Guf (Russian rapper)

Rolexx and Centr

Dolmatov entered hip hop in 2000 as part of the group Rolexx, whose name was derived from those of its members, Roma and Lyosha, and under whose name he first performed before adopting the stage name Guf.^[5] He continued to use the project's name as his principal pseudonym until 2005, appearing as "Guf aka Rolexx" on the packaging of the 2005 album Cherepashii bega by the group Otritsatelnoye Vliyanie, and was credited simply as "Guf" on albums to which he contributed guest verses or skits from 2006 onwards, including Etazhi by Dymovaya Zavesa and Basta 2.

His first track, "Kitayskaya stena", was initially aired on Radio 2000, after which a forced creative break followed because of drug use.^[6] From 2002 onwards Dolmatov began work on his debut solo album, and in the same year his long collaboration with Slim, then a member of the group Dymovaya Zavesa, began with the song "Svadba".

In 2004 Dolmatov co-founded Centr with Nikolai Printsip, and the group became one of the key Russian hip hop groups of the 2000s.^[1][8] Their first demo album, Podarok, was released in a print run of only 13 copies, which were presented to close friends at New Year. Many of Guf's early songs dealt with drugs and became his calling card in the rap community, helping to shape a new and distinctive style; Dolmatov has acknowledged using hard drugs in the past and has said that he has since given them up.^[6]

In 2006 the song "Spletni" was released, and in the same year Ren-TV filmed a music video for the song "Novogodnyaya", featuring Slim and Ptaha, as part of the documentary Drug Users in the cycle Proyekt Otrazhenie. Around this time Dolmatov also recorded the duet "Moya igra" with the Rostov rapper Basta, and a video was shot for the track "Trafik", recorded with Smoky Mo and included on Centr's second album Efir v norme.

The group released the albums Kacheli (October 2007) and Efir v norme (2008) during Dolmatov's tenure,^[2] and in 2008, together with Basta, won in the Hip-Hop category at the RMA of MTV Russia.^[9][4] In 2009 Dolmatov dubbed the one-eyed doll character "Fifth" in the Russian release of the American animated film 9, a role originally voiced by John C. Reilly.

Solo work

Dolmatov's debut solo album, Gorod dorog ("City of Roads"), appeared in April 2007. It collected material that had accumulated over several years and was recorded largely in a single week in January 2007; it became one of the best-known Russian rap albums of the decade and is regarded as a classic of the genre.^[5][2] The recurring character of his grandmother, Tamara Konstantinovna, known to fans as "Original Ba XX", featured prominently in his songs, including "Spletni" and "Original Ba" from Gorod dorog; she died of cardiac arrest in autumn 2013.

In August 2009 Dolmatov left Centr after a quarrel with Slim and Ptaha, although he later filmed his parts for the clip "Legko li byt molodym" separately from the other members of the group.^[10] Centr split for the first time in 2009; that year Dolmatov founded the label ZM Nation, and his solo album Doma ("At Home") was released on 1 December 2009.^[1][11][12]

A long association with Basta followed, with whom he recorded the joint album Basta/Guf, released on 10 November 2010, with the presentation held on 25 December.^[1][13] On 21 July 2011 Basta and Guf gave a large concert at the Zelyony Teatr in Moscow, attended by more than 8,000 people according to a tweet by Basta, and a third summer concert at the same venue followed on 19 July 2012. On 9 September 2011 the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) announced Dolmatov's detention at Yakutsk Airport on suspicion of drug use.^[14]

His third solo album, Sam i…, was made available for free download on the hip hop portal Rap.ru on 1 November 2012.^[15] On 30 December 2012 Dolmatov was removed from the artist roster of Gazgolder, with Basta stating that he had never been a contracted artist of the label and that their joint work was likely to end at the new year.^[16]

On 24 October 2013 he released the new song "Grustny" along with a video, in which he explained the reasons for Centr's break-up, attributing it to having "become vain and mercenary" after imagining himself as the group's frontman.^[17] In 2014, the track "Zimnyaya" with guest verses by Guf and Slim appeared on an album by Kaspiyskiy Gruz,^[18] and on 27 April 2014 the joint track "Gorod-ubiytsa" with Zanuda appeared on the latter's album Po nizam.

On 20 April 2013, the day of cannabis use, Guf and the dancehall musician Rigos, of the Saint Petersburg group True Jamaican Crew, released the single "420", foreshadowing a joint release scheduled for early 2014.^[19] On 4 March 2014 the song "Industriya" was premiered, in which Dolmatov commented on rap battles, including a reference to the organiser and host of Versus Battle.^[20]

Further solo albums followed: Yeshchyo (2015), O'pyat (2022) and Zapretnoye Mesto (2023); the release of O'pyat was delayed after Warner Music Russia suspended its operations in the country.^[1][21] Centr briefly reunited in 2014 before disbanding again in 2016 following the album Sistema.^[11] In 2017 Guf and Slim released the joint albums GuSli and GuSli II.

Versus Battle

In September 2017 Dolmatov's former Centr bandmate Ptaha (David Nuriev) challenged him to a battle on the Versus Battle platform.^[8] Dolmatov agreed on the condition that the organizer, Aleksandr Timartsev (known as Restorator), pay him two million rubles, with Ptaha receiving a further one million.^[11][8] The battle took place in Saint Petersburg on 6 February 2018, with rapper Nigativ, DJ 108 (of Baltic Clan) and Basta acting as judges; the video was published on 19 February, drew more than a million views within hours, and was judged unanimously in Dolmatov's favour.^[11][8][22]

"Moskva" with Timati

On 7 September 2019 Dolmatov and the rapper Timati released the song "Moskva" ("Moscow"). Praising the city and its mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the video appeared shortly before the Moscow City Duma elections and drew more than a million dislikes within days, a record for Russian-language YouTube at the time (subsequently surpassed by Morgenshtern), after which the artists deleted it.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Public image

Since 2011 Dolmatov has been the subject of a long-running internet meme, "Guf umer" ("Guf is dead"), which began with a false rumour that he had been killed in the January 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing; he later played on the joke in a 2012 track recorded with Basta.^[27]

In November 2024 he performed at a concert wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his leg owing to restrictions imposed in an ongoing criminal case, said to be the first such concert in Russia.^[28]