Pencil is a Russian rapper, music producer and arranger. Once the performer was part of the "District of my dreams" team. In addition to eight solo records, Denis also has a series of author's podcasts "Profession: Rapper" and work on the musical arrangement of the film "Dust".
Childhood and youth of Denis Grigoriev
Pencil is the creative pseudonym of Denis Grigoriev. The young man was born on March 10, 1981 on the territory of Novocheboksarsk. When the boy was 2 years old, the Grigoriev family moved to Cheboksary due to the fact that the parents were given an apartment. Denis spent the next 19 years in this provincial town.
During his school years, Denis was actively interested in rap culture. The preference of the young man was the tracks of foreign rappers. Grigoriev Jr. took and cut out the recitative from musical compositions and recorded it on one cassette. It could well be called a "home mixtape".
In Cheboksary, where Denis lived all his youth, there were no cassettes. But one day a young man brought to school one of the very first collections of Russian rap, which were released by the Soyuz recording studio. Denis has been rapping for a long time, so he wanted to do something similar.
One of the first tracks was recorded to the instrumentals of the then-released collections "Trepanation of Ch-Rap". The musical start of Denis began in the city of Cheboksary in the Party'ya project.
Subsequently, the rest of the musicians united under the creative pseudonym "The District of My Dreams". The musicians managed to become one of the most successful Volga bands in the history of Russian rap.
In their hometown, rappers were true legends. But this was not enough for the guys, and they went to the capital to the Rap Music project. At the festival, rappers took a prize. They have significantly managed to expand the audience of their fans.
After significant victories, Denis made a difficult decision for himself - he left the My Dream District team and embarked on a solo career. Soon the young rapper moved to Moscow.
Creative career and music of the rapper Pencil
The rapper began his solo career with the presentation of his debut album "Markdown 99%". Surprisingly, the public rather warmly welcomed the solo album. The musical compositions “I don’t know” and “In your city” were actively rotated on regional radio stations. Moreover, soon these songs will be played on the Moscow Radio Next.
In 2006, Pencil's discography was replenished with a new album, which was called "American". The compilation showcased Karandash's significant development as a sound producer and performer. The album was warmly received by fans and music critics.
The record was recorded in Nizhny Novgorod at the recording studio New Tone Studio. Interestingly, during the recording of the collection, the sound engineer was in a drunken period. The recording of this album continued with the participation of Shaman. All subsequent albums were recorded at Shaman's Quasar Music studio.
Two years later, the Pencil presented the next album, "The Poor Laugh Too", which consisted of 18 tracks. Among the strengths of the album, the influential music critic Alexander Gorbachev singled out: “pumping beat”, irony and playing with such clichés as Pencil borrowing the same samples, bored themes.
Temporary stop of concert activity
In addition, Pencil shot his first professional video clip for the track “Not Famous, Not Young, Not Rich”. Despite the fact that fans and critics warmly accepted the new work, Denis announced that he was suspending concert activity for some time.
In 2009, the rap.ru website hosted a presentation of the rapper's new album. The collection was called "With others to remain yourself." The peculiarity of this collection was that it consisted of joint musical compositions.
In 2010, the group's discography was replenished with a new collection, Live Fast, Die Young. Most music critics called the collection the best album in Karandash's discography. According to the results of 2010, the disc was included in the list of the best releases in the Russian Speech category (according to the Afisha website).
Since 2010, the rapper has been actively leading the Profession: Rapper podcast series, where you can see Pencil's trips to popular recording studios in Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York and Nizhny Novgorod. Podcasts are published on the rap.ru website.
Release of the sixth studio album
In 2012, the presentation of the new album "American 2" took place, which included 22 tracks, among them - joint tracks with rappers Noize MC, Smokey Mo, Antom, Anacondaz, etc. The sixth studio album took 7th position in the list of the best hip hop albums of 2012 (according to the portal rap.ru).
At the end of the same year, the rapper filed a claim against the iTunes Store online store. The fact is that the online store was illegally selling the rapper's records.
A few years later, the members of the District of My Dreams (Karandash, Varchun and Crack) teamed up to release a new album.
Soon rap fans were enjoying the tracks of the Disco Kings collection. Fans commented: “This is the same funny rap that Pencil, Warchun and Crack have done before…”.
In 2015, Pencil's discography was replenished with the Monster disc. In addition, the rapper released the single "At Home". The collection "Monster" is the peak of the musical form of Pencil and his team.
Each part of the keyboard instruments, string melody are performed full-blooded and soft.
In 2017, the presentation of the seventh studio album took place. The collection was called "Role Model". On the track "Rosette" Pencil released a video clip. The collection includes 18 tracks. On the disc, you can hear joint songs with Zvonkiy and the singer Yolka. At the beginning of 2018, the rapper again announced the end of his concert activity.
Personal life of Denis Grigoriev
Denis does not like to talk about his personal life. Moreover, he practically does not publish family photos. The fact that the Pencil's heart is occupied can be evidenced by one photograph, in which there is wine, pasta and two glasses. In his social networks there are several photos with his son.
Denis has been officially married since 2006. His wife was a girl named Catherine. After registering the marriage, the girl took the name of her husband and became Grigorieva.
Pencil prefers an active lifestyle. The man travels a lot. But, of course, the rapper spends most of his time in the recording studio.
Rapper Pencil concert activity and plans for the future
Since 2018, the rapper has not been performing concert activities. During this time, the Pencil did not release new tracks and video clips. In one of his interviews, the performer said:
“Sometimes there is a desire to write something new ... but, alas, there is no recording and releasing. I don't think anyone needs it anymore. It was interesting to write when someone needed it. And when you are “perlo” from what you are doing. And now it’s rushing out of me like that, according to the residual principle ... ”.
Rapper Pencil has already left the stage several times "forever". In 2020, he decided to return to his fans to present a new studio album. Longplay was called "American III".
According to music critics, the collection "American III" is more lyrical and adult. The compositions of the disc perfectly convey the general mood of the author. The compilation was topped by 15 tracks.
Rapper Pencil today
In May 2021, rapper Pencil presented the KARAN LP to fans. Recall that a year has not passed since the presentation of the previous album. “The record was recorded exclusively for listening with headphones,” writes Pencil about the new LP.
On February 6, 2022, the rap artist released the Tesla video. In the new video, he portrayed the dream of an ordinary Russian hard worker to have a reliable car. According to the plot of the video, a worker, sitting on the roof of a broken-down Zhiguli, dreams of a "wild" Tesla.
