Yunusov ( Timati ) Timur Ildarovich

Russian singer/hip-hop artist, music producer, actor and entrepreneur.

Born in Moscow into a wealthy family. At the age of 14-15 he founded the group VIP77. In 2000, he began working for the performer Decl, but a year later he left him due to a personal conflict. He studied at the club of young art historians at the State Museum named after A. S. Pushkin. According to Timati, he was allegedly enrolled in the Higher School of Economics, but decided to leave after the third year, preferring a career as a rap artist. There is no information confirming this fact.

In 2004 he took part in the television project “Star Factory”. After which he founded the rap group “Banda”, to replace the defunct VIP77. In 2006 he released the album “Black Star”, the name of which later became the name of his brand. A production center and clothing label were founded under this brand.

Subsequently, he released several albums, including collaborations with other performers, and held a large number of concerts. Despite his great popularity, he was repeatedly accused of plagiarizing the work of others, as well as the secondary nature of his songs. He was accused not only of plagiarizing music, but also other Black Star products. There is a well-known case when Yunusov promoted headphones of his brand, which were absolutely identical to cheap products from the AliExpress website. However, under the Black Star brand they were sold several times more expensive.

Starred in several films. The Black Star brand has become one of the most influential in the music industry in Russia, promoting not only rap, but also pop artists.

In 2014 he received the status of Honored Artist of the Chechen Republic. The reason was probably his personal friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov, who repeatedly posted videos with him, including quite humiliating ones for Yunusov.

In 2018, he gave an impromptu performance in the center of Moscow right on the roof of his car. As a result, vehicle traffic was blocked. For these acts, Timati was fined in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia “Organization of mass simultaneous presence or movement of citizens in public places, resulting in a violation of public order.” Yunusov received a fine of 20 thousand rubles.

In 2020, Timati announced his departure from Black Star.

- Public support for Russian military aggression against Ukraine. So, on the day of Putin’s invasion, Timati publicly stated that the war was allegedly “produced overseas.” At the same time, in a traditional way for government supporters, Timati said that “We need peace and dialogue.” On March 18, 2022, Timati, like many other Russian celebrities, took part in a rally-concert dedicated to the annexation of Crimea, thereby attracting his fans as extras to participate in the event. In his speech, Timati called on people to be proud of Russia. Yunusov himself performed in clothes with the Z symbol, which is a symbol of support for Putin’s aggression. Yunusov continued to appear in this symbolism in the future, posting photographs with it on social networks. The Black Star brand also produces clothes with Z symbols.

For this activity, Timothy did not go without a reward. Some time after the start of the aggression, the Moscow authorities transferred a plot of land with an area of 0.20 hectares to Yunusov’s company for 5 years, on which Timati promised to build a “cultural and educational facility.” In addition, Timati also benefited from the departure of foreign companies from Russia. So he bought the Russian branch of the Starbucks coffee chain, declaring that the business would become “one hundred percent Russian.”

For actions in support of Russian aggression, Yunusov was included in the sanctions lists of Latvia and Canada.

However, despite all the support for the special operation, Timati personally did not dare to take part in the aggression, leaving for Uzbekistan after the mobilization was announced.
- Violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. So Timati, repeatedly, after Putin’s annexation of Crimea, held concerts there together with other performers. At the same time, Timati did not even try to coordinate his trip with the Ukrainian authorities. For these actions, Timati was banned from entering Crimea.

- Support for the usurpation of power by Vladimir Putin and other persons. So Timati is known as a devoted supporter of Vladimir Putin. Despite this, at the beginning of his career he performed very oppositional texts:

“Why is it because of oil that we have an overabundance of banknotes in our treasury? Why is Khodorkovsky under investigation for two years and now in prison? Where is the independence of television channels, radio stations, the press, magazines? Where is democracy? Where is freedom? How much is opium for the people?” – this is the text of one of Timati’s first songs.

However, these views were more likely explained by the fashion of the time. Later, Timati began to show absolute loyalty to the Putin regime. According to an unnamed source from the authorities, Timati changed his views because of the one million dollars allocated to him from the budget in 2011.

In 2012, Timati took part in recording a video for Putin’s presidential campaign, explaining why he votes for him:

“I’m looking at the situation in the Middle East, I don’t want smoke bombs being thrown in my city, tanks driving around, people hanging on poles and the army killing citizens,” Timati addressed the audience. “I think that Vladimir Vladimirovich has sufficient experience to resolve these issues.”

Considering the aggression against Ukraine that began, 10 years later, we can agree with Timati that Putin can resolve these issues.

In his song “Show-Off,” Timati praised Putin for his supposedly tough policy towards LGBT people, although, as Yunusov’s acquaintances claimed, he had never been known for homophobia before, he worked and communicated with representatives of non-traditional sexual orientation.

In 2015, Timati recorded a video for Putin’s birthday, “Best Friend,” which, according to the text, was the dictator himself. In the track, Timati praised the birthday boy. For the sake of filming the video, Yunusov was even allowed to block Red Square for two hours.

In 2018, Timati joined the so-called “Putin Team” - a community of celebrities who publicly supported Putin. In addition, in 2018, Timati became Putin’s confidant in the elections.
For his devotion to the regime, Timati was awarded an invitation to Putin’s inauguration. The latter even mentioned the rapper during his press conference. According to sources close to the Kremlin, Timati was given the opportunity to call the presidential administration and ask for help with his questions. Yunusov received patronage from the very top and the right to speak at official events.

According to his acquaintances, Yunusov himself greatly values his connection with the Kremlin, and considers the opposition to be those who “have achieved nothing.”
Timati’s loyalty is not only to Putin personally, but also to his regional henchmen. So, his friendship with Kadyrov was already mentioned above. At the same time, Kadyrov’s biography, with his war crimes, does not bother Timati.

However, according to sources close to Timati, his friendship with Kadyrov is determined only by money.

He supported Timati and Sobyanin. So in 2019, during the elections to the Moscow City Duma, Timati recorded the video “Moscow”. In particular, the song contained the following words:

“I don’t go to rallies, I don’t talk nonsense,” “I’ll eat a burger for Sobyanin’s health.”
Subsequently, this clip received more than a million dislikes on the YouTube website in just 24 hours, which became a record for the Russian segment of the site. In this regard, the video was deleted and “Black Star” decided to quickly forget about it.