature audience around them.
In 2018, the Grotto group presented to the public a new collection, The Best, which included 25 tracks selected by the group's fans.
In 2018, the musicians performed in Sochi as part of the 2018 FIFA Fan Fest. In the same year, the group held a creative evening in St. Petersburg. For the concert, the musicians chose a picturesque roof on the Kozhevennaya line.
In 2019, the band's discography was replenished with a new album, which was called "Acoustics". The following comment appeared on the official website of the Grotto group:
“For some of our tracks and the images that they broadcast, live, insinuating, somewhat meditative music is more suitable. We decided to present to our fans the album “Acoustics”, which we recorded together with young original musicians. We recorded the collection at a distance - our musicians were in 4 different cities. “Acoustics” is not an easy, but very exciting and voluminous creative experience. We are glad if you appreciate the collection at its true worth ... ”, - the Grotto group.
Group Grotto today
In 2020, the musicians presented several musical compositions: “How should I know you” and “Winds”. For 2020, the team is scheduled to tour the cities of Russia.
In the fall of 2020, the presentation of the collection "Craft" took place. The LP consists of 10 tracks. The concept of the disc is to reveal the relationship between a person and his hobbies/work/hobbies.
