Modern youths sensational in the early 2000s, the hits “Party” and “Blood is my blood” do not give an answer to the question: “What is DeTsl?”. But the grown-up teenagers of the Pepsi generation with a slight touch of nostalgia recall how they lit in discos for the singles of the first rapper of Russia Kirill Tolmatsky, known under the pseudonym "DeTsl".
DeCl is a person who recreated rap culture in Russia
In the late 90s and early 2000s, the concepts of rap culture and hip-hop industry in Russia did not exist as such. Separate groups ("Bachelor Party") with varying success promoted the direction of a little-known musical genre. But once on the air of MTV channel an enchanting clip appeared “Tears” of an unknown artist under the nickname DeTsl. This event marked a series of subsequent rapper hits and involved millions of Russians among fans of the rap and hip-hop genres.
DeCla party at home
The popularity of the artist grew exponentially. All radio stations and musical television broadcasts played the hits of a young musician. For ten years, novice rappers in Russia have been desperate to "squeeze" into the elite of music, DeCl did it in a couple of hits.
The albums "Who are you" and "Street Fighter" not only exceeded the limit of a million copies sold, but also brought numerous awards to the hip-hop artist (including MTV and Muz-TV). Pepsi made DeCla the face of an advertising company, and young people tried to imitate the idol by acquiring pagers and players, dressing in wide jeans, T-shirts with inscriptions and braiding dreadlocks on their heads.
It became fashionable to rap - philosophy flourished from the musician’s light texts, because DeCl is not just an author and performer of catchy hits, but also a pioneer who presented a new culture to the post-Soviet space.
New Decl
But haters and troubles come with fame: envious people whispered behind their backs that the rapper’s popularity and brand are nothing more than a campaign bought by Kirill’s father. The elder Tolmatsky is an influential person on the Russian musical Olympus, the producer who promoted Oleg Gazmanov and Combination did not hide the fact that he was interested in the success of his son and was engaged in his PR. The recognition of his father hit Cyril, who believed that DeCl was exclusively his work.
The conflict led to a breakdown in creative relationships.
The subsequent albums of the new DeCla (more and more often acting under the alias Le Truk) did not have such a stir in Russia. They are a mixture of the genres of reggae, dance hall, trap, hip-hop. Cyril Tolmatsky went deep into the underground, but the status of the country's first rapper was fixed with him forever.